SPOTLIGHT: Space Coast Sports Hall of Famer Leonard Weaver Enjoyed Pro Bowl Career

SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME SPOTLIGHT

ABOVE VIDEO: All-Pro football player Leonard Weaver was born in Cocoa and lived in the Eau Gallie section of Melbourne. He played quarterback and running back for the Scorpions, where he also lettered in basketball and track.

2016 PROFESSIONAL INDUCTEE

• All-Pro Fullback With Eagles
• Highest Paid Fullback In NFL
• Played in 2006 Super Bowl

SATELLITE HIGH GRAD

In the eyes of many, to be inducted into a Hall of Fame may signify the end of a distinguished and fulfilled career. Still, in the case of Satellite High’s Leonard Weaver, nothing could be further from the truth—In fact, Weaver is just getting started.

Weaver was born in Cocoa and lived in the Eau Gallie section of Melbourne. He was the star running back on the Satellite High School football team from 1997-2000. He played quarterback and running back for the Scorpions, where he also lettered in basketball and track.

Weaver would go on to attend Carson-Newman. At the Division II school, he played linebacker before being switched to tight end where he finished his four-year career with nearly 1,400 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns.

Weaver was not drafted coming out of college; D2 players rarely are, but that didn’t stop Leonard from signing with a team where making the roster could be difficult.

The Seattle Seahawks were a team on the rise. After making the playoffs just once from 1989 to 2002, Seattle was preparing for a third consecutive post-season trip when Weaver agreed to his first NFL contract and, with it, agreed to move to fullback.

Backing up Mack Strong, Weaver appeared in 15 of 16 games in his rookie season and was a part of the Seahawks Super Bowl 40 roster. Weaver would miss the 2006 season with an ankle injury but returned in 2007 as the starting fullback after Mack Strong suffered a herniated disk in his neck, prompting him to retire.

For the next few years, Weaver would blossom. In his first start, he showed how multi-faceted his game could be as he had three carries for 40 yards and three receptions for 53 yards.

ALL PRO FULLBACK

After three solid seasons in Seattle, Weaver, an unrestricted free agent after the 2008 season, signed a one-year $1.75 million contract with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Weaver finished the season as the best fullback in the NFL. His rushing total was his career-high, with 70 carries for 323 yards and 1 touchdown. However, he was most valued for his blocking ability.

Weaver was selected to the 2010 Pro Bowl as a starting fullback. He was also voted in to be First-Team All-Pro for the 2009 season. At that time he was the highest-paid fullback in NFL history. Unfortunately, Weaver would not play through another contract.

On his first carry of the next season, Weaver’s career ended following a severe knee injury in the first game of the season vs. Green Bay.

He attempted to rehabilitate his knee and leg but to no avail. However, to know Leonard Weaver is to know that while this may have ended his football career, it did not end Weaver and all of the things he wanted to become and realize in life.

Weaver now lives in Miami but is a combination of all that is good about the Space Coast of Florida.

He is tough, loving, caring, and unselfish, and whether it’s through his daily affirmations on his YouTube account or coaching the offensive line at Boca Raton, or releasing a new song, as he did in mid-March, called “Make Me Over,” Weaver continues to embody what it means to represent and be a Hall of Fame individual every day.

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME, call 321-615-8111 or e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com

CLICK HERE to see all the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame Members.

Similar Stories