On December 5 1966 1966 Heisman winner Steve Spurrier
The 1966 Heisman Trophy that Steve Spurrier won as Florida’s quarterback sits in his office at South Carolina, along with six footballs that commemorate the SEC championships he won as his alma mater’s coach. “When I bring recruits in here, if they don’t spot it, we don’t even talk about it,” Spurrier said. “It generally just blends in with everything else. I just show them those SEC championship footballs. Hopefully, that’s what we’ll win here.” For Spurrier, winning championships always meant more than claiming individual awards. Spurrier won the Heisman Trophy as a senior at Florida, but never winning an SEC championship as a player always bothered him more. Spurrier is the only person to win a Heisman Trophy and coach a Heisman Trophy winner, and he always drove home the importance of winning to former Gators quarterback Danny Wuerffel, who won the Heisman three decades after his coach. “Winning a championship is bigger than any individual award because you can share it with so many people,” Spurrier said. “When I won the Heisman Trophy, my wife gave me a hug, I guess.” After Wuerffel won the Heisman Trophy in 1996, Spurrier wanted to make sure his quarterback ended his college career the right way. The Gators blasted Florida State 52-20 in the Sugar Bowl to win the school’s first national championship in football. Wuerffel passed for 308 yards and three touchdowns and was named the game’s most outstanding player. “It was neat to have Danny win it,” Spurrier said. “But we still had that big game with FSU. He’s one of the few Heisman Trophy winners that won his bowl game.”
— Mark Schlabach
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