Tim Tebow and His Mom Share Mother's Day Memories, Favorite Family Dishes

May 10, 2012 — -- Tim Tebow might be a football rock star and bestselling author but, at heart, the New York Jets quarterback is just a boy who loves his mother.

In an interview with "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts that aired on the show today, Tebow and his mother, Pam Tebow, shared some fond Mother's Day memories.

He recalled one year as a child when he couldn't afford to get his mother a present for Mother's Day. On the night before that particular Mother's Day, he went outside into his mother's flower garden and, using a flashlight for illumination, started uprooting weeds.

"I went out and worked most of the night. ... And picked all the weeds. And made it look nice," he said.

His mother said, "It was raining, too. It was the sweetest thing."

Given his inability to buy a present, Tebow said, "I figured it was the least I could do."

He was able to do much better when he got his first payout as a member of the Denver Broncos.

"I was just so excited to go get my family gifts. But the first gift I got was for mom. ... I went to Tiffany's. I was so excited. And so I went in to go find something that I think would be right for mom," he said, describing the necklace he bought, which had a pendant in the shape of a key. "I gave it to her, because, you know, she was the key to my success. And, you know, I couldn't have done it without her."

His mother said she wears the necklace often.

Tebow, 24, is the youngest of his parents' five children.

His mother calls him "Timmy," and he says she and his father have been inspirations, each in their own unique ways. His father inspired him through his passion and courage, and his mother's kindness and sweetness uplifted those around her.

"I could just see her -- not because that was something she told us. It was because that was something me and my siblings, we could watch every day," he told Roberts.

In addition to setting an fine example for her children, Pam Tebow also made them happy with her cooking.

During the "GMA" interview with the Tebows, Pam Tebow, along with Catherine Cassidy of Taste of Home magazine, whipped up two of her youngest son's favorite dishes: a "pizza pie" and an ice cream pie with a Rice Krispies crust.

Get the Pizza Pie recipe here.

Get the ice cream pie recipe here.

Although Tebow has never made it himself, he said the pizza pie was great for serving to visiting friends, adding that it represented the kind of food he prefers.

Although he is invited to many incredibly lavish affairs, Tebow said, "I just like normal food. I mean, you have to go to so many, like, rubber chicken dinners and you put on the face and you're like, 'Oh, thank you, it's so good,' and you're like, 'Man, I just can't wait to go home ... and have pizza pie,'" he said.

The ice cream pie is another Tim Tebow favorite.

"He personally likes ice cream," his mother said. "In our family, we didn't eat a lot of dessert but our rule was on Sunday you can have ice cream. You can have all you want."

Her son said, recalling those days, "I don't know how many undershirts got stained. When we got home from church, you know, we'd take off our shirt and we'd have our undershirt and we'd ... be watching football and I mean you'd have like chocolate sauce all down it. Me and my brothers and my dad."