Cal Football: Michael Saffell a Repeat Candidate for Wuerffel Trophy

Award goes to a player who provides service to the community and inspires others

Cal senior center Michael Saffell has been named to the preseason watch list for the Wuerffel Trophy for the second straight season.

The Wuerffel Trophy is labeled "College Football's Premier Award for Community Service" and is named after 1996 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel from the University of Florida.

The award goes annually to a college football player who serves others, creates a positive impact on society and inspires others to do service work.

Saffell, a native of Huntington Beach, earned a repeat inclusion on the watch list because of his continued work with the Cal Athletics Summer Reading Challenge that encouraged Bay Area youngsters to stay busy over the summer months by reading.

Former Cal running back Patrick Laird created the Summer Reading Challenge and Saffell has taken over leadership of the program the past two years. Laird also was honored on the Wuerffel Trophy watch list.

Saffell has been honored by the Pac-12 the past two years for his academic excellence, including his selection as a first-team Pac-12 All-Academic selection as a 2018 sophomore and a member of the league's inaugural Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll that replaced its Pac-12 All-Academic teams as a junior.

The 6-foot-2, 290-pounder enters his senior season as a preseason All-Pac-12 third-team selection by Athlon Sports.

Saffell has started 19 games in his career while missing the second half of his sophomore campaign in 2018 because of season-ending injury. He started 11 games a year ago.

He anchors a veteran offensive line that last season helped the Bears establish a school-record low 13 turnovers in 13 games and put together game-winning drives on its final possessions both at Washington and Stanford. The Bears averaged 30 points and 414.3 yards per game over their final four wins, including a season-high 35 points in their Redbox Bowl victory over Illinois.

Among the 114 players on the initial watch list are 12 others from the Pac-12: Colin Schooler of Arizona, Ethan Long of Arizona State, Colby Pursell of Colorado, Brady Breeze of Oregon, Isaac Hodgins and Jaydon Grant of Oregon State, Conor Wedington, Isaiah Sanders and Treyjohn Butler of Stanford, Daniel Imatorbhebhe of USC, Devin Lloyd of Utah and Race Porter of Washington.

Semifinalists for the Wuerffel Trophy are currently scheduled to be announced on Nov. 3, with finalists revealed on Nov. 23.

The 2020 recipient will be announced at the National Football Foundation’s event in New York City on Dec. 8, with the presentation of the award slated to happen at the 52nd annual All Sports Association Awards Banquet on Feb. 19, 2021 at Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

Western Michigan quarterback Jon Wassink won the 2019 Wuerffel Trophy. Wassick maintained a 3.95 grade-point average as a business student, did youth mentoring, led bible studies and helped feed the homeless in Kalamazoo, Mich.

.*** Michael Saffell discusses the Bears' improved depth along the offensive line: 

.

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Cal Sports Report on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.