On December 7 1996 1996 Heisman winner Danny Wuerffel
When Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans in August 2005, former Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel lost his family’s home and much of the ministry he had built to help the city’s poor. “We lost everything,” Wuerffel said. Florida football fans worried about the fate of Wuerffel’s 1996 Heisman Trophy, wondering if it was lost in the ravaging flood waters of Hurricane Katrina like so many other memories in New Orleans. Wuerffel became Florida’s second Heisman Trophy winner after throwing for 3,625 yards and 39 touchdowns as a senior. He led the Gators to their first national championship in football in 1996, and was coached by the school’s first Heisman Trophy winner, Steve Spurrier, who won college football’s most coveted individual award three decades earlier. Fortunately, Wuerffel’s Heisman Trophy was safe and sound at his parents’ home in Florida. Wuerffel had left the trophy there shortly after winning it and never reclaimed it. When Wuerffel and his wife, Jessica, were forced to relocate their family to Florida, the Heisman Trophy finally joined them in their temporary home. “We didn’t have any furniture,” Wuerffel said. “We didn’t have anywhere to put the Heisman Trophy so we just put it on the floor in a back guest room.” Shortly after Wuerffel’s family moved to Florida in 2005, his 2-year-old son, Jonah, was running through the guest bedroom. He tripped and fell and hit his head on the base of the Heisman Trophy. “It gashed his head open,” Wuerffel said. “He had to get a bunch of stitches.” Four years later, a scar is still visible on Jonah Wuerffel’s forehead. “He has probably one of the most unique and coolest scars anywhere,” Wuerffel said. His proud father is fine if it stays there. Shortly after Jonah was injured, Wuerffel saw his wife applying cream to her son’s forehead. “What’s that?” Wuerffel asked his wife. “It makes the scar go away,” she told him. “Don’t put that on there!” Wuerffel told her. “That’s the coolest scar ever.”
— Mark Schlabach
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