Austin Palmer Aune ( ; born September 6, 1993) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

who is a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He is a former baseball player who was drafted by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

in the second round of the

2012 MLB draft The 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 4 through June 6, 2012, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Houston Astros, with the first overall pick, selected Carlos Correa from the Puerto R ...

. He played six seasons in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

before being released. He then enrolled at

North Texas North Texas (also commonly called North Central Texas) is a term used primarily by residents of Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas to describe much of the north central portion of the U.S. state of Texas. Residents of the Dallas–Fort Wor ...

, and was the oldest starting quarterback in FBS football at the age of 29.

High school career

Aune attended Argyle High School in

Argyle, Texas Argyle is a town in Denton County, Texas, United States, with a population of 4,403 as of 2020. It is a suburb of Fort Worth. History The first European settlement, consisting of a few families, occurred in the Argyle area in the 1850s. The pla ...

. A two-sport star, he was the starting quarterback and also played shortstop on the baseball team. As a senior, he threw for 33 touchdowns and 3,411 yards while rushing for 9 touchdowns and 538 yards. A three-star quarterback prospect, he originally committed to TCU to play

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

. But after being selected by the

in the second round of the

2012 MLB Draft The 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 4 through June 6, 2012, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Houston Astros, with the first overall pick, selected Carlos Correa from the Puerto R ...

, Aune was offered a $1 million signing bonus to sign for the Yankees and so he chose to play professional baseball over collegiate football.

Professional baseball career

Aune played six seasons of minor league baseball in the

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

. During his tenure in the minor leagues, he recorded 20

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

and 148

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. After bouncing between several

High-A High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

and

Single-A Class A, also known as Single-A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A, Double-A (baseball), Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classif ...

teams and switching from shortstop to outfielder, Aune had a career

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .226 with 20 home runs and 147 RBI. On August 1, 2017, Aune was released by New York. In his time in the Yankees system, Aune appeared for the rookie-level

Gulf Coast Yankees The Florida Complex League Yankees are a Rookie-level affiliate of the New York Yankees, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team is composed mainly of players who are in their first year of professional baseball e ...

, Low-A

Staten Island Yankees The Staten Island Yankees were a minor league baseball team located in the New York City borough of Staten Island from 1999 to 2020. Nicknamed the "Baby Bombers", the Yankees were the Class A Short Season affiliate of the New York Yankees and pla ...

, Single-A

Charleston RiverDogs The Charleston RiverDogs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League. They are located in Charleston, South Carolina, and are the Single-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The RiverDogs' home stadium is Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. Hi ...

, and High-A

Tampa Yankees Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

College football career

North Texas

In 2018, months after being released by the Yankees, a 24-year-old Aune joined the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas student body voted to change the name of the school mascot (ori ...

for their 2018 spring practice. He enrolled as a student, but the crowded quarterback room convinced him to transfer to

instead.

2018-2020

Arriving at North Texas in 2018, he

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his freshman year. In 2019, he served as the third-string quarterback behind

Mason Fine Mason Fine (born April 19, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at North Texas. Early years Fine, who is one-quarter Cherokee, grew up in ...

and Jason Bean, completing 4 of 5 passes for 136 yards in two appearances at quarterback. During the 2020 season, he backed up Bean while making eight appearances and three starts.

2021

After starting the season as a backup to junior transfer Jace Ruder, Aune won the starting position after week 5 and lead the Mean Green from a 1–3 start to a 6–6 finish in order to become

bowl eligible Bowl eligibility in college football at the Division I (NCAA)#Football Bowl Subdivision, NCAA Division I FBS level is the standard through which teams become available for selection to participate in postseason bowl games. When a team achieves thi ...

, including an upset win over #22 UTSA, before losing to the

Miami RedHawks The Miami RedHawks are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Miami is a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) East Divis ...

in the 2021 Frisco Football Classic.

2022

Going into the 2022 season, Aune maintained his starting position against a crowded quarterback roster including Memphis transfer Grant Gunnell, leading the Mean Green to a 7–5 record and earning Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week honors in week zero. During the 2022 Conference USA Championship Game, Aune set a school record for touchdown passes in a single season with 32, surpassing former teammate Mason Fine. Aune played his final career game in the

2022 Frisco Bowl The 2022 Frisco Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 17, 2022, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The fifth annual Frisco Bowl, it featured Boise State of the Mountain West Conference and North Texas of Conference USA (C- ...

, throwing for 238 yards and a touchdown in a 32–35 defeat. After the game, Aune declared for the

2023 NFL Draft The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...

. Shortly after the end of the season, Aune changed his mind and entered his name in the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool launched on October 15, 2018, to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member i ...

. On January 2, 2023, Aune withdrew from the transfer portal and redeclared for the upcoming NFL Draft. Aune finished his collegiate career with a 13–13 record as a starter, with 488 completions for 7,324 yards, 56 touchdowns, and 28 interceptions.

Professional football career

On May 1, 2023, Aune was invited to the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

rookie minicamp. He signed with the team as an undrafted free agent on May 16, 2023. He was waived by the team on June 16.

Statistics

Personal life

Aune is the son of Greg and Karen Aune. Austin Aune married Kristin Massey in May 2021, and they have a daughter.

References

External links

Atlanta Falcons bio

North Texas Mean Green bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aune, Austin 1993 births Living people American football quarterbacks Baseball players from Texas Charleston RiverDogs players Gulf Coast Yankees players North Texas Mean Green football players Players of American football from Denton County, Texas Staten Island Yankees players Tampa Yankees players Atlanta Falcons players