For Danny Wuerffel, football opened the door for a higher calling

TAMPA – Ever so quietly, Danny Wuerffel made the rounds at SEC Media Days, always smiling, always deflecting praise while giving thanks to God for a life that has far exceeded expectations both on and off the playing field. As a quarterback, he earned membership in college football’s most exclusive club when he won the Heisman Trophy while leading the Florida Gators to the 1996 national championship. In the life after football that evolved into one of constant giving and constant service he continuously answers to what Steve Spurrier has always called “a higher calling.”

Just as he had a heart for inspiring teammates as a Gator, he continues to inspire others as an advocate for the less fortunate through his Desire Street Ministries and through the Allstate-sponsored Danny Wuerffel Trophy, given to the player whose community service offers a beacon of hope.

“A college football award not for touchdowns or wins but an award just for community service and we’re proud of that,” Wuerffel said. “We just announced 113 nominees for the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy and it’s going to be an exciting year.”

We remember the Wuerffel years at Florida during which the Gators went 45-6-1 with four Southeastern Conference championships, a national runner-up in 1995 and a national championship in 1996. The numbers speak for themselves – 10,875 passing yards for 114 touchdowns – but as great as the stats were, perhaps the lasting memory of Danny Wuerffel is prayerful hands and eyes lifted to the heavens after every touchdown pass.

For a higher percentage of college football players than we care to admit, football is perceived as their ticket to fame and fortune. For Wuerffel, football opened doors for service.

“I think it's baked into my faith as well and my understanding of what authentic faith looks like and serving and caring for others, especially those that are vulnerable,” Wuerffel said. “And then just like a lot of things in life, sometimes as you start to take steps, you never would imagine where you'd end up. You just try to take the next best step. And it's led me to the things that we've done. And then just, you know, work hard. We have a lot of things that are sad that, you know, when things go wrong for people and you work in difficult neighborhoods, but at night when you go to bed, you just feel like your life matters and you're helping people. And it's a great feeling.”

His National Football League career never took off but in retrospect, the NFL was simply an outpost on a path of divine purpose. The three years he spent in New Orleans following his college career exposed him to the Ninth Ward projects, particularly Desire Street, notorious for poverty that breeds crime, drugs, lifespans ended way too early and prison sentences. When he retired from football, Desire Street Ministries became his focus, a faith-based organization to offer hope and opportunity for at-risk kids.

Just as Desire Street was beginning to have a positive effect in New Orleans, along came Hurricane Katrina (2005), wiping out the Ninth Ward with the floods that broke through the levees destroying Wuerffel’s home. A setback, for sure, but not the end. Desire Street rebuilt and continues to thrive.

Another setback came in 2010.

“I was diagnosed with autoimmune disorder (Guillain-Barre Syndrome), was paralyzed for a while and was really almost unfunctional for a lot of months,” he recalled. “Those in many ways kind of reshape and define who you are on the inside. Getting though Katrina was tough but we had a lot of support and ultimately I think my faith in God and belief that good can come out of bad can carry you through those times.”

Wuerffel recovered again, came back stronger than ever and continues to inspire others.

Football not only provided the key to open doors of hope that offer young people a way out of the unwalled prisons of the inner city, but the adversity he faced during his college days toughened him and prepared him for the future.

“I think there's this hope and belief and dream that life and success is linear and you can just sort of get there without the struggle,” he said. “But almost anybody of substance that I've ever met has been through a lot, and so often that's what shapes and molds and defines us. I look at the struggles. I mean, even the 96 football team, we were undefeated. We lose to Florida State, and now we're out, and yet we hung together, and a lot of things happened, and we got a second chance, and that made it in some ways all the more special.”

It isn’t an exaggeration to call Wuerffel the All-American hero. He is a doer and a giver in a world filled with those whose very existence is defined by taking. He never forgets the people who impacted his life, taking the time to steer him in the right directions.

He has fond memories of his high school football coach, Jimmy Ray Stephens. Jimmy Ray came to Fort Walton Beach after serving as Eddie Feely’s offensive coordinator at Gainesville Buchholz and then a remarkable 33-3 run as the head coach at Williston where very few had answers for the Flying T offense first devised by high school coaching legend Tom Perrin but perfected at Georgia Southern.

At Fort Walton, Jimmy Ray had the cerebral quarterback he needed to run the Flying T in Wuerffel. The two of them combined for a 14-0 record in 1991 when they destroyed St. Thomas Aquinas in the Class 4A state championship game at Florida Field. Wuerffel threw for three touchdowns and put the exclamation point on a 39-14 win with an 80-yard touchdown run.

Following the state championship trophy presentation Jimmy Ray Stephens grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the Fort Walton Beach locker room. I expected to see a bunch of high school kids hugging each other and celebrating a win over a team (St. Thomas Aquinas) that most experts thought was unbeatable. Rather than unhinged joy, Danny Wuerffel stood in the middle of the locker room singing “Amazing Grace.”

As we listened, Jimmy Ray leaned over and spoke in my ear, “There isn’t a kid like this one anywhere. He is everything you could ever ask for. He is a blessing to everyone he meets on and off the field. He is destined for great things.”

So here we are 35 years later. Danny Wuerffel continues to bless people and his unmatched character is one of the reasons that Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin made him a prominent member of the search committee when the Gators went searching for a new head coach.

The first and initially most prominent name before the search committee was Lane Kiffin, who Wuerffel says was “high on the board and was a priority.” Kiffin wasn’t the only name on the board, however, and the more the committee dug into the candidates, the more Jon Sumrall’s name kept rising in importance because, as Wuerffel concluded, “He gets it.”

From the first Zoom call Wuerffel was impressed. Subsequent interviews kept checking all the necessary boxes until it became a no-brainer that this was the right coach at just the right time for the Florida Gators. There was legitimate excitement when the decision was made and Sumrall accepted. 

“I think it was a combination of his intensity, he was really smart with the ability to surround himself with great people and then also he had a characteristic about him that a lot of successful people don't have,” Wuerffel said. “He has this ability to look at himself and have a process for receiving feedback. I think a lot of successful people get blind spots because they don't really have people around that can speak into the truth. And he's just got a way of getting really good feedback from people to make sure that he's covering his blind spots … He’s our guy.”

And so is Danny Wuerffel.

Thirty years ago when he won the Heisman and led the Gators to the national championship, Danny Wuerffel earned his place among Florida football legends. Thirty years later he continues earning a place in our hearts. The football legend fades with the passing of time, but the legend of integrity, compassion and faith in action continues to grow. As great a football player as he was, Danny Wuerffel is a much greater man, well worth our love and admiration.