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By
Ron Coffey
With
Ohio State’s Troy Smith having been named
the recipient of the 2006 Heisman Trophy, this
seems like a good time to mention my own
Heisman connection – maybe it will help Ohio
State fans to see a Florida Gator in a more
positive way.
The
connection I have with Danny Wuerffel,
considered by many to be the greatest college
quarterback ever to play the game, is somewhat
ironic since it comes through one of my
college roommates who never played the game
and doesn’t particularly even like football.
Terry
Krause is one of my old buddies from our days
at Ohio
University
in the late 1960s and early 1970s. We shared a
floor section in a dorm for three years, and a
house my senior year. Gregarious and
definitely a people person, Terry was a music
major at OU and a driving force in the
continued friendship and ongoing reunions of
our little band of Ohio Bobcats.
Krause
has spent most of his adult life as a high
school band director. One of the duties of
band directors at high schools that have
football is to coordinate the halftime show.
Not being much of a football fan – and I
don’t think he enjoys being outdoors on cool
autumn evenings either – Krause often
advises his team’s coach to “run the ball
a lot, and try not to go out of bounds”
since an incomplete pass or out of bounds play
stops the clock, thereby making the game last
a little longer.
This
is the last guy in the world you might expect
to have a Heisman Trophy winner for a
son-in-law, but the Lord works in mysterious
ways.
Krause
is the father of two lovely daughters, Jessica
and Lindsay. Jessica is a delightful young
woman who attended a Christian college and has
been involved in lots of activities to help
others. In the late 1990s she moved to
Destin,
Florida
with Americorps*
VISTA
and met up with a like-minded young man who
just happened to be a football player.
Danny
Wuerffel had a fantastic college career at the
University
of
Florida, topping it off by winning the Heisman Trophy
in 1996. He is the only Heisman winner also to
be coached by a Heisman winner (Steve Spurrier,
1966), and recently the two, along with Emmitt
Smith and Jack Youngblood, were inducted into
the Gator Football Ring of Honor.
Wuerffel
set 32 national, conference and school records
during his playing career, leading the Gators
to four SEC crowns and a national
championship.
Known
for clasping his hands together in a prayerful
fashion after throwing touchdown passes, Danny
acknowledged his Christian faith throughout
his playing days and continues to be involved
in faith-based organizations.
One
honor that Danny declined to accept was a spot
on the Playboy magazine all-America pre-season
team in 1996. According to a publication I get
called Men of Integrity, Danny passed up an
all-expense-paid trip to a posh
Phoenix
resort for a photo shoot with the other 23
college players selected. Of the decision,
Wuerffel said “It didn’t take any thought
at all. That’s not the type of person I’d
want to portray myself as.” He didn’t want
to confuse those who look to him as a role
model. “My commitment is to represent God in
all I do.”
Jessica
got to know one of Danny’s high school
buddies through her work, and he introduced
her to Wuerffel, who at the time was in the
National Football League with the New Orleans
Saints.
Wuerffel’s
first pro coach was Hall of Famer Mike Ditka,
who coached the 1985 Chicago Bears to an NFL
championship before moving on to New Orleans
in the 1990s. Many people are intimidated by
Ditka, but he and Danny hit it off very well.
Perhaps one reason Ditka liked Danny is
reflected in this quote from the coach: “Success
isn’t measured by money or power or social
rank. Success is measured by your discipline
and inner peace.” Danny has a lot of both.
While
with the Saints, Danny and Jessica made the
commitment to get married. This was a much
better judgment than the one made by Coach
Ditka, who convinced the Saints to trade away
all of their 1999 draft picks (plus the first
pick in 2000) to the Washington Redskins so
that they move up and draft coveted running
back Ricky Williams from Texas. Ditka was
widely criticized for this strategy, and while
Williams proved to be a good, if not great
running back, hindsight tells us that he also
came with a
lot of baggage (he has served several
drug suspensions and spent the 2006 season in
the Canadian Football League due to another
NFL suspension).
The
Saints, who had posted 6-10 records in each of
Coach Ditka’s first two seasons, wound up a
dismal 3-13 in Williams’ rookie year. Ditka
and General Manager Bill Kuharich were subsequently fired and with the
changes in the front office came many other
personnel changes, including the departure of
Danny Wuerffel.
In
the 2000 off-season, Danny played for the
Rhein Fire in NFL Europe and won the Most
Valuable Player award in the World Bowl as the
Fire beat the Scottish Claymores 13-10.
Danny’s
success in NFL Europe led to his signing with
the Green Bay Packers, where he spent the next
season backing up legendary quarterback Bret
Favre.
