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Best Florida football players: Modern-era Mount Rushmore – From Emmitt Smith to Tim Tebow

By Cody Williams

GAINESVILLE, FL - OCTOBER 06: Tim Tebow is inducted into the Ring of Honor during the game between the Florida Gators and the LSU Tigersat Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on October 6, 2018 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FL - OCTOBER 06: Tim Tebow is inducted into the Ring of Honor during the game between the Florida Gators and the LSU Tigersat Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on October 6, 2018 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /
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Outside of Florida fans and college football historians, the name Danny Wuerffel gets lost in the shuffle among great Gators quarterbacks. Be it because of Chris Leak, Tim Tebow or Rex Grossman, Wuerffel just often isn’t the first name that’s brought to the table — and that’s even despite the fact that the signal-caller brought the 1996 Heisman Trophy to Gainesville.

Wuerffel was a strong player right away for the Gators, throwing for just shy of 4,000 yards and for 40 touchdowns to 19 interceptions as a freshman and sophomore combined. However, it was in his junior year — when the quarterback would go on to finish third in the Heisman voting — when Wuerffel began to truly earn his place on the Florida football Mount Rushmore.

In 11 games in the 1995 season, Wuerffel was phenomenal as he threw for 3,266 yards, 35 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions, setting a then-record for both single-season passing yards and single-season touchdowns at Florida. However, he broke both records in his Heisman-winning season the following year with 3,625 yards (which is now second all-time) and 39 touchdowns. Oh, and he also brought Florida their first-ever National Championship as well.

Ending his career by holding the most prestigious individual award in college football, Wuerffel is still all over the Gators’ record books. He has the second-most career passing yards (10,875) and the most career passing touchdowns (114), clearing second place on the latter list by 26. Given his individual and team success, there’s no chance Wuerffel isn’t rightfully in the top four in the modern era of Gators football.

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