Wuerffel may have a long wait
It is inevitable that former Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel will be voted into the College Football Hall of Fame. But the question now is when? It could take several years, maybe longer.
For some strange, inexplicable reason, this is the way it works with the college HOF. In the NFL, the elite players usually get voted into the HOF the year they become eligible (like, say, Emmitt Smith, pro football’s all-time leading rusher). That never seems to happen with the college version of the HOF. The elite players sometimes have to wait decades (like, say, Deion Sanders, who had to wait 23 years after his FSU career ended).
Wuerffel became eligible for the HOF in 2006, 10 years after his UF career ended, but he did not make it on the ballot for the first time until this year (how in the world does that happen?). He, of course, was passed over in the voting that was announced Tuesday.
Wuerffel automatically goes on to next year’s ballot, but that guarantees nothing, as former Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier found out Tuesday. He somehow was passed over for the second year in a row, while two of the three quarterbacks who were voted in (Steve Bartkowski and Tommy Kramer) had college careers that did not even come close to Frazier’s.
It’s pretty obvious Wuerffel might have to wait a while before he gets that call from the HOF.
The College Football Hall of Fame has a track record of shunning some of the game’s greatest players for years before welcoming them into the club.
Here are a few examples: Steve Spurrier, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1966, did not go into the HOF until 1986; Georgia All-America defensive end Bill Stanfill had to wait 30 years; Roger Staubach, who won the Heisman in 1963, didn’t make it in until 1981; Herschel Walker didn’t get the Hall call until 17 years after he last carried the football for the Georgia Bulldogs.
It makes no sense.
When Wuerffel was passed over Tuesday, some reasoned that it’s because players usually don’t get voted in the first time they’re on the ballot. That’s not true. Former UF All-America wide receiver Carlos Alvarez was on the ballot for the first time last year and he was voted in.
Wuerffel was one of the greatest college quarterbacks to ever play the game. He won the Heisman. He led the Gators to the national championship his senior season (1996). He should not have been voted into the College Football Hall of Fame on Tuesday. That should have happened in 2006, the year he became eligible.
The way the College Football Hall of Fame votes in members makes no sense, no sense at all.
Robbie Andreu has been The Sun’s college football beat writer since 1993. He covered every game of the Steve Spurrier coaching era. The only game he’s missed since he has been in Gainesville is the 2006 Florida State game in Tallahassee. He happily stayed home for that one because of the imminent birth of his second child. Before coming to The Sun in March of 1993, Andreu worked for the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel for 10 years, covering a variety of sports, including the Miami Dolphins, the Miami Hurricanes, professional golf and baseball (playoffs and World Series). He also worked in Clearwater and Bradenton. He graduated from UF in 1977.
Well he is in my HOF! Half that 96 team should be in it.
by Mark
Im A Gator!!!! I remember every game!!!!!! Ask me if I care of some group of old farts puts him in or not….Ive got him on tape of the 52-20 N Champ game over FSU and every other major game….Same with Tim Tebow! Every National champ game and major game….They are our heros
They dont have the feelings we do!!!!!
Bob in Jupiter—Go Gators
by bob
Furthermore…reminds me of the old manipulative losers in the movie
” remember the titans” hanging some hall of fame nonsense over someone because they are such sorry no life losers!!!!
Go gators,
by bob
It doesn’t matter to me if they ever put him in because every year they don’t is just another year they prove their foolishness. There may be some residual belief, because he didn’t also have a long successful, pro career, that he wasn’t anything more than a “system” QB. Remember, there was talk about that when he played for us. While that misconception may carry weight with the voters at the HOF, the voters who really count – Gator fans – know that Danny will always be a Hall of Famer in our hearts and minds.
by BSJGator
College HOF, I don’t even know where it is, is it even relevant. I think I’m going to start a college beer drinking HOF and I’m going to vote myself in and I will make sure you know where it is. Chin up Danny you got your chicken dinner and everyone will forget about the College Football HOF by 6pm tonight.
by Gatorboy
The last I heard, The Doobie Brothers aren’t in the Rock And Roll HOF either. Just goes to show that there are at least 2 HOF’s run by complete idiots. Danny was a GREAT college QB. He threw the fade as well as it could be thrown and there’s no telling how many passes he threw to a spot while his receiver still had his back to him before making his break. I don’t think I’ve ever seen another college QB with his sense of timing and accuracy. He deserves to be in.
by Gator Jay
I agree with Bob, 52-20 says it all! Danny deserves the C.F.H.O.F. indction. Not many Q.B.s won 4 S.E.C. Championships in a row, played in 2 National Championship games, and beat as many ranked teams as Danny did in the 90′s! Some of us will never forget the greatest years of Florida Gator football history to date, even if the incompetent selection committee has!
by gatorgi70x7
Danny has bigger fish to fry! He probably does not care, so why should we?
by kevin hoffman
And I agree with Gatorgi70x7…..I have the tape of the Tennessee game where we rang up 42 points in the second half!!! 6 absolute smart bombs dropping into the receivers hands for 6 Td.s!!!!!
it still gives me chills as Spurrier narrates and says it is the most incredible performance he had ever seen!!!!!!
Go Danny Go Gators! Bob in Jupiter
by bob
If a Florida player was voted in last year, it cannot have another player voted in this year. Putting him on the ballot was pointless. Same reason TF from Nebraska wasn’t voted in. They had a player voted in last year.
by Jacob
Here’s the class…..Not to be bitter, but it seems to me there’s also a bias towards inducting recognizable NFL careers regardless of their college days, such as Dave Casper.
Casper’s career stats at Notre Dame……
21 receptions for 335 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Here’s the entire class.
Jimmy Johnson, Phil Fulmer, Steve Bartkowski, Art Monk of Syracuse; tight end Dave Casper of Notre Dame; tackle Jonathan Ogden of UCLA; running backs Charles Alexander of LSU and Otis Armstrong of Purdue; quarterback Tommy Kramer of Rice; defensive backs Scott Thomas of Air Force and Greg Myers of Colorado State; split end Hal Bedsole of Southern California; defensive end Gabe Rivera of Texas Tech; linebacker Mark Simoneau of Kansas State; and guard John Wooten of Colorado.
by Panhandle Gator
As a follow up to my earlier comment on Casper’s college stats of 21 receptions for 335 yards and 4 TD’s, I looked up Ben Troupe’s while at UF, and I don’t see him getting the HOF.
Troupe had 958 yards, (3x’s as much as Casper), 64 receptions (again 3x’s Casper) and 7 TD’s, again more
by Panhandle Gator
It seems that you have to be a NFL player of some regard to be considered. Perhaps this is the Honorable Mention of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
by NYGator
College Football Total HOF # Inductees
21 Minnesota
21 Princeton
21 Yale
19 Navy
17 Harvard
99 Total
22 Penn State
22 Oklahoma
20 Tennessee
18 Alabama
17 Texas
99 Total
43 Notre Dame
Hmmm….
by Chobee John
So, a player could finish his NFL career, become an NFL HOF inductee, and then still wait to maybe get elected to the college HOF?
Makes as much sense as those football factory Ivy league teams Princeton and Yale having more college HOF inductees than Texas or Alabama.
Bwaaahaaahaahaaa!
by Chobee John
….or Notre Dame with 43 inductees (arroooggmph, excuse me I gagged a little), which is more than Oklahoma and Alabama combined.
Our Danny, one of the top 10 college QB’s in history, is in good company.
How to fix:
1. have reasonable criteria that allows small school and small conferences access, without shunning deserving players from power schools or being Irish-centric
2. put in 50 players from pre-1980 all at one time to catch up, it’ll be fun
3. so you can then focus on more recent players while they and their families and fans are still alive
4. make this a fun, relevant, BIG EVENT that strengthens the brand
by Chobee John
Roll Tide! 101-29 last 3 years!
by ROLL TIDE