By GEOFF CALKINS

Scripps Howard News Service

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- They stayed up Tuesday night making the poster with blue and orange letters and little blue polka dots.

"The polka dots were my idea," said Emma King.

The letters spelled: "All I want 4 my birthday is to meet Tim Tebow."

Emma King is 6. She turns 7 on Friday. She waited with her poster and her mother here in the Wynfrey Hotel Lobby.

Tebow would show up any minute for SEC Media Days.

Well, unless he had to stop on the way to save a drowning victim or do some open heart surgery.

"He'll be here," said Emma.

The crowd grew around her.

Dozens were waiting now. A half dozen SEC officials assembled near the door.

"You Tebow's Secret Service?" someone asked.

"Yep," said one of the officials, Tammy Wilson.

"All we need is an earpiece," said another, Marianne Clancy, who may or may not have been joking.

Time passed. The mob grew larger. One of the officials snapped into action.

"Clear a pathway!" she yelled. "Clear a pathway!"

And then, Tebow walked in the door, cut left, ignored the pathway and disappeared into an elevator. The whole thing took less than five seconds. Little Emma King burst into tears as her mother vainly tried to console her.

"I told you there's a chance we wouldn't get to meet him," she said.

So Tim Tebow made a little girl cry.

If you can find anything else wrong with him, let me know, won't you?

He smashes records. He wins Heismans. He arrives in Birmingham as the most celebrated college football player in America -- and maybe the most celebrated college football player in history -- and spends his time talking about, well, just listen to the guy.

"You know, there's a lot of leaders out there," he said. "Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of good ones. I want to do everything in my power to influence as many people as I can for the good because that's going to mean so much more when it's all said and done than just winning football and winning championships."

See what I mean? And the guy's not even faking it.

He's had three recent breaks from his academic schedule at the University of Florida. He used those three breaks to go on mission trips to the Phillippines, Thailand and Croatia.

In the Phillippines, he circumcised babies.

Yes. Actual babies.

He was in the Phillippines to give a talk, to testify to the power of the Lord, when he became interested in the work three doctors were doing nearby, and one thing led to another, and the next thing you know he was wearing a surgical mask and wielding a pair of scissors and giving the phrase "makin a sharp cut" a whole new meaning.

But, then, why should we be surprised? This is a guy who scored a touchdown on his first college carry, who won the national championship as a freshman and the Heisman as a sophomore, who accounted for a ridiculous 55 touchdowns last season, and who has sung duets with Kenny Chesney.

"He's the greatest player of his era," said Florida coach Urban Meyer, earlier this offseason, and who is going to argue?

OK, maybe Herschel Walker fans. But Herschel only won one Heisman.

Tebow could win two, which could be why the Heisman Trophy was on display at the Wynfrey this week.

"Do you always bring the Heisman Trophy with you?" a reporter asked Tebow. "What went into bringing it here?"

Tebow looked utterly baffled by the questions.

"It's here?" he said.

At this, an SEC official explained to the reporter that the trophy in the lobby was not Tebow's trophy but another one, supplied by the Heisman sponsor.

Tebow seemed relieved by the news.

"I think mine is still in my house in Jacksonville," he said.

Everyone laughed at that. In addition to being talented and gracious and grounded, Tebow is really pretty funny.

When some LSU fans got a hold of his cell number and swamped his phone last year, he said he admired their passion. Then, after scoring a touchdown in Baton Rouge, he pretended to hold a phone to his ear as if to say, "Why don't you call me now?"

"It's just a game that people get very excited about," Tebow said. "And I'm one of those people. But fortunately, I'm blessed to have the ability to see out side of that and see that, yeah, it's just the game of football but you can do a lot of special things with that."

So, yes, at some level, it's absolutely crazy that dozens of people would turn up at a Birmingham hotel lobby to meet a football player. But if they're going to do it for any football player, it might as well be Tebow.

He is grateful for his gifts. He considers them an obligation. He understands the platform he has as a star and uses it to make other people's lives better.

Oh, and doesn't like making little girls cry. Which brings us back to little Emma King and her polka dots.

It turns out the Kings decided to hang around and see if they might get a longer glimpse of Tebow later in the morning.

They waited in a crowd at the bottom of the hotel escalator.

Time passed.

"Then someone I didn't know walked up to us and said, 'Come with me,"' said Melissa King, Emma's mother.

They headed up the escalator and turned right, into a small alcove.

There was Tim Tebow.

"Somehow, he heard about us," Melissa said.

Tebow bent to give Emma a hug.

"Happy Birthday," he whispered.

(Geoff Calkins writes for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn.)