The award honors players who serve and inspire others to have a positive impact on society.
Ohio State junior center Harry Miller was one of 93 players named on Thursday to the preseason watch list for the Wuerffel Trophy, which is given annually to the player who best combines exemplary community service with leadership on and off the field.
Miller, a former four-star prospect from Buford, Ga., who started seven games for the Buckeyes last fall, was similarly nominated for the American Football Association’s Good Works Team earlier this month thanks to his involvement with Mission 4 Nicaragua, a nonprofit organization that operates and distributes food and medicine to less-fortunate families in Los Brasiles.
In fact, Miller has made nearly a dozen trips to Nicaragua over the last seen years and recently raised more than $1,000 for the missionary – of which he is a board member – through a pop-up shop that sold t-shirts, sweatshirts and hats with his personal logo, which features an “H” inside of a blue shield, matching the primary color of the country’s flag.
“I’m tremendously fortunate to have good friends, a good family support system, clothes, food,” Miller told The Columbus Dispatch earlier this month. “I have my guitars and my books, so there's not really much else I'm looking to buy. The reality is that the money can get stretched a lot further for a lot more people, and therefore, it's the most utilitarian thing to do. It would be uncouth of me to not take note of that, especially for a community that's been so supportive of me for upwards of a decade now. They deserve it.”
The award is named after former Florida quarterback and 1996 Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel, who is currently a motivational speaker and executive director of Desire Street Ministries, a nonprofit organization that seeks to help impoverished neighborhoods through spiritual and community development.
Former Ohio State defensive tackle Joel Penton (2006) is the only player in school history to win the award, though long snapper Bryce Haynes was also a finalist in 2014. This year’s winner will be announced at the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards on Dec. 9.
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