Griffin Named as Nominee for Wuerffel Trophy
The Wuerffel Trophy, College Football's Premier Award for Community Service, announced on Thursday that UCLA's Chase Griffin has been named to the Wuerffel Trophy Watch List. Named after 1996 Heisman Trophy Winner, Danny Wuerffel, the Wuerffel Trophy is known as "College Football's Premier Award for Community Service" and is presented annually in Fort Walton Beach. The recipient will be announced in December.
Griffin, who earned his undergraduate degree at UCLA in public affairs and is currently enrolled in graduate school, has been named to the Athletic Director's Academic Honor Roll from 2019-2021. He was the NIL Male Athlete of the Year at the recently held 2022 NIL Summit. His numerous community service endeavors include experiences with the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, the Boost Mobile Holiday event, LA After School All-Stars, Be the Match Marrow Donor Registry and the LA Unified Schools.
Griffin was selected to the 2020-21 Pac-12 Fall Academic Honor Roll and was the winner of the Chancellor's Leadership Award in 2020-21. In 2020, he was named an Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar and the winner of the Academic & Student Services Success Award. Griffin was also presented the 2020-21 Athletic Director's Academic Excellence Award. On the field, Griffin has completed 40 of his 62 career passing attempts (.645) for 451 yards and six touchdowns. His experience includes starting assignments in 2020 games at Oregon and against Arizona.
The semifinalists for the award will be announced on November 1, and finalists will be revealed on November 22. The formal announcement of the 2022 recipient is scheduled to be made on December 8, and the presentation of the 2022 Wuerffel Trophy will occur on February 24, 2023. Past recipients of the award are: 2005 - Rudy Niswanger - LSU; 2006 - Joel Penton - Ohio State; 2007 - Paul Smith - Tulsa; 2008 - Tim Tebow - Florida; 2009 - Tim Hiller - Western Michigan; 2010 - Sam Acho - Texas; 2011 - Barrett Jones - Alabama; 2012 - Matt Barkley - USC; 2013 - Gabe Ikard - Oklahoma; 2014 - Deterrian Shackelford - Ole Miss; 2015 - Ty Darlington - Oklahoma; 2016 - Trevor Knight - Texas A&M; 2017 - Courtney Love - Kentucky; 2018 - Drue Tranquill - Notre Dame; 2019 - Jon Wassink - Western Michigan; 2020 - Teton Saltes - New Mexico; 2021 - Isaiah Sanders - Stanford. The Wuerffel Trophy is supported by its corporate partners, Dart Container Corporation/Solo Cup and Herff Jones. For more information on the Wuerffel Trophy, visit www.wuerffeltrophy.org.
The Bruins open the 2022 season with three straight non-conference home contests. The campaign begins on Sept. 3 against Bowling Green at Rose Bowl Stadium in a 11:30 a.m. PT kickoff that airs on Pac-12 Network. A Sept. 10 visit by Alabama State follows, with the Pac-12 Network-televised matchup slated for a 2 p.m. start. Pac-12 Network provides coverage of the Sept. 17 battle with South Alabama, beginning at 11 a.m. The Bruin's home slate also includes Pac-12 Conference home contests against Washington (Sept. 30), Utah (Oct. 8), Stanford (Oct. 29) Arizona (Nov. 12) and USC (Nov. 19). To place a $99 deposit on 2022 UCLA football season tickets, CLICK HERE.