Senior defensive back Michael Taaffe has been named the 2025 Allstate Wuerffel Trophy winner and captain of the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, becoming the second Longhorn to earn the Wuerffel honor after Sam Acho in 2010. He paired this community-service recognition with an impressive on-field résumé in 2025, earning a spot on the All-SEC Coaches’ First Team, reaching semifinalist status for both the Jim Thorpe Award and Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year, and finishing as a finalist for the Burlsworth Trophy while returning to Texas’ defense after 2024 second-team All-America honors. This season, the former walk-on from Austin has started 10 games and, despite missing two contests, ranks second on the team with 70 tackles, adding two interceptions, a sack, and several key performances in marquee matchups, including a game-sealing interception in the Cotton Holdings Lone Star Showdown against Texas A&M.
Off the field, Taaffe has distinguished himself through impactful community work centered on education and awareness around fentanyl and public safety. He has worked closely with Texas Against Fentanyl, joined Crime Stoppers of Houston’s Million for Million Campaign, and recorded a PSA for SoberRides.org for the Texas Department of Transportation, while also engaging in frequent youth speaking events. Taaffe also honored the victims of the July 4th Camp Mystic flooding by wearing a tie embroidered with their initials at SEC Media Days and supporting related fundraisers, using his platform as a hometown Austin product to remember those lost and support grieving families.