The
following season Wuerffel joined the Chicago
Bears, a team that went 13-3 and made the
playoffs. It was during that 2001 season that
I first met Danny and began to understand why
he is so well regarded by so many.
The
Bears were in Cincinnati for a game with the
Bengals, and the Krauses invited us to stop by
at Fountain Square the day before the game. We
were impressed by how polite and humble Danny
seemed to be, and I was surprised that he’s
really not much bigger than me (the stats
I’ve seen on him list Danny at 6’1” and
212 pounds; my stats aren’t published
anywhere except possibly at Dr. Mizer’s).
One
thing that stuck in our memories was that
several times we were approached by street
people claiming to be homeless, jobless, etc.
and in need of food money. At one point we
looked around and asked, “Where’s
Danny?” He had responded to one of the
street people by taking him to a restaurant to
get something to eat – and wanted to ensure
that his assistance really went for food.
When
he returned he made no comment about his
activities. No moralizing, no sermon on how
the underprivileged should be helped. Just an
unspoken homily on good stewardship.
Later
we broke bread with the Krauses and Wuerffels
and after dinner we saw some of the other
Bears in the hotel where they were staying.
Danny introduced us to the punter, who was
also a regular-sized guy. Some of the linemen
were of gigantic proportions – I think we
saw Ted Washington, the biggest of the Bears
at 6’5” and 365 pounds.
Danny
even posed for a picture with me that day. I
foolishly attempted a “Heisman pose”
without much knowledge of what the Heisman
Trophy really looks like. Hey, it’s fun to
act like a kid sometimes!
We
had a pleasant visit, and Danny Wuerffel won
some new fans.
Needless
to say, Da Bears won in Cincinnati the
following day. I don’t think Danny played,
but that was okay with his in-laws. It’s
very nerve-wracking to have a loved one
playing in such a violent sport, his
father-in-law explained. With memories of
seeing Bengals’ QB Ken Anderson nearly
getting his head twisted off, not to mention
the infamous footage of Joe Theismann’s
career-ending leg break, we understood.
Danny’s
career took some interesting twists and turns
following the 2001 season. First he was
drafted by the expansion Houston Texans, but
before he ever took a snap with them Danny was
traded to the Washington Redskins for a
reunion with the Redskins’ new coach, Steve
Spurrier, his former Florida coach.
We
had high hopes that Danny’s reunion with
Spurrier would rejuvenate his career, and in a
way it did. Danny brought with him a deep
understanding of Spurrier’s offense, and as
at Florida, sometimes Danny seemed to have a
telepathic sense of what his coach was
thinking. Danny got the chance to challenge
for the starting QB job and performed well,
but was hounded by injuries, as were his
fellow QBs, Patrick Ramsey and Shane Matthews.
Each had a turn or two as starting quarterback
during the 2002 season, with Wuerffel
completing 58 of 92 passes for 719 yards,
three touchdowns and six interceptions. After
four starts in seven games, including a
Thanksgiving game on national TV, Danny’s
season ended with a shoulder injury.
Following
the 2002 season Danny was cut from the roster,
but it was hinted the Redskins might bring him
back. In fact he did rejoin the team late in
the exhibition season and performed quite
well, and it was reported in the Washington
media that he would make the team as the third
QB. However, when the final cut was made the
Redskins decided to keep only two quarterbacks
and Danny was let go again.
I
don’t think Coach Spurrier was happy about
the decision, which was rumored to have been
made against his wishes.
About
mid-season, with more injuries at the position
brought about by a porous offensive line, the
Redskins offered Wuerffel a chance to rejoin
the team. He said no thanks.
Not
many people have the willpower to turn down
even a minimum contract in the NFL. However,
Danny and Jessica were expecting their first
child at the time, and I don’t think he felt
warm and fuzzy about the way he was treated by
the team.
One
Washington Post columnist, Sally Jenkins, made
an interesting observation as she reflected on
team owner Daniel Snyder’s proclivity for
spending money and imposing his will on
coaches and players. She pointed out that to
have a winning organization, the Redskins
needed talented people. Such folks won’t
work long for a person who ignores,
second-guesses and humiliates them. “Danny
Wuerffel taught us a very interesting lesson
this week: There is no law that says somebody
must play for the Redskins.”
Steve
Spurrier hung in there for his second season
and decided that he had had enough, even at a
cool $5 million per year. The Old Ball Coach
returned to the college ranks at
South Carolina
where he seems happier and has regained his
winning ways.
I
could go on and on about the Redskins, having
become a follower of the team on the
Washington Post website because of the
Wuerffel-Spurrier connection that once
existed. The team continues to spend large
sums of money in search of a championship –
without much success.
