Gator Great Danny Wuerffel Elected into Capital One Academic All-America Hall of Fame
Tuesday, March 17, 2015 | Football
GREENWOOD, Ind. – Gator great and Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel has been elected to the Capital One Academic All-America® Hall of Fame, as announced by CoSIDA on Tuesday.
Wuerffel joins four other inductees in the 2015 Hall of Fame class that will be inducted in the Academic All-America® Hall of Fame at CoSIDA's annual convention in Orlando, Fla. on Monday, June 15 at the organization's sixth-annual Capital One Hall of Fame Ceremony at the World Center Marriott.
The former UF signal-caller becomes the sixth Gator to be inducted into the Capital One Academic All-America® Hall of Fame. Florida's six representatives are the third-most among all NCAA institutions and are the most of any SEC school, as no other school from the SEC has multiple inductees.
Wuerffel becomes the third Gator football great to receive the honor, joining Carlos Alvarez (1969-72) and Chris Collinsworth (1977-80). Florida's three football inductees are tied for the second-highest total of any NCAA institution, behind only Air Force and Notre Dame, each with four.
Wuerffel reached the summit of success both on the field and in the classroom during one of the most highly decorated collegiate football careers in history at the University of Florida. He guided the Gators to the 1996 national championship with a 52-20 victory over rival Florida State in the Sugar Bowl just weeks after joining his coach, Steve Spurrier, as the school's recipient of the Heisman Trophy.
A two-time first team GTE Academic All-America® during his junior and senior campaigns of 1995 and 1996, Wuerffel guided Florida to four straight Southeastern Conference crowns and back-to-back appearances in the national championship game. A two-time All-America honoree, Wuerffel also was a two-time recipient of the Davey O'Brien Award and received both the Sammy Baugh Trophy and the Johnny Unitas Golden Award. Wuerffel threw for nearly 11,000 career yards. This included 3,625 yards and 39 touchdowns as a senior during a season which featured a 462-yard effort against Arkansas during the Gators' run to the national championship. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013.
Wuerffel led UF to the 1996 national championship and became the school's second Heisman winner.
Selected in the fourth round of the 1997 NFL draft, the former Gator played three seasons for the New Orleans Saints and a single year each for the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins. He was the most valuable player of World Bowl 2000 while playing for the Rhein Fire in NFL Europe.
Wuerffel earned a degree in public relations from Florida and was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006. An active member of his New Orleans community, Wuerffel serves as director of Desire Street Ministries, whose goal is to transform impoverished neighborhoods into flourishing, healthy communities across the nation. Undaunted after Hurricane Katrina destroyed his home and Desire Street's facilities, Wuerffel drew national attention to his efforts to rebuild the Ministries and to assist in rebuilding the city of New Orleans and the region as well.
Wuerffel will be joined in the 2015 Capital One Academic All-America® Hall of Fame by Duke University men's basketball star and former NBA standout Shane Battier, United States Olympic women's hockey medalist Angela Ruggiero of Harvard, Denison football hall of famer and Ohio State team physician Dr. Grant Jones and longtime United States Congressman and DePauw men's basketball standout Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Indiana).
The five-member class joins an elite group of 132 members in the Capital One Academic All-America® Hall of Fame.
The 2015 class was selected by CoSIDA, the Collegiate Sports Information Directors of America national organization. This marks the fifth year that Capital One is the title sponsor of both the Academic All-America® program and the Academic All-America® Hall of Fame.
Florida's five other members of the Capital One Academic All-America® Hall of Fame are: Elfi Schlegel (2013/gymnastics), Dr. Megan Neyer (2011/diving), Chris Collinsworth (2001/football), Tracy Caulkins Stockwell (1997/swimming) and Carlos Alvarez (1988/football).
Since 1997, Florida's five selections leads the nation's programs.
