Danny Wuerffel

At 49 years old, Danny Wuerffel has this physical status:

Daniel Carl Wuerffel (born May 27, 1974) is a former college and professional American football quarterback who competed in the 1996 Heisman Trophy and the 1996 national football championship while playing college football for the University of Florida.

In coach Steve Spurrier's offense, Wuerffel was a prolific passer.

In 1995 and 1996, he led the nation in touchdown passes and established numerous school and conference records.

In 2013, Wuerffel was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Wuerffel was drafted by the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League after graduating from Florida. (NFL).

He spent six years in the league with four clubs, having little success as a backup and occasional starter.

He spent his time in Europe, where he coached the Rhein Fire to a league championship and was named MVP of World Bowl 2000. Wuerffel last played professionally in 2002 before officially retiring in 2004.

He returned to New Orleans to work with Desire Street Ministries, a non-profit group aims to assist impoverished communities through spiritual and community development.

Wuerffel first became involved with the Saints in the late 1990s, and the organization sought to recover from Hurricane Katrina's devastation.

Desire Street Ministries' headquarters in Atlanta grew its services to other inner cities in the American south under Wuerffel.

Early life

Wuerffel was born in Pensacola, Florida, the son of a Lutheran minister who served as a Chaplain in the US Air Force. Before he attended Fort Walton Beach, Florida, he was growing up, his family, and Colorado.

Wuerffel, a standout high school football and basketball player for the Fort Walton Beach Vikings, was a standout high school football and basketball player. He led the Vikings to an undefeated season as a senior quarterback, as well as winning the Florida Class 4A state football championship in 1991 and achieving the number two national ranking in USA Today. During his senior year in Florida, Wuerffel was widely regarded as the best high school football recruit in the state of Florida and USA Today's top high school player of the year in Florida. He graduated from high school as the class co-valedictorian.

Personal life

Wuerffel began working at Desire Street Ministries, a non-profit, faith-based group that focuses on spiritual and community growth in New Orleans' areas.

In 2005, the All Sports Association of Fort Walton Beach established the Wuerffel Trophy in his honor. W. Stanley Proctor, a Florida sculptor, created the sculpture that honors Danny Wuerffel "as he prays after a touchdown." The All Sports Association of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, honors the individual who best represents Wuerffel's character in both sport and education.

Wuerffel was suffering from Guillain–Barré syndrome, a nervous system disorder, and was undergoing medication, according to The Gainesville Sun.

The 1st Annual Danny Wuerffel Golf Classic, also known as the "Danny Cup," was hosted in Destin, Florida, in 2014. The Florida state legislature has named a small stretch of road between the Mid-Bay Bridge and Highway 98 in Destin, where his parents' home, "Danny Wuerffel Way."

Wuerffel, the executive director of Desire Street Ministries, has a personal website at www.nywuerffel.com.

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College career

Wuerffel graduated from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played quarterback for head coach Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators football team from 1993 to 1996. He was one of Florida's most recognizable players, winning four consecutive Southeastern Conference titles between 1993 and 1996. He was one of the key names on the Gators' most recognizable players. Wuerffel earned a bachelor's degree in public relations and was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006 as a "Gator Great" in the University of Florida. Wuerffel was inducted into the Gator Football Ring of Honor on September 30, 2006, alongside his former coach Spurrier and two other former Gator players, Jack Youngblood and Emmitt Smith. In 2013, Wuerffel was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

The 1993 season was the first in which the Gators were ranked in the top ten every week. quarterback Wuerffel and Terry Dean score seven interceptions against Kentucky in the second week. Wuerffel threw a pass down the middle to walk-on receiver Chris Doering for the game-winning touchdown; Gator play-by-play announcer Mick Hubert yelled, "Doering has a touchdown!" with eight seconds remaining. Florida recovered and shocked Heath Shuler-led and fifth-ranked Tennessee 41-34 in a "shootout" last week.

Terry Dean, a quarterback for much of the 1993 and 1994 seasons, was on sabbath. Wuerffel was the outright starter going into the 1995 season, and he made the most of his chances. The Gators were undefeated during the regular season, and Wuerffel set several SEC (SEC) and NCAA records for passing, including the SEC record for touchdown passes and NCAA record for passing efficiency. Highlights included a victory over Tennessee in September, where Florida fought back from a 30-14 deficit to victory 62-37 behind Wuerffel's SEC record 6 touchdown passes. Sports Illustrated had sent a team of reporters to cover the top-10 matchup and had intended to bring Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning on the field. However, they did change direction after the Gators' victory and decided to cover Wuerffel instead, giving him his first major national interest.

Following the 1995 season, he accompanied the Gators to the Bowl Alliance National Championship game, but the Nebraska Cornhuskers defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers 62–24 in the Fiesta Bowl. Wuerffel claimed the 1996 Heisman Trophy as America's top college football player, while the Gators' quarterback, Fred Taylor, celebrated Ike Hilliard, and Jacquez Green at wide receiver; and Jeff Mitchell on the offensive line. The Gators captured the 1996 national championship in a dramatic way by defeating the Florida State Seminoles 52-20 in the Sugar Bowl.

Wuerffel, a first-team All-American in 1995 and a consensus first-team All-American in 1996. He was named the Quarterback of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Columbus in 1995, the Davey O'Brien Award in 1995, 1996, and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award in 1996. Wuerffel refused to be included on Playboy magazine's All-America team and the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, saying, "That's not the type of person I am or want to portray myself as." His Gators teammates voted him as the team's Most Valuable Player in 1995 and 1996, and his coaches selected him as one of the Gators' team captains. He was later named as the top one player in the first 100 years of Gators football by the Sun in 1999, and was ranked by the Sun as the best player in the first 100 years of the sport.

He is one of only two Heisman Trophy winners to be inducted into the National Football Foundation and the College Football Hall of Fame as the country's top football scholar-athletes each year. Wuerffel was also a first-team Academic All-American in 1995 and 1996.

He ended his Gator career by passing 708 of 1,170 passes for 10,875 yards on 114 touchdown passes, the highest in SEC history and second-most in major college history. His career pass efficiency rating of 163.56 was the highest in major college history, and his percentage of passes, which went for a touchdown (9.74), ranked first in collegiate history. His efficiencies of 178.4 percent in 1995 set a single-season record. He completed 207 of 360 passes for 3,625 yards (an SEC record at the time) and his efficiency rating of 170.6 made him the first quarterback to ever have a rating of 170 or better in back-to-back years during his Heisman-winning seasons.

Notes: 1 indicates the NCAA head, while 2 indicates SEC leader 3Indicates the NCAA's career record 3Indicates the NCAA's NCAA record.

Professional career

Wuerffel was drafted in the fourth round of the 1997 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints, and he appeared for the Saints from 1997 to 1999. Wuerffel spent the offseason with the Rhein Fire in NFL Europa, where he led the team to a league championship and was named MVP of World Bowl 2000. In 2000 and 2001, he spent single seasons as a backup for both the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. Wuerffel was drafted by the Houston Texans in the 2002 NFL Expansion Draft but was sent by the Washington Redskins a week later, reuniteing him with college coach Steve Spurrier. Wuerffel played in several games throughout the season, alternating with fellow Florida Gator alumnus Shane Matthews, but was suspended by the team before the 2003 season, much to Spurrier's chagrin.

Wuerffel decided to leave professional football in February 2004, after not being signed by another squad in 2003.

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