From the Wall Street Journal House's of Worship column a couple of weeks ago. Hit the link for the whole article.
In Danny Wuerffel, the star quarterback had an example of both religious and athletic devotion.
Have you heard about the quarterback who won the Heisman trophy and led his University of Florida Gators to a national championship? The multisport athlete, Florida's USA Today Football Player of the Year as a high-schooler? The son of a pastor who always put his faith before football, even while playing in the National Football League?
Of course we're talking about Danny Wuerffel, who has served as a powerful role model for a certain Denver Broncos quarterback currently making news.
Mr. Wuerffel and Tim Tebow didn't know each other well growing up 13 years apart, but Mr. Tebow's parents made it a point to introduce the two more than a decade ago, while Mr. Wuerffel was still playing at Florida. Both players' families understood that football provided a platform that could be used to talk about the most important thing in their life—their faith.
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After his tenure with the Saints, Mr. Wuerffel played for the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins. When the Redskins looked to re-sign him in 2003, he walked away. He and his wife, Jessica, found God calling them back to the Ninth Ward and into full-time ministry with Desire Street.
They say they were inspired by a passage from the book of Isaiah: "Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings." The Wuerffels felt this would be better accomplished through full-time ministry with underprivileged youth in New Orleans than by signing a million-dollar contract to play football.
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