LSU's Rudy Niswanger Receives Wuerffel Trophy
Thursday, December 1, 2005 | General
Senior Rudy Niswanger from LSU was presented with the inaugural Wuerffel Trophy on Thursday afternoon by the All Sports Association in Baton Rouge, La. Named for 1996 Heisman Trophy recipient, former Gator quarterback Danny Wuerffel, the award honors a college football player who best combines exemplary community service with outstanding academic and athletic achievement.
A center who has played all five positions on the offensive line for the Western Division champion Tigers, Niswanger registered a perfect 4.0 grade point average in pre-med studies and has already been accepted to LSU's medical school. A three-time member of the Southeastern Conference's Academic Honor Roll, he is a regular speaker at churches, schools and youth groups in the Baton Rouge area. Following Hurricane Katrina, Niswanger helped organize food and clothing drives and took time to visit evacuees in various emergency shelters.
He was chosen from a field of 13 national finalists and was informed of his selection by Wuerffel, who said, "There were some incredible young men as finalists and yet Rudy with his combination of the three things we were looking for: outstanding academic performance, incredible play and then just the outstanding record of things he has done in the community, I just feel privileged to have someone as fine as Rudy as the first winner."
Wuerffel led Fort Walton Beach (Fla.) High School to a 1991 state championship before embarking on a legendary career at the University of Florida that culminated in 1996 with the Heisman Trophy award and a national championship for the Gators. That same year, he was named the national Academic All-America of the Year and also received the Draddy Trophy, which is presented by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame to the nation's top football scholar-athlete. Wuerffel is the only Heisman Trophy recipient also to receive the Draddy Trophy. In recent years, he has received awards for his humanitarian and community service efforts with Desire Street Ministries in New Orleans.
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