Tim Tebow Surprises Starkville Family

“I came home and it’s sitting on the table and it just blew my mind that he’d do anything like that." -Austin Miles

After his home was rented for a Mississippi State football weekend, Austin Miles found an amazing surprise waiting on his bedroom desk: the signature of SEC icon Tim Tebow on his copy of Tebow's book. 

When Tammy and Joe Miles decided to list their Starkville, MS home on Rent Like A Champion’s platform last fall, they had the same goal as most other RLAC homeowners: to make a little extra money.

The Miles’ were able to accomplish that objective, but their compensation for one particular weekend’s worth of hosting guests included a surprise gift for their son, Austin.

“They came and stayed and you really couldn’t tell that they had even been here,” Joe Miles says of their mid-November visitors. “Except for one thing.”

In Austin’s bedroom upstairs, the book he had been reading – Tim Tebow’s “Through My Eyes”– had been left open on his desk. And not only had Austin’s book been misplaced, but the Miles’ visitors had also written all over the inside cover. Not exactly typical guest behavior, but in this case, the violation of personal property caused Tammy and Joe to burst with happiness.

In a twist of Tebow magic, Tim himself got ahold of the book. On that inside cover, he had inscribed his signature and “Heisman 07". The Miles’ didn’t know how it had occurred, but they knew their son would be overjoyed at the remarkable gesture from his favorite athlete.

“They had it laying on the table, open to where Tebow had signed it. When we came into Austin’s room, it was sort of presented to us,” Joe said.

Tammy and Joe didn’t want to miss Austin’s reaction upon seeing the note, so they moved the book downstairs before their son returned home that afternoon.

“I came home and it’s sitting on the table and it just blew my mind that he’d do anything like that,” Austin said.

Unbeknownst to the Miles’, their visitors were a group of media personnel in town to cover the Mississippi State-Alabama game. The guests had seized the opportunity to involve Tebow after seeing the book on Austin's desk. 

When asked where Tebow would rank on his list of desired autographs, Austin didn’t hesitate.

“He’d be on the top,” he said. “For sure.”

“Austin was pretty excited,” Joe said. “He’s always looked up to what (Tebow) has done and appreciated his stance.”

Born and raised in Starkville, Austin is a Mississippi State fan first and foremost, but he said he has always loved Tebow – both when he was at Florida and in the NFL.

“It’s funny because we had been sitting around over the weekend talking about what we’d left in our rooms,” Austin said. “I had actually said that I wish I had my Tim Tebow book,” Austin said.

Needless to say, Austin is now quite grateful that it slipped his mind to bring the book with him. However, don’t ask him for a full review of “Through My Eyes” quite yet. He says he’s enjoyed it thusfar, but that he still has a few pages left to read.

What’s taking him so long to finish? Austin has a simple explanation:

“It’s kind of hard to get past that first page now.”

As seen on Shark Tank, Rent Like A Champion is the leading vacation rental company for college towns nationwide. Local homeowners are able to earn an average of $1,100 per weekend by hosting alumni, families, and other travelers. With over 4,000 private homes available as weekend rentals, visitors can reserve comfortable, affordable lodging walking distance to campus for football games, graduation, and other events.