Steve Weatherford

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Steve Weatherford
Image:Weatherford tackle.jpg Steve Weatherford tackling Adam "PacMan" Jones.
Date of birth	December 17, 1982 (age 24)
Place of birth	Crown Point, IN
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight	215 lb (98 kg)
Position(s)	Punter
College	Illinois
Statistics	NFL.com
Team(s)
2006-present	New Orleans Saints

Steve Weatherford (born December 17, 1982) is an American football punter who currently plays for the National Football League's New Orleans Saints. He was signed as an undrafted free agent on April 20, 2006 by New Orleans. Weatherford was released by New Orleans on September 2 only to be re-signed on September 5, 2006. He played college football for the University of Illinois.

1 High School Years
2 College Years
3 2006 NFL Season
4 References
5 External links

[edit] High School Years

Weatherford attended Terre Haute North High School, where he played punter, kicker and safety. As a punter, he set records for the most field goals in a career, longest punting average and longest field made (55 yards vs. Lawrence North). He averaged 45.4 yards per punt and held a 4.26 second hangtime average. As a kicker, Weatherford made 37 of 40 extra point attempts and connected on seven field goals from 40 yards or longer. He was named to the All-Conference team and earned All-State honors as a kicker twice consecutively. As a safety, Weatherford managed two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.

Weatherford also played soccer, track and basketball, earning a total of thirteen varsity letters in his high school career. He was an All-County forward in soccer, and an All-State track team member three times. He also set a Junior Olympic record in the 4X800 meters relay. He also set a school record in the 300-meter hurdles (39.34 seconds).

[edit] College Years

Entering the University of Illinois in 2001, Weatherford redshirted his freshman year. He was named the starter in 2002, averaging 39.7 yards on 23 punts.

In 2003, Weatherford was an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten selection after averaging 44.5 yards on 43 punts. This average broke the school record, previously held by Dike Eddleman since 1948 (43.0 yards per punt). This placed Weatherford at second in the Big Ten and 12th in the nations in punting average. He was also named the school's Special Teams player of the Year.

In 2004, Weatherford earned First-team All-Big Ten honors from the Coaches and Second-team honors from the media. Sports Illustrated named him the Most Underrated Player in the Big Ten. He finished second in the Big Ten in punting average, again, and fourth nationally. Weatherford wracked up 45.4 yards per punt on 57 attempts, breaking the record he set the previous season. He was a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award. He also scored a touchdown on a fake field goal against Northwestern on November 20, 2004.^[1]

[edit] 2006 NFL Season

Steve Weatherford played in all 16 games for the New Orleans Saints, averaging 43.8 yards on 77 punts. He had a season-long of 59 yards, and 19 of his punts were inside the 20-yard line. Weatherford also recorded two solo tackles.