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Danny Wuerffel Aims For Another Championship, This Time In Flag Football And As Michael Vick’s Teammate

Danny Wuerffel took the snap from center, turned to his left, and with the flick of his wrist, the ball was out.
Wuerffel has executed that throw — a perfect spiral — thousands of times at the University of Florida and during six NFL seasons.
It’s just that none of those precise passes were executed on a steamy scorcher of a morning at The First Academy in Orlando or, more interestingly, caught by Michael Vick.
"We’ve been playing catch this week,'' Wuerffel said. "That was a great experience.''
Michael Vick, taken first overall by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2001 NFL Draft, is on the board of the American Flag Football League. He also is a player. - Original Credit: Stephen Ruiz/Orlando Sentinel - Original Source: Stephen Ruiz/Orlando Sentinel (Courtesy photo)
Wuerffel, 45, and Vick, 38, are captains on the Florida Fury, who will participate in the American Flag Football League Championship this weekend in Florham Park, N.J. The final is scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday.
"Trust me: If these guys out here had pads on, I wouldn’t be out here playing,'' Vick said. "The fact that it’s flag makes it more meaningful.''
The Fury have other notable players beyond two quarterbacks who combined for more than 14,000 passing yards in college, one (Wuerffel) who captured the Heisman Trophy and won a national championship in 1996 and the other (Vick) who was drafted first overall by the Atlanta Falcons in 2001. Former NFL wide receivers Jason Avant and Ace Sanders are on the roster.
Former UCF standout Rannell Hall and former Boone High School speedster Marvin Bracy are with the Fury, too, as is the only three-time NBA slam-dunk champion.
"I went to the University of Washington on a football scholarship, so coming out and playing flag, it’s tapping into your childhood memories,'' said Nate Robinson, a 5-foot-9 cornerback.
The American Flag Football League, whose board includes Wuerffel and Vick, held its first championship in 2018.
"The goal is to try to mix the flag football world, which has a very passionate community of a lot of athletic guys, with the traditional football world,'' Fury coach James Di Virgilio said. "It’s always been hard for guys, like Danny or Mike, who have played all real football all their lives to play any kind of flag.
"The game is faster, different. It’s more — I don’t want to say athletic, because the NFL is also one of the most athletic things in the world — but it’s a quicker, athletically shiftier game.''
Danny Wuerffel is on the Florida Fury, who will participate in the American Flag Football League Championships in New Jersey this weekend. - Original Credit: Stephen Ruiz/Orlando Sentinel - Original Source: Stephen Ruiz/Orlando Sentinel (Courtesy photo)
It also is a more popular version of football, according to data, and not just with parents worried about the potential impact of their children playing tackle football while their brains and bodies still are developing.
More than 6.5 million Americans ages 6 and over play flag football, a 2018 participation survey from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association showed. Slightly more than 5.2 million are involved in tackle football.
While the numbers for flag football are trending upward, those for a sport whose players are cheered on by millions on fall weekends are not.
"Some things with tackle football make it one of the greatest games ever,'' Wuerffel said. "You learn things about life and toughness and teamwork that are really hard to learn in other places. At the same time, the game of flag is really fun, especially for the younger people. It gets them involved in football without them having to deal with all the contact and injuries.''
Wuerffel’s reasons for joining the American Flag Football League are much less complex. For a player who last suited up when Steve Spurrier coached the Washington Redskins in 2002, it gave him a chance to play again.
"The competitive part of me felt a little bit like a lion that’s been hibernating,'' Wuerffel said.
Vick hasn’t been in hibernation as long, but he’s just as hungry for this version of football to succeed.
"I want to see a professional flag football league surface and continue to grow,'' Vick said. "There is a place for it. Just like any other sport, you just continue to build it up and build it up and build it up and give people something to do.''

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