Ole Miss senior punter Mac Brown has been tabbed as one of 97 nominees for the 2020 Wuerffel Trophy on Tuesday.
The Wuerffel Trophy, known as “College Football’s Premier Award for Community Service,” is named after 1996 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel and is awarded to the FBS player that best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement.
When he was in seventh grade, Brown had a modest goal of raising $500 for a childhood friend’s dad who had been diagnosed with ALS. Along with a group of neighborhood friends, Brown started a lemonade stand, Awesome Lemonade Stand, in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, to help his friend’s family.
Nine years later, that $500 goal has ballooned to over $101,000 raised by Brown and his friends for ALS research. The Awesome Lemonade Stand is held on a late day in June and this year’s virtual fundraiser raised more than $230,000 alone.
Besides the Awesome Lemonade Stand, Brown has participated in many community service activities around the Oxford and Mississippi area including: Student-Athlete Advisory Council, Sweetheart for residents at The Blake in Oxford, Reading with the Rebels, Hope to Dream, Special Olympics, plus much more.
Semifinalists for the award will be announced on Nov. 29 and finalists will be announced on Dec. 8. The formal announcement of the 2020 recipient is anticipated to be made the week of Dec. 26 – Jan. 2. The presentation of the 2020 Wuerffel Trophy is scheduled to occur at the 52nd All Sports Association Awards Banquet on Feb. 20, 2021 in Niceville, Florida.
Former Ole Miss linebacker D.T. Shackelford became the first Rebel to win the prestigious award when he took home Wuerffel honors in 2014.
Staff Report
