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

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

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. 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) Am ...

in the second round of the 2012 MLB draft. He played six seasons in the minor leagues before being released. He then enrolled at North Texas, and was the oldest starting quarterback in FBS football at the age of 29.

Early life

Aune attended Argyle High School in

Argyle, Texas Argyle is a city in Denton County, Texas, Denton County, Texas, United States, with a population of 5,503 as of 2022. It is a suburb of Fort Worth. History The first European settlement, consisting of a few families, occurred in the Argyle area ...

. 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 is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

. But after being selected by the

in the second round of the 2012 MLB Draft, 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 Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

in the

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, 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 pl ...

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

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 148 RBIs. 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 (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

and

Single-A Single-A, formerly known as Class 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 cl ...

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, Low-A Staten Island Yankees, 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. Char ...

, and High-A Tampa Yankees.

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 College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

for their 2018 spring practice. He enrolled as a student, but the crowded quarterback room convinced him to transfer to North Texas 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 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, including an upset win over #22 UTSA, before losing to the

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

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, throwing for 238 yards and a touchdown in a 32–35 defeat. After the game, Aune declared for the 2023 NFL draft. Shortly after the end of the season, Aune changed his mind and entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal. 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.

Statistics

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

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.

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

North Texas Mean Green bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aune, Austin 1993 births Living people American football quarterbacks Baseball players from Denton County, 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