Seeking a Return, NFL Hopefuls ‘Cross the Pond’

When Danny Wuerffel “crossed the pond” three months ago to try his luck playing football in Europe, the former Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Florida was hoping to resurrect his career in the manner made famous by Kurt Warner.

In classic Horatio Alger tradition, Warner made the kind of spectacular comeback that few athletes would dare to dream. In 1998, the journeyman quarterback was pitching passes for the Amsterdam Admirals. A year later, he became the toast of the NFL, leading the St. Louis Rams to the championship and earning the Super Bowl MVP trophy.

This year, Wuerffel, 26, is hoping it might be his turn. Cut loose after three disappointing seasons with the New Orleans Saints, Wuerffel hooked up with NFL Europe’s Rhein Fire in this western German city and is reveling in the kind of success he hasn’t enjoyed since leading the Gators to the 1996 national championship.

“The whole experience has been great. I never thought I would have this much fun again playing football,” Wuerffel said as he limbered up for Sunday’s World Bowl against the Scotland Claymores. The European playoff will be the climax of the 10-game season played by six teams in the NFL’s foreign farm system, which will expand to eight teams in 2002.

After flunking his last tryout with Tampa Bay, Wuerffel had good reason to believe his brief NFL career was doomed. But he learned the Fire was just as desperate for a quarterback as he was for playing time, so he coaxed his wife, Jessica, into accompanying him on a European odyssey that he hopes one day will take him back to the big time.

“The fans are fantastic. They may not understand all that’s happening on the field, but they treat the game like a huge party,” Wuerffel said. “It’s tough living in a hotel all the time and having to deal with foreign language, but the competition is terrific because everybody is fighting for the same goal: to make it back to the NFL.”

There are plenty of precedents. Eleven quarterbacks who started last season in the NFL gained crucial experience playing in Europe. A few players--such as Chicago Bears wide receiver Marcus Robinson, who just signed a $14 million contract--struck it rich after improving their game here. In all, more than 180 players on current NFL rosters have played overseas.

And in contrast to its dismal showing when it was inaugurated in 1991, NFL Europe appears to be establishing itself as a successful enterprise. Crowds have grown from 10,000 to 40,000 or more. European fans still tend to cheer loudest for long punts and kickoffs that soar past the end zone, but they are gaining in sophistication and beginning to better understand the game.

NFL owners, after initial skepticism about whether they were throwing their money down the drain, now realize they might be able to make serious profits with the European venture. There is a clear recognition now that they have much to gain by expanding American football’s appeal abroad while endowing their teams with a valuable farm system to train promising rookies and rehabilitate has-beens.

The owners are scouting for two new cities--possibly in Italy, France, Poland or the Czech Republic--to bolster the number of European teams within the next couple of years. Besides the Duesseldorf Rhein Fire and the Scotland Claymores, NFL Europe includes the Frankfurt Galaxy, Amsterdam Admirals, Barcelona Dragons and Berlin Thunder.

Besides former stars such as Wuerffel who are looking for a second chance, the European league has drawn a record 153 players this year who were “allocated” by their NFL teams. The Redskins dispatched several players--including defensive end Derrick Ham and punter Rodney Williams--to Duesseldorf to get their NFL return tickets punched.

“I came over here with a specific program on how to improve my game,” says Ham, who has teamed up here with former Howard University star Marques Douglas to form a fearsome pass-rushing duo that is credited with 17 sacks so far this season. “There’s a lot of stress being away from home, eating strange food, not knowing the language. So you tend to concentrate more on becoming a better player because we all want to make it when we go back home.”

Unlike the Canadian league that often served as a refuge for NFL exiles, the European system abides strictly by NFL rules: the only exception is four points for field goals kicked beyond 50 yards.

While salaries are minimal, the biggest bonus for the players in Europe is the amount of playing time they get because teams are not allowed to carry more than 45 players. But that restriction also increases the pressure on staying healthy.

“It makes it real tough if somebody gets hurt,” Williams said. “There’s a lot of intensity because of the competition to get noticed. I think it can be more violent than the NFL, where players look out for each other’s livelihood. Here we’re all going for broke, and the refs don’t like to call penalties because they want the games to finish early.”

After Duesseldorf plays Scotland for the European league championship in Sunday’s World Bowl, the scramble for the July NFL training camps will start. Many of them are still anxious to hear whether their professional football careers will gain a new lease on life.

Wuerffel, who has thrown for 22 touchdowns and stepped in on short notice to lead the Fire to the championship game, the vigil is becoming agonizing as he waits to hear that some NFL team is ready to give him another shot this summer.

Despite his field savvy and his accurate touch as a passer, Wuerffel is saddled with the reputation that he lacks the physical toughness and a strong enough arm to play full time in the NFL. But Fire head coach Galen Hall, whose 28-year coaching career includes stints at Florida and Oklahoma, is convinced Wuerffel is ready for prime time.

“He took over from the first day and became our leader,” Hall said. “He’s very intelligent and reads defenses real well. You can tell that he’s used to being a winner.”

Wuerffel is fatalistic about his chances. “I’m still hoping to get picked up by some NFL team, but I know what I’m up against,” he says. “The Kurt Warner miracle can’t happen every year.”