Wuerffel Trophy
Tim Hiller
The All Sports Association and the Wuerffel Trophy committee are proud to introduce the 5th Annual winner of the prestigious Wuerffel Trophy Award. This award is presented annually to the college football player who best combines exemplary community service, athletics and academic achievement. These three areas best define the awards namesake Danny Wuerffel who was truly one of the games great ambassadors.
We are proud to present this year’s recipient of the Wuerffel Trophy to Western Michigan University’s quarterback, Tim Hiller. Tim is the fifth winner of the Wuerffel Trophy and has lived up to the example set by each of our previous winners and truly embodies each of the qualities that were envisioned when this award was conceptualized.
As an athlete, Tim set a standard at Western Michigan that will be difficult to surpass, at best. As a true freshman, Tim appeared in seven games, while starting five. He was named the MAC Freshman of the Year and Sporting News and College Football News.com Freshman All American. Sidelined his sophomore year by injury, Tim took a redshirt season but picked up where he left off in 2007 where he started all twelve games for the Broncos. In 2008, Tim started all thirteen games, was named third team all MAC offense and led his team to the Texas Bowl against Rice at the end of the season. Tim finished his storied career in 2009 by being named Second Team All-MAC Offense and named as an offensive captain for the Broncos. He holds the Western Michigan records for career passing yards (11,329), attempts (1,607), completions (1,013), Touchdowns (99)(third in the MAC), total offensive yards (11,220), total offensive plays (1,773), completion percentage (63), 300 yard games (16 tied for 3rd ), three consecutive 3,000 yard seasons (4th quarterback in the MAC to do so). Tim is also ranked second, third or fourth in six separate career MAC quarterback records and holds seven Western Michigan season records. He was also named the 2009 Detroit Athletic Club Male College Athlete of the Year. As a result of his tireless efforts on the field, Tim becomes only the second Western Michigan quarterback to be invited to the NFL combine in Indianapolis.
For all the accolades Tim has received on the field, he has equaled the task in the classroom. The Wuerffel Trophy considers academic achievement as important as those on the field. Tim carried a 4.00 grade point average throughout high school in Ohio. He completed his undergraduate degree in business and sales marketing in August 2008 and has been working on his MBA, all while carrying a 4.00 grade point average in college. In 2007 he was named Academic All Mac and was the only player in the MAC to earn Scholar Athlete of the Week three times. In 2009, Tim was named to ESPN The Magazine All Academic team and was awarded the John S. Pingel Award by the Michigan Chapter of the National Football Foundation as the Division 1 Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Finally, the Wuerffel Award embodies the spirit of community service. Tim’s faith in Christ and passion for community service was instilled in him at an early age by his father and mother, Tom and Amy Hiller, who led by example by volunteering for the Salvation Army and the Boys and Girls Clubs. Tim spends his free time giving faith based speeches at schools and churches and tutors students at local high schools. Last year, Tim traveled to Trinidad on a mission trip with twenty two others with the Trinidad and Tobago Urban Ministries. While there, Tim visited schools, helped to paint and refurbish buildings, visited youth prisons and AIDS orphanages. The goal of the week was to bring the message of Christ to the residents of Trinidad and Tobago.
Tim summed up the essence of the All Sports Association and the Wuerffel Trophy in a previous interview. “I would like to think I made a difference in people’s lives, left WMU better than when I got here. People only remember how you played for so long. They will remember how you treated people, how you made them feel and impacted them, helped them out. They will remember that much longer.”