| No. 18 | |
| Born: | November 17, 1948 Villa Rica, Georgia |
|---|---|
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | Punter |
| College | Tennessee |
| NFL draft | 1970 / Round: 9 |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 1970–1976 | Detroit Lions |
| 1977–1980 | Seattle Seahawks |
William Herman "Thunderfoot" Weaver is a former American football punter. He played 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) from 1970 to 1980. He spent his first seven years punting for the Detroit Lions and the last four years with the Seattle Seahawks. During his career, Weaver punted 693 times for 27,897 total yards. In 1975, Weaver was named the NFC Punter of the Year and in 1988 The Sporting News called him “One of the Top 20 Punters of all Time”. Weaver shares the all-time NFL record for the most punts had blocked in a career at 14.[1]
Weaver played college football for the University of Tennessee Volunteers. While at Tennessee, he had a punt of 71 yards. He also had the best hang-time ever of 5.7 seconds.
"Thunderfoot"
The Detroit Lions were preparing for their game on Monday Night Football, Weaver stepped back to punt as the special teams took the field. Howard Cosell was watching practice and at the highest point of the ball flight, a blast of thunder let out of the sky. The next night on Monday Night Football, Cosell referred to Weaver as "Thunderfoot".
Career statistics
- Regular season
| Led the league | |
| Denotes NFL record |
| General | Punting | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GP | Punts | Yards | Y/P | Net | Long | Blck |
| 1970 | Detroit | 14 | 62 | 2,483 | 40.0 | 65 | 1 | |
| 1971 | Detroit | 13 | 42 | 1,752 | 41.7 | 63 | 2 | |
| 1972 | Detroit | 14 | 43 | 1,734 | 40.3 | 55 | 0 | |
| 1973 | Detroit | 14 | 54 | 2,333 | 43.2 | 66 | 1 | |
| 1974 | Detroit | 14 | 72 | 2,772 | 38.5 | 61 | 2 | |
| 1975 | Detroit | 14 | 80 | 3,361 | 42.0 | 61 | 1 | |
| 1976 | Detroit | 14 | 83 | 3,280 | 39.5 | 69 | 1 | |
| 1977 | Seattle | 13 | 58 | 2,293 | 39.5 | 59 | 1 | |
| 1978 | Seattle | 16 | 66 | 2,440 | 37.0 | 59 | 0 | |
| 1979 | Seattle | 16 | 66 | 2,651 | 40.2 | 60 | 3 | |
| 1980 | Seattle | 16 | 67 | 2,798 | 41.8 | 69 | 2 | |
| Career | 158 | 693 | 27,897 | 40.3 | 69 | 14 | ||
Honors
- NFC Punter of the Year, 1975
- "One of the top 20 punters of all time," Sporting News, 1988