The saying in Washington is that the Redskins
win the Super Bowl every March (the beginning
of the free agent signing period) but fail to
get the job done in the actual season. The
legendary Joe Gibbs is now the head coach of
the Redskins, but the team has continued to
struggle.
Meanwhile,
Danny Wuerffel has proven that there is life
after football. After retiring from the NFL,
he went to work with Desire Street Ministries
in New Orleans, dedicated
to one of America’s toughest and poorest
neighborhoods.
When
New Orleans
was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005,
the Wuerffels’ home and ministry facilities
were destroyed and they relocated to
Florida.
Not
long after the hurricane struck, Danny
commented, “As I reflect on the past six
weeks and look again at the flooded images of
the ministry facility and my home, I’m once
again faced with the reality of the
devastation of this storm. And yet in the
midst of all these images, through God’s
grace, I’ve found my eyes ‘fixed’ on
something different. So we fix our eyes not on
what is seen but what is unseen. For what is
seen is temporary, but what is unseen is
eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18). “In the
past, that verse often encouraged me to not
worry about throwing an interception or losing
a football game. How trivial that seems now.
God is doing a new thing as a result of this
storm…a big thing. I’m not sure exactly
what it is or what it’s going to look like
in the end, but I’m certain he’s doing
something significant. Sometimes, though,
it’s just hard to see it while it’s
happening.”
Through
the storm and its aftermath, God continues to
do incredible things. “I’ve personally
seen God triumph over every major obstacle,
one after another, and my personal journey of
faith has never been more vibrant,” Danny
proclaimed.
Current,
the educational part of Desire Street
Ministries (Desire Street
Academy) has moved to
Baton Rouge,
Louisiana. DSM bought property for this purpose, and a
school building, church, cafeteria and dorm
are located there.
DSM
also has a contingent in
New Orleans
working on rehab and community development,
the Wuerffels report. They are planting a new
church in the Eighth Ward and began a new
ministry called CDC to build 50 new homes in
New Orleans
this year.
Administration
of the ministry remains in Destin,
Florida
where the Wuerffels now make their home.
For
more about Desire Street Ministries, visit the
organization’s website, http://www.desirestreet.org/ministries/index.html.
As
the rebuilding process continues, the
Wuerffels have seen their family grow. They
now have two sons, and the hope among my
Ohio
University
brethren is that in a few years one or both of
them will come to
Ohio
University
and lead the way to a MAC championship. While
the OU football connection may be a fantasy, I
am sure those kids will grow up in a loving
home and be well prepared for a life of
service to others. All they have to do is
observe the example of their parents.
In
his “spare time,” Danny managed to
co-author a 2004 book about his days as a
Florida Gator. It’s called “Danny
Wuerffel’s Tales from the
Gator
Swamp: Reflections of Faith and Football” and is
available at booksellers like www.amazon.com.
As
a lasting tribute to Danny Wuerffel and his
legacy, the All Sports Association of Fort
Walton Beach began awarding the Wuerffel
Trophy in 2005 to the college football
player “who best combines exemplary community service with
athletic and academic achievement.” The
trophy was nicknamed the “Humanitarian
Heisman” by Mike Bianchi of the Orlando
Sentinel, who remarked, “There's
an award for the best quarterback, best
running back, best wide receiver, best
linebacker, best center and even the best
kicker and punter. Why not one for the best
human being?”
It’s
ironic, during the season that concluded with
the BCS title game between Ohio State and
Florida, that my personal Heisman connection
is to a Florida Gator. Adding further irony is
the fact that an Ohio State Buckeye, Joel
Penton, was named the 2006 winner of the
Wuerffel Trophy in recognition of his
activities with the Fellowship of Christian
Athletes, Athletes in Action, and Campus
Crusade for Christ.
In
the
BCS
Championship pitting Ohio State against
Florida I rooted for the
Buckeyes and was sorely disappointed in the
outcome (Florida 41, Ohio State 14). But
it’s hard to dislike the Florida Gators when
you know a Danny Wuerffel who is so closely
identified with Florida football. And as great
a football player as he was, those who know
Danny well say he’s an even better person. I
think his greatest accomplishments are still
ahead of him.
(One
final note: I asked Jessica Wuerffel to check
this out for accuracy, and she pointed out a
few things that needed touching up. One of
them involves her father’s alleged dislike
of football: “My
dad really does like football. In fact, that
is how I got to liking it. I used to
watch the Browns with him every Sunday.”
Thanks for your help, Jessica. The Browns
could have used Danny last season! My best to
the Wuerffel family for indulging me in this
name-dropping exercise. He really is a class
act, and so is Mrs. Wuerffel!)
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