Danny Wuerffel named Francis “Reds” Bagnell Award winner
Press release from the University of Florida Athletic Administration
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Former Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel was named as the Francis “Reds” Bagnell Award Winner, Maxwell Football Club Executive Director Mark Wolpert announced on Tuesday. The award is presented annually for contributions to college football. Wuerffel will receive the award at the 89th Maxwell Awards on March 14 at the Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre in Atlanta.
Wuerffel has dedicated his life to advancing the values of football through leadership, service, and lasting impact beyond the field. A legendary quarterback at the University of Florida, Wuerffel led the Gators to four SEC Championships and the program’s first national championship, setting 17 NCAA and school records along the way. His career culminated in winning the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, and the Campbell Award as college football’s top scholar-athlete in 1996. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013.
Following his collegiate success, Wuerffel was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the 1997 NFL Draft and played for multiple NFL franchises, also capturing a World Bowl Championship in NFL Europe before retiring in 2004.
Wuerffel’s most enduring contribution to football has perhaps come through his leadership off the field. Since 2005, he has served as the namesake of the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy, college football’s premier award recognizing community service, leadership, and impact beyond the game. Through his leadership of Desire Street Ministries and the Wuerffel Foundation, Wuerffel has consistently used football as a platform to inspire service, develop leaders, and strengthen communities — embodying the spirit of the Reds Bagnell Award and its recognition of those who give back to the game in meaningful and lasting ways.
What is he doing to return student to “student-athlete?”
Rev. Mariann Budde, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, sermon text forInaugural Prayer Service, January 21, 2025
As a country we have gathered this morning to pray fo Unity is relatively easy to pray for on occasions of great solemnity. It’s a lot harder to realize
when we’re dealing with real di erences in our private lives and in the public arena. But
without unity. We’re building our nation’s house on sand. And with a commitment to unity
that incorporates diversity and transcends disagreement and with the solid foundations of
dignity, honesty, and humility that such unity requires, we can do our part and in our time to
realize the ideals and the dream of America.
Let me make one final plea. Mr. President.
Millions have put their trust in you. And as you told the nation yesterday you have felt the
providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the
people in our country. And we’re scared now.
There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and
independent families — some who fear for their lives.
And the people, the people who pick our crops and clean our o ice buildings, who labor in
poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants,
and work the night shifts in hospitals. They may not be citizens or have the proper
documentation. But the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and
are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues
… and temples.
I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear
that their parents will be taken away. And that you help those who are fleeing war zones and
persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.
Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger for we were all once strangers
in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human
being; to speak the truth to one another in love. and walk humbly with each other and our