Norris Lee Weese (August 12, 1951 – January 20, 1995) was a professional
American football quarterback. He was a star quarterback for
Chalmette High School and the
University of Mississippi. He had the unenviable task of succeeding Mississippi QB legend
Archie Manning, but performed well in the key position.
Recalling the November 4, 1972 game in
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...
in which Ole Miss lost to
Louisiana State University, 17-16, because of a unique touchdown catch from quarterback
Bert Jones to LSU running back Brad Davis, Weese said
Tiger Stadium "just exploded with thousands of fans jumping high in the night air." Until that point the Rebels had outplayed LSU all night long.
Weese played the 1974 season for
The Hawaiians in the
World Football League
The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...
before joining the
NFL
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 major ...
. He spent four seasons in the NFL playing for the
Denver Broncos (1976-1979), mostly as a backup quarterback.
In
Super Bowl XII
Super Bowl XII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...
against the
Dallas Cowboys, where his famed high school head coach Bobby Nuss held the chains, Weese replaced starter
Craig Morton in the third quarter after Morton nearly threw his 5th interception.
Weese led the Broncos to a touchdown on the drive to cut his team's deficit to 20-10, but he lost a fumble in the fourth quarter, setting up a Dallas touchdown that put the game away.
He was known for being a mobile QB.
Weese was named
starting quarterback for the Broncos in 1979, but a knee injury that year ended his NFL career. He finished his career with 1887 passing yards, seven touchdowns and fourteen interceptions.
Weese went on to become a
certified public accountant
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Sta ...
in
Denver, Colorado.
Norris Weese died on January 20, 1995, of
bone cancer.
To this day, Weese holds the record for most single game rushing yards as a quarterback in Broncos history, rushing for 120 yards on 12 carries against the
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
on December 12, 1976.
References
External links
Norris Weese obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weese, Norris
1951 births
1995 deaths
American football punters
American football quarterbacks
Denver Broncos players
The Hawaiians players
Ole Miss Rebels football players
Deaths from bone cancer
Deaths from cancer in Colorado
People from Chalmette, Louisiana
Players of American football from Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Ole Miss Rebels baseball players