Gerald Craft "Bones" Weatherly (December 26, 1928 – December 28, 2004) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

who played four seasons with 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He was selected by the Bears in the eighth round of the

1949 NFL draft The 1949 NFL draft was held on December 21, 1948, at The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. The draft was preceded by a secret draft meeting held November 15, 1948, at the Hotel Schenley in Pittsburgh. This was the third year that the ...

after playing

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 ...

Rice Institute The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is an international Agricultural science, agricultural research and training organization with its headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna, in the Philippines, and offices in seventeen countries. IRR ...

Early life

Gerald Craft Weatherly was born on December 26, 1928, in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. He attended Cuero High School in

Cuero, Texas Cuero ( ) is a city in and the county seat of DeWitt County, Texas, DeWitt County, Texas, United States. Its population was 8,128 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The city of Cuero got its start in the mid-19th century as a ...

College career

Weatherly was a lettermen for the

Rice Owls The Rice Owls are the sports teams representing Houston's Rice University in college sports. The name comes from the owls in Rice's crest. Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics. A member of the American Athletic Conference, Rice sponsors ...

in 1945, 1947, 1948, and 1949. He was named second-team All-

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

by both the

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and

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

as a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

in 1949. He was inducted into Rice's athletics hall of fame in 1974.

Professional career

Weatherly was selected by the

in the eighth round, with the 72nd overall pick, of the

. He signed with the Bears on June 9, 1950. He played in six games, starting two, during the 1950 season, intercepting two passes for 58 yards and two touchdowns while also recovering one fumble. His two interception return touchdowns tied him for the league lead that year with

Warren Lahr Warren Emmett Lahr (September 5, 1923 – January 19, 1969) was an American professional football player who was a defensive back who played for the Cleveland Browns for 11 seasons, mainly in the 1950s. When he retired, he had the most care ...

. Weatherly became a free agent after the 1950 season and missed the entire 1951 season due to being drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. He played football at

Fort Sam Houston Fort Sam Houston is a United States Army, U.S. Army post in San Antonio, Texas. "Fort Sam Houston, TX • About Fort Sam Houston" (overview), US Army, 2007, webpageSH-Army. Known colloquially as "Fort Sam", it is named for the first president o ...

while in the Army. He re-signed with the Bears on November 12, 1952. Weatherly appeared in five games, starting two, in 1952, recording three interceptions and one fumble recovery. He played in all 12 games, starting four, in 1953, totaling one interception and three fumble recoveries. He played in all 12 games for the second consecutive season, starting 11, in 1954, intercepting two passes for 56 yards. The Bears finished the year with an 8–4 record. Weatherly became a free agent after the 1954 season.

Death

Weatherly died on December 28, 2004, in Cuero, Texas of "

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF typically pr ...

secondary to

cerebellar degeneration Cerebellar degeneration is a condition in which cerebellar cells, otherwise known as neurons, become damaged and progressively weaken in the cerebellum. There are two types of cerebellar degeneration; paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration, and alc ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weatherly, Bones 1928 births 2004 deaths Players of American football from Houston American football linebackers Rice Owls football players Chicago Bears players Sportspeople from Cuero, Texas United States Army personnel American football centers Players of American football from DeWitt County, Texas