3 Days to Gator Football: Danny Wuerffel

[Escambia94]

Daniel Carl Wuerffel was born in my favorite city, Pensacola, Florida, as the son of a minister and Air Force chaplain. At Fort Walton Beach High School, he won the Florida 4A state championship right there at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium over the highly touted, perennial power St. Thomas Aquinas. Danny was one of two highly touted QBs recruited to Florida in 1993--Eric Kresser was actually rated higher. As quarterback for the Florida Gators under Steve Spurrier, Danny emerged from the competition against Terry Dean and Eric Kresser to become the most highly decorated player in Gator history (at the time). He won the 1996 Heisman Trophy, the 1996 Bowl Alliance National Championship, four consecutive SEC titles from 1993 to 1996, the Draddy Trophy, 1st-team Academic All-American ’95 and ’96, 1st-team All-American ’95, consensus All-American ’96, Sammy Baugh Trophy winner ’95, Davey O’Brien Award winner ’95 and ’96, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Award winner ’96, NCAA Quarterback of the Year ’96, team MVP ’95 and ’96, Gainesville Sun’s UF Team of the Century ’99, and Florida Gator’s 100th Anniversary Team ’06. He finished his career 708/1,170 for 10,875 yards, 114 touchdown passes, 163.56 passer rating, and 9.74 touchdown percentage. Most of those stats were SEC or NCAA records at one time. At the time, his Heisman year campaign had the SEC record for passing yardage, led the nation in touchdowns, and set the record for back-to-back seasons of posting a passer rating of 170+. Danny was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Association Hall of Fame as a Gator Great in 2006. Danny went on to play for the New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, and in a reunion with Steve Spurrier with the Washington Redskins. He was the MVP of the NFL Europa World Bowl for the Rhein Fire in 2000. After retiring from the NFL, he started working full time with his charity and ministry, Desire Street Ministries until it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. In 2006, he was inducted into the Gator Ring of Honor, and in 2011 his statue was erected alongside likenesses of Steve Spurrier and Tim Tebow. Be sure to check out how Danny compares to the other Gator QBs here:
http://www.gatorenvy.com/threads/top-gator-passers.15527/.

Year Comp Att Comp % Passing TD INT

1993 159 273 58.2 2230 22 10

1994 132 212 62.3 1754 18 9

1995 210 325 64.6 3266 35 10



1996 207 360 57.5 3625 39 13

 

[Leakfan12]

The best passer in Gators history.

 

[Escambia94]

The best passer in Gators history.

Right you are! I did the analysis, and Danny is for the most part the best passer Florida ever had: http://www.gatorenvy.com/threads/top-gator-passers.15527/

 

[DRU2012]

I assume that y'all are watching this interesting little skirmish in Nashvile tonight...Frankly, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel here, who I'm to root for. Coming in I figured the Gamecocks were the likeliest favorites in the East, even WITH Georgia's relatively "lighter-weight" schedule, so a Commodore win might be big for us later. On the other hand, we play 'em both, and this Vandy team, already touted as a more serious challenge than ever before (all the more so with Gator transfers, rejects and decommits all over their line-up), looks to be a tough challenge no matter what the outcome of this one.
Meanwhile, speaking of "things I'm not sure how to feel about", the fact that we are well into the 3rd qrtr. of a season-opening SEC-match-up, the lone game in prime time on a Thursday night, and in all the discussion of the various strengths and weaknesses of both favorites and possible challengers for SEC contention and leadership, still nary a WORD regarding our Gators in ANY context--well, again: on the one hand, I understand we haven't shown much the last couple of seasons, and maybe the lack of credit or interest in the very real changes and expectations bubbling below the surface in Gainesville, not so long ago the center of the College Football world and shooting for nothing less than a return-to-similar-glory ASAP, really ISN'T obvious or of particular interest outside of Gator Nation and/or North-Central Florida, at least until we begin beating some of these "other folks" the media are apparently so enamored of, I LOVE the idea that we may be underestimated, and definitely IGNORED in a way that HAS to irritate our players, driving them closer together and making them more determined to shove all of it back in everyone's collective faces. So even as it bothers me to be reduced to "less-hyped-than-Vanderbilt", at the same time I sort of wonder if that isn't "to be expected"--even as I secretly hope it's "just what this team needs" as it journeys the long hard road to BECOME a "team", a tight group of high-character young men who have each others' backs.
(As I write this, SC regains the lead in a manner that, over the last few minutes and the contrast in "typical possessions" by each squad, and their outcomes, pretty accurately demonstrated the differences in the strengths and weaknesses of each program...Vandy needs a big play or two to stay in it with this Gamecocks team, with 11 min. left in the 4th qrtr.--and here's their first chance, a long KO-runback into USC territory after the Gamecocks scored--but they NEEDED the TD there to take back momentum, I think...Vanderbilt better get busy or they'll have nothing but "a respectable loss", and I don't happen to believe in "moral victories", especially when you're trying to erase your long-established image from the past as a "spunky loser"...Unless their defense can really bear down now and give the offense one more shot on a "short field", this thing will just painfully, inevitably slip from their hands--and with this big open-field run from Lattimore, that'll just about do it...CONCLUSION: even with more than 7 min. left and just a 4 pt. lead, I project USC with not only a win tonight, but assuming we DO pull it together and seriously contend in the EAST, this team, and not the Bulldogs, will be the one that'll present the toughest matchups for US--Georgia's main "advantage" amounts to their schedule, but that won't help them when they DO meet any competent, well-coached team; they appear to be quite beatable. As for Vanderbilt, they look to be a tighter, more "respectable" SEC program, one that will beat outsiders, even "sneak up on" a couple of SEC-teams having down years--NOT a team you want to come in thinking they're an "automatic win" anymore--but still a LONG way from Conference Contenders: even THEY don't really believe that about themselves, and without that "SEC Swagger", nothing short of some multi-year, breakthrough recruiting AND a series of shocking upsets on-the-road against the SEC's best is likely to even begin to change that...Yeah, yeah, I saw the pass-interference that WASN'T called there on 4th down deep in SC territory--but the Commodores had more than one opportunity, in fact a number of them throughout the game, to put the Gamecocks in the catch-up role here at the end...instead, a questionable call by officials that protects the status quo somehow makes the final difference--big surprise...)

 

[Escambia94]

I thought both teams looked sloppy. I hope the Gators look better, considering they play both of these teams. Florida has to beat both this year, or else I will have no choice but to keep setting my living room furniture on fire on Saturdays as I watch the games suck.