Colston Weatherington (born October 29, 1977) is a former

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 wit ...

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

man 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 ma ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

. He also was a member of the

Dallas Desperados The Dallas Desperados were a professional arena football team based in Dallas, Texas. The Desperados played in the Eastern Division of the Arena Football League from 2002 to 2008. The franchise began play in as an expansion team, and have post ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. He played college football at

Central Missouri State University The University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri. In 2019, enrollment was 11,229 students from 49 states and 59 countries on its 1,561-acre campus. UCM offers 150 programs of study, including 10 pre-profe ...

Early years

Weatherington attended Rehobeth Elementary/High School in

Dothan, AL Dothan () is a city in Dale, Henry, and Houston counties and the Houston county seat in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is Alabama's eighth-largest city, with a population of 71,072 at the 2020 census. It is near the state's southeastern corner, ...

, until transferring to Graceville High School for his junior and senior years, where he was named All-state and helped the team win a Class 2A championship and a second-place finish. After being out of football for two years while enrolled at

Northwest Mississippi Community College Northwest Mississippi Community College is a public community college in Senatobia, Mississippi. It was founded in 1928. As of August 2008, Northwest's enrollment exceeds 7,100 students. There are approximately 3,000 students on the Senatobia ca ...

, he joined the football team until 1998, recording 68 tackles (18 for loss), 13 sacks, 3 passes defensed and 5 forced fumbles, earning All-state and All-region community college honors. He played in the

Mineral Water Bowl The Mineral Water Bowl is an annual American NCAA Division II college football bowl game between teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and an at large opponent hosted in Excelsior Springs, Missouri at Tiger Stadium. History ...

and was named the game's defensive MVP, even though his team lost 41-3. In 1999, he transferred to Central Missouri State for his sophomore season, registering 52 tackles (19 for loss), 12 sacks (led the team) and 2 fumble recoveries, while earning Division II All-American and MIAA Defensive MVP honors. He also played for the

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team, averaging 1.3 points and 1.5 rebounds in 17 games. As a junior, he finished with 32 tackles (22 for loss), 7 sacks and 7 passes defensed, receiving All-MIAA and third-team Division II All-American honors. He declared early to the

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

, leaving with one year remaining of eligibility. In 2012, he was inducted into the

University of Central Missouri The University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri. In 2019, enrollment was 11,229 students from 49 states and 59 countries on its 1,561-acre campus. UCM offers 150 programs of study, including 10 pre-profe ...

Athletics