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00:00Live from the Super Bowl, Radio Rose, Super Bowl 59, Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs do battle this Sunday.
00:05I'm Donnie Reitz, I've got a great guest today. It's Danny Werfel, and if you can see the background here,
00:09none better in college football history than Danny Werfel. Danny, how are we doing today?
00:14Well, with this background, I'm feeling pretty good. This is about the coolest thing so far.
00:18Get your right back set up there. We've got a lot to go over. I know you're doing a lot of big things,
00:22but of course, we are all football fans. You are here. I've got to ask you,
00:25how did you make your way to the University of Florida, high school career, then getting to college?
00:31Fortunately, I had a great high school football coach. We had a good program.
00:35You know, guys don't just show up from nowhere, so I'm a product of a lot of other people's work.
00:40But for me, the chance to play for Spurrier was just too big to pass.
00:45And secondly, I asked myself if I weren't playing football, of all the schools I looked at,
00:50Florida is a fantastic university, so I would have gone there had I not been playing.
00:54Now, if we didn't go to Florida, where would you have gone at that point?
00:57Like, who was that next suitor in line?
00:59You know, Florida State was the lead for me most of my recruiting.
01:02My older sister went there. It was closer. I was a little bit more of a Florida State fan.
01:07I also was recruited by Alabama and loved them.
01:09But in the end, Spurrier and the University of Florida were too much to pass.
01:13The SEC, it just means more here. But let's get into your also accolades there.
01:17When you look at your bio, it is a long list of every single record you've broken, how fantastic you are.
01:23Heisman Trophy, National Championship.
01:25But if we take you through, early on in your college football career, started, split some time.
01:29How was that for your freshman and sophomore years?
01:31You know, my freshman year, it was great because, you know, you'd rather play some than none.
01:35Yeah, true.
01:36So even though I was splitting time, I had a really good year and enjoyed it.
01:39It was tougher my second year because Terry was named the starter and I didn't play for several games.
01:44And so that was a little harder.
01:46But then about halfway through the year, I started playing and then finished the last two.
01:50Gotcha. In the next two years, I mean, absolutely hit the charts there.
01:53Going with Spurrier, how demanding a coach was he to you?
01:57Because we always see the throwing of the visor, the anger.
02:00But what was the man behind the scenes like with you?
02:02It was both. He's super intent.
02:04Yeah.
02:05So, you know, I always said I'd rather play for a coach that pushed you harder than you needed to be pushed to get the most out of you.
02:11You know, but also he's really a funny guy.
02:15There's a lot of things behind the scenes that people don't see.
02:18And we just, you know, won so much.
02:20We still have a great relationship.
02:22He's back in Gainesville.
02:23It's kind of like that grandfather energy now.
02:25Absolutely.
02:26Absolutely.
02:27Now, you were a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, but we always loved the team concept.
02:30Take me through briefly that year you guys won the national championship and how special that was.
02:35You know, sometimes I pinch myself, like, did it really happen?
02:39You know, that year in particular is magical.
02:42We were undefeated and then we lose to Florida State the last game of the season,
02:46which for all intents and purposes gets you out of it.
02:49But several strange things happened.
02:51We got another shot at Florida State.
02:53We beat our arch rival here in New Orleans at the Sugar Bowl for the national title.
02:57My last college football game, it was like a script that you wouldn't believe because it was too good to be true.
03:03Yeah.
03:04Now, winning the Heisman, going to New York, what was that experience like?
03:07Like, you were the best college football player on the planet.
03:10I think it was a bit surreal at the time.
03:12You know, so much was happening.
03:14I really didn't have a chance to digest it.
03:16I think it's, you know, Coach Spurrier's wife actually came up to me at the ceremony.
03:20She said, Danny, this is happening fast, but this will hit you over time.
03:24And she's right.
03:25I mean, like, you know, your whole life is marked by it.
03:27I could cure cancer or get arrested.
03:30And I'd either way still be known as the Heisman Trophy winner.
03:33Absolutely.
03:34I mean, it's a unique club there that you are certainly in.
03:36You get to the pros.
03:37You have some success there.
03:38But I also wanted to talk to you about this.
03:40What you're doing now may be more meaningful than what you were doing in your playing time.
03:43Talk about what you're up to now with the Huddle for Health.
03:45Well, I appreciate that.
03:46So, my foundation, the Werfel Foundation, inspiring service, unity, and health in the world.
03:51And I've learned as a football player you can't do anything without a great team.
03:55And so, we have some new friends and partners that we're linking up with.
03:58The first is IS Nation.
04:00So, IS Nation is an online platform.
04:02Think of it like an app, sports, relationship, positivity.
04:06This is like instead of like the Instagrams or the Snapchat, you want to send your kids to IS Nation.
04:11Yeah.
04:12So, it's a really awesome positive energy movement there.
04:16And then Huddle for Health is kind of birthed out of the NFL alumni health where they're trying to really educate and inspire people towards healthy living,
04:24different resources that are out there and services.
04:27And so, they're going to be putting their content on the IS Nation.
04:30And so, the Werfel Foundation is excited about partnering with these groups.
04:34You know, there's a lot of things that people struggle with, mental health, physical health, suicide, depression rates are really high.
04:41And so, this is an effort to kind of use the excitement of sports, venues like the Super Bowl to create intensity and excitement,
04:48but then push people towards something that makes a difference in their life.
04:52It's fantastic stuff when you get down to it because doing that much after football is impressive.
04:56But we do have here, you're a champion.
04:58There's a championship game on Sunday.
04:59Eagles, Chiefs, who are we going with in that?
05:02Well, my first bet would be who has the ball last.
05:05Okay.
05:06I wouldn't bet against that.
05:08It usually comes down to who makes the key plays in the magical moment.
05:11Yeah.
05:12And there's a certain guy out there for Kansas City, the quarterback, who tends to make the plays when they matter time and time again.
05:19It's almost like we're watching a video game, the plays that he makes.
05:22So, I'd have a hard time betting against the Chiefs.
05:25I do think for sure the Eagles could win this.
05:28In fact, I'm kind of pulling for the Eagles.
05:30But if I had to bet, I wouldn't bet against the Chiefs.
05:32Hard to bet against the Chiefs.
05:33This guy knows about winning big games in New Orleans, no doubt about it.
05:36Great, Danny Wuerffel, fantastic to have you here.
05:38Thanks, Donnie.
05:39Appreciate you stopping by the set.
05:40Appreciate you.
05:41Take care.