Weinke played minor league baseball in the Toronto Blue Jays farm system from 1990 to 1996, advancing to class Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs, before deciding to attend Florida State University. Head coach Bobby Bowden had initially recruited Weinke when he was a prep quarterback in 1989 at Cretin-Derham Hall High School. After quitting baseball, Weinke called Bowden, and Bowden offered him a scholarship with the 1997 recruiting class. After arriving he quickly distinguished himself as a starting quarterback, leading the team to victory in the 1999 national championship. In 2000, at 28, he became the oldest player to receive the Heisman Trophy. He was selected by the Panthers in the 2001 NFL draft, where he served mostly as backup quarterback until being released in 2006. He then spent one season with the San Francisco 49ers before leaving the NFL after the 2007 season.
Weinke only had two victories as a starting quarterback in his NFL career. He won his first ever NFL game in the first game of the 2001 Carolina Panthers season, before losing the next 15, finishing the season with a 1–15 record. He also has the second longest losing streak in NFL history at seventeen, behind Dan Pastorini (21). Despite this, Weinke is tied with Geno Smith, Tim Tebow, Jameis Winston, and Dak Prescott for fifth most rushing touchdowns by a rookie quarterback with six.[1]
Weinke was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he attended Cretin-Derham Hall High School and was a three-sport star, playing first base for the baseball team, quarterback for the football team, and was captain of the hockey team. In 1989 during his senior year in high school, he was a Parade magazine and USA Today first-team All-America selection, was named Minnesota's prep football player of the year, and was seen as the top senior quarterback in the country. Weinke was recruited by over seventy Division 1 schools, including Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Florida State, Illinois, Minnesota, Miami, Washington, and Wisconsin, but ultimately signed a national letter of intent and committed to play quarterback for the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University[2] despite being a diehard Miami Hurricanes fan (due to fellow Cretin-Derham Hall alumnus Steve Walsh attending the school and starring for the team at quarterback).
Although he was only one step away from playing in the major leagues, after the 1996 season Weinke decided to give up professional baseball and took a scholarship at Florida State University.[6]
Weinke entered Florida State University in 1997, when he was 25 years old and joined the Florida State Seminoles football team as a quarterback. As a sophomore in 1998, Weinke led the Florida State Seminoles to a 9–1 record and #2 national ranking before a season-ending neck injury by Patrick Kerney in the Virginia game forced him to the sidelines for the rest of the season. During his junior season in 1999, he led the #1-ranked Seminoles to the school's first undefeated national championship,[7] defeating Michael Vick and the Virginia Tech Hokies, 46–29. As a senior in 2000, Weinke led the nation in passing with 4,167 yards and won the Heisman Trophy, awarded to college football's best player, as well as the Davey O'Brien Award and the Johnny Unitas Award. He also led the Seminoles to the Orange Bowl for their third national championship game in as many years, where they lost 13–2 to the Oklahoma Sooners. At the age of 28, Weinke was the oldest player ever to win the Heisman Trophy. He finished his Florida State career with a 32–3 record and held numerous FSU records including most passing yards in a career and most career touchdown passes. In 2001, Weinke became the seventh Seminole (and second quarterback) to have his jersey retired. He also graduated with a degree in Sports Management and was a two-time ACC All-Academic Team selection.[2]
Weinke was originally recruited by Florida State as part of the same recruiting class as Charlie Ward, another quarterback who also won a Heisman Trophy and led the Seminoles to a national championship. They both were members of the 1990 Florida State football team, but Weinke left to pursue baseball before the 1990 season started.[8]
Weinke was the first Heisman Trophy winner to not be named a consensus All-American. The consensus All-American honor for quarterback in 2000 went to the Heisman runner-up that year, Oklahoma's Josh Heupel, now the head football coach at the University of Tennessee.[9]
Weinke was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the fourth round (106th overall pick) of the 2001 NFL draft.[11] In 2001, he was the starter when the Panthers finished with a 1–15 record. At the time, the Panthers' fifteen consecutive losses in 2001 was a single season record. Weinke averaged 36 pass attempts per game, more than any rookie in NFL history up to that point. After the season, Weinke became the Panthers backup quarterback. He saw his first action since the 2002 season on October 16, 2005, when starter Jake Delhomme went down with an injury against the Detroit Lions. Weinke threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Ricky Proehl, giving the Panthers the 21–20 win over the Lions.
He re-signed with Carolina during the 2006 off-season, where he continued to back up Delhomme. On December 10, 2006, in a game against the New York Giants, Weinke made his first start since 2001. The Panthers lost the game, but Weinke threw for 423 yards, topping the previous single-game team record of 373 set by Steve Beuerlein. Weinke started the next two games against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Atlanta Falcons, with the game against Atlanta being his second (and last) win as a starter in the NFL. As a starting quarterback for the Panthers, Weinke's team lost seventeen consecutive games that he started (fourteen in 2001, one in 2002 and two in 2006).
Franchise records
Pass completions, regular season game (36, on December 30, 2001 against the Arizona Cardinals; tied with Teddy Bridgewater)
Pass attempts, regular season game (63, on December 30, 2001 against the Arizona Cardinals), rookie season (540)
Interceptions, rookie season (nineteen; with Kerry Collins), rookie game (four, on October 21, 2001 against the Washington Redskins; tied with Kerry Collins x2 and Cam Newton)
Times sacked, rookie game (eight, on December 2, 2001 against the New Orleans Saints)
After retirement, Weinke and his family lived in Austin, Texas, where he worked as a vice-president in marketing and event-planning for Triton Financial.[6] In 2010, Weinke teamed with Pro Football Hall of Fame coach John Madden and became the director of the IMG Madden Football Academy in Bradenton, Florida.[12] The academy offers a comprehensive football training program that emphasizes teaching the fundamental techniques of the game. In 2011, Weinke worked with the Carolina Panthers' number one draft pick Cam Newton at IMG up to two hours a day during the NFL lockout.[13]
Coaching career
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams hired Weinke as quarterbacks coach on February 19, 2015.[14] The Rams fired head coach Jeff Fisher toward the end of the 2016 season.[15] New head coach Sean McVay did not retain Weinke, instead hiring Greg Olson.[16]
Alabama
Following his departure from the Rams, Weinke held a succession of college jobs. He spent the 2017 season on the Alabama staff as offensive analyst.[17]
Tennessee
In 2018, he joined the Tennessee staff as running backs coach under new head coach Jeremy Pruitt, succeeding Robert Gillespie.[18] Amid staff changes following a disappointing 2018 season, Weinke moved over to quarterbacks coach.[19]
Tennessee fired Pruitt in January 2021 after reports of recruiting violations; Weinke was not implicated in the investigation.[20] New head coach Josh Heupel did not retain Weinke as part of his staff.[21]
Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech hired Weinke to be quarterbacks coach on January 2, 2022, replacing Dave Patenaude.[22] Georgia Tech fired head coach Geoff Collins in the middle of the 2022 season; new head coach Brent Key retained Weinke and promoted him to co-offensive coordinator for the 2023 season.[23] Key promoted Weinke to Assistant Head Coach in advance of the 2024 season.[24]
