Ms. Shemetria Risper of Westside High School and Mr. Andrew Correa of First Presbyterian Day School have been named as the two recipients of the four-year scholarship of $1000 per year. These two recipients will also each receive $500 to donate to the charitable organization of their choice. Coach Vince Dooley and the GHSA Executive Director Dr. Robin Hines offered inspirational remarks during the ceremony held at the College Football Hall of Fame. Athletes for a Better World Executive Director Brad Catherman served as master of ceremonies, with Chairman of the Board Steve Petyerak in attendance to bestow the scholarships.
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In 1996, Danny won the coveted Heisman Trophy Award while playing football at the University of Florida. As quarterback, he led the Gators to four SEC Championships and UF’s first National Football Championship under the leadership of legendary coach Steve Spurrier. Wuerffel set 17 NCAA and UF records, won the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien Awards (nation’s top QB), as well as the Campbell Award, given to the nation’s top scholar-athlete. In 2014, Wuerffel was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Drafted by the New Orleans Saints, Wuerffel played seven seasons in the NFL (Packers, Bears, Redskins). During his playing years, Danny continued to make service a priority in each city, but felt the strongest connection to the children and families living in New Orleans’ poverty stricken Ninth Ward, home of Desire Street Ministries. Wuerffel left the NFL in 2004 to join Desire Street, later becoming its Executive Director and relocating the headquarters to Atlanta to allow the organization to have a larger impact in the Southeast. Wuerffel felt called to serve leaders in under-resourced neighborhoods and continues to be a champion for inspiring community-led revitalization.

In 2005, the All Sports Association established The Wuerffel Trophy, college football’s premier award for community service. In addition to presenting the trophy to a deserving winner, the Wuerffel Trophy organization honors hundreds of college football players who excel in community service and celebrates their positive impact on society.

In 2020, the Wuerffel Foundation was established to inspire, support and honor community service leaders to make a positive impact in the world. Wuerffel speaks at corporate and non-profit events and consults to non-profit leaders and philanthropists. Wuerffel resides in Atlanta with wife Jessica and three children.

Live stream event with Heisman Trophy Winners Steve Spurrier and Danny Wuerffel,

Thursday April 29th at 5pm EDT from the College Gameday Theatre at the College Football Hall of Fame

Live-Stream The Event

The 16th Annual Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup, an award given to the most outstanding role models among athletes, has announced the professional, collegiate, and high school honorees for its 2021 award ceremony, to be held April 29 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.  Heisman Trophy winner and philanthropist Danny Wuerffel will be the professional recipient.  Bob Ryan, the famed sportswriter for the Boston Globe and analyst for ESPN, will serve as the Master of Ceremonies.

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Ms. Sovi Wellons of The Heritage School with Mr. Quinn Harron of Marist School have been named as the two recipients of the four-year scholarship of $1000 per year. These two recipients will also each receive $500 to donate to the charitable organization of their choice. Wellons and Harron were selected from Finalists listed below. Due to the national circumstances surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic, the College Football Hall of Fame has canceled all spring events. Plaques for all Dooley Award recipients and scholarship information will be mailed to the respective athletic directors during the month of May.
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The 16th Annual Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup, an award given to the most outstanding role models among athletes, has announced collegiate honorees for its 2020 award ceremony to be held in Atlanta at a date to be announced. Bob Ryan, the famed sportswriter for the Boston Globe and analyst for ESPN, will serve as the Master of Ceremonies.

Founded by Athletes for a Better World (ABW), a non-profit organization committed to changing the culture of American sports, the Wooden Cup is unique in that it is open to athletes in all high school, collegiate, Olympic, and professional sports. Annual nominations are open to every division and conference in college sports, and to athletes in public and private high schools across the country in partnership with the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.
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Athletes for a Better World (ABW) and The National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) have formed a partnership to annually recognize one male and one female national NIAAA scholarship winner as automatic recipients of the prestigious Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup.  These two high school athletes will join one collegiate and one professional recipient each year as exemplary role models of the ABW Code for Living.  The recipients of the high school class of 2019 are Natalya Blair Newsome and Max David Friedman who will receive the Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup in the spring of 2020.  ABW Executive Director Brad Catherman and NIAAA officials celebrated this achievement with the two recipients at the Opening General Session of the National Athletic Directors Conference conducted on December 14, 2019 in National Harbor, Maryland.
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Karsen Ochs of First Presbyterian Day School and William McKinley Thompson III of Stratford Academy were named as the recipients of the four-year scholarship of $1000 per year by legendary Coach Vince Dooley on May 11, 2019 at a ceremony held at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.  The two scholarship recipients will also each receive $500 to donate to the charitable organization of their choice.

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Steward Cink, former British Open Champion and five-time U.S. Ryder Cup team member, received the 15th Annual Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup along with collegiate and high school division athletes at a banquet ceremony in the Infiniti Club at SunTrust Park in Atlanta on April 25, 2019. Nathan Clayberg of Drake University was the collegiate recipient of the award. In partnership with the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association, the high school division recipients were Sarah Rauch of Grayslake North High School, Grayslake, Illinois, and Evan Gwozdz of Middleboro High School, Middleboro, Massachusetts. Bob Ryan, the famed sportswriter for the Boston Globe and analyst for ESPN, served as the Master of Ceremonies.
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