This is a good point, but I still think Tebow has more general name recognition. You'd have to watch holiday cooking shows or 1 specific season of The Bachelor to know him otherwise outside the football world.
And how many of those people who know Palmer from those kinds of shows associate him with UF? My wife is tired of me reminding her every time he comes on a cooking show that he is a Gator.
The list depends on whether the list is "Most famous Gator sports alumni" or "Most recognizable Gator alumni to sports fans". I will go with the latter over the former as follows: Tim Tebow. If you are a Gator sports fan, you are likely watching SEC Now with a couple of his commercials playing. Steve Spurrier. The Old Ball Coach is my favorite. Older fans will likely cite SOS as the greatest Gator, especially if they live close to Hogtown. I was fortunate to meet him at Spurrier's Gridiron Grille. Laura Rutledge. Laura does a great job leading the SEC Now show and managing all those personalities. Having her daughter do the football picks is great for any level of viewer to enjoy. Emmitt Smith. "Dancing With the Stars" kept Emmitt prominent in the minds of more casual sports fans. For those of us not from Pensacola, Florida (Go Gators...Escambia Gators), you might not see his name as much now that he has been retired from football for almost two decades. Erin Andrews. Erin is a very recognizable celebrity, but I do encounter many people who do not realize she is a Gator. Jesse Palmer. Jesse is famous for a lot of things, but he is lower on the list because of recency bias. Cris Collinsworth. People forget that Cris started as a QB and he holds a record for longest TD pass in NCAA history. Pete Alonso. I love seeing the Polar Bear in orange and blue, even if it is the New York Mets. On occasion the Mets will play music similar to the UF "Jaws/Go Gators" theme as he walks up to the batter box. Al Horford. Big Al is still playing ball. I believe he is the last remaining member of those back-to-back championship teams. Joakim Noah. Joakim is usually considered the face of the Gator championship basketball teams, even though Horford was my favorite here. For folks who are not deep into sports, Tim Tebow is probably the most famous Gator.