James Preston Weatherall (October 26, 1929 – August 2, 1992) was 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 wi ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the l ...

in 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 majo ...

(NFL) for the

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 play ...

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

, and 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 For ...

. He also played in the

Western Interprovincial Football Union The West Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), its counterpart being the East Division. Although the CFL was not founded until 1958, the West Division and its clubs are descended from earlier leagu ...

(WIFU) for the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Comm ...

. Weatherall 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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

at the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

and was drafted in the second round of the 1952 NFL Draft. He was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vo ...

in 1992.

Early life

Weatherall grew up in Graham, Texas, and attende
White Deer High School
in

White Deer, Texas White Deer is a town in Carson County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,000 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Amarillo metropolitan statistical area. Geography White Deer is located at . It is situated along U.S. Highway 60 in eas ...

College career

Weatherall attended and played

at the

, where he was consensus

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

in 1950, unanimous All-America in 1951, and won the

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All-Am ...

in 1951. He lettered four years at Oklahoma and was the 1951 co-captain. Weatherall was also a

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. S ...

and kicked 37 extra points in 1950 (fifth in the nation) and 39 in 1951 (second in the nation). During his college career, Oklahoma had a 39–4 record with a 31-game winning streak and a national championship in 1950. While at Oklahoma, Weatherall also wrestled. He was a member of the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps and graduated with a degree in business administration.

Marines

Weatherall was in the

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...

from 1952 to 1954.

Professional career

Weatherall had a nine-year career in which he played in the

for the

, and in the

for the

, and the

After football

After his professional career, Weatherall owned an oil-well servicing company in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

Personal life

Weatherall had a wife, Sugar; two sons, Tracy and Clay; a daughter, Jamie; one grandson (born) Randy Clay Weatherall and one granddaughter Lacey Weatherall Andrews and a nephew.

References

External links

*
New York Times Obit
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weatherall, Jim 1929 births 1992 deaths All-American college football players American football defensive tackles College Football Hall of Fame inductees Detroit Lions players Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players Edmonton Elks players Oklahoma Sooners football players People from Young County, Texas Philadelphia Eagles players Washington Redskins players United States Marines