Lee Elmer Weigel (born November 15, 1963) is a former

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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. He played

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 ...

for the

Wisconsin–Eau Claire Blugolds The University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire Blugolds (casually known as the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds) are the athletic teams of the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. The Blugolds athletic teams compete in NCAA Division III. National championships ...

and later had stints with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

and

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He appeared in two games for the Packers as one of the replacement players during the

1987 NFL strike The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director DeM ...

Early life

Weigel was born on November 15, 1963, in Marshfield, Wisconsin. He grew up on the family farm and was a fan of the

; he described

Eddie Lee Ivery Eddie Lee Ivery (born July 30, 1957) is a former professional American football player. Early years through college Ivery was born in McDuffie County, Georgia. He played high school football at Thomson High School in Thomson, Georgia. During th ...

, his favorite player, as his inspiration for playing

. He attended Marshfield High School and participated on the football and track and field teams. As a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

in football, he was named honorable mention all-conference after running for 455 yards on 90 carries (a 5.0 average) in addition to recording 13 receptions for 161 yards.

College career

Weigel began attending the

University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire The University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire (UW–Eau Claire, UWEC or simply Eau Claire) is a public university in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's and master's degrees. UW–Eau Claire ...

in 1982 and

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

on for their Blugold football team all four years he spent at the school. In his first start as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

, he totaled 204 rushing yards and scored two

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s. He missed three games that season due to a knee injury but finished first in the conference with 129 rushing yards per game. The following season, he helped the Blugolds win the conference championship, running for 279 yards and two touchdowns in the title game. He was named all-district, first-team All-

Wisconsin State University Conference The Wisconsin State University Conference (WSUC) was an American intercollegiate college athletic conference that was formed in July 1913 as the Wisconsin State Normal Conference. All member institutions were located in the State of Wisconsin. Th ...

(WSUC) and ended the year as Wisconsin–Eau Claire's leading rusher with 1,263 yards on 226 carries (a 5.6 average). As a junior in 1984, Weigel was named first-team All-WSUC and first-team

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA) Division II All-American after rushing for 1,030 yards and 12 touchdowns despite being limited by injury. Weigel ran 307 times for 1,172 yards and 13 touchdowns as a senior in 1985, being named first-team all-conference and becoming the first two-time All-American in school history as a repeat first-team NAIA selection; he was named the team's

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

, broke the WSCU career rushing record and also set the career Blugold scoring record. He ended his collegiate career with 4,015 yards, a state-record 944 rush attempts, 39 touchdowns, 21 100-yard games and three 200-yard games as he helped Wisconsin–Eau Claire compile a record of 24–11–1 in games he played.

Professional career

Weigel ran a 4.54 second

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

but despite his production in college, went unselected in the

1986 NFL Draft The 1986 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott Marq ...

. He afterwards signed with the

as an

undrafted 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 scored a touchdown and ran four times for 20 yards in a scrimmage against the

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...

. He was released on July 24, 1986. Weigel tried out with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

in April 1987. He worked as an assistant coach at Wisconsin–Eau Claire working with the running backs until the National Football League Players Association went on strike. He and

Kevin Fitzgerald Kevin Terrel Fitzgerald (born September 23, 1951), a board certified veterinarian who works at ''Alameda East Veterinary Hospital'' in his native Denver, Colorado is best known through his visibility on the Animal Planet reality show ''Emergency V ...

, another assistant, called Packers executive Tom Braatz and were able to receive a tryout. The tryout was successful and both were signed as replacement players. He missed the first strike game, a win over the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

, but appeared in the last two, against the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

and

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

, and recorded 10 rushes for 26 yards and one reception for 17 yards. He was released at the end of the strike and, although he later had tryouts in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL), never played professionally again.

Later life

Weigel worked in the concrete business after his football career. He also coached at Marshfield High School as an assistant for 10 years, helping them win three state championships. Weigel finished his coaching career with a two-year stint at

Memorial High School Memorial High School may refer to: United States As ''Memorial High School'' alone *Memorial High School (Millville, New Jersey) *Memorial High School (West New York, New Jersey) *Memorial High School (St. Marys, Ohio) * Memorial High School (Tul ...

in Eau Claire from 2006 to 2007. Weigel and his wife, Julie, had two children as of 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weigel, Lee People from Marshfield, Wisconsin Players of American football from Wisconsin Green Bay Packers players American football running backs University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire alumni Living people 1963 births Wisconsin–Eau Claire Blugolds football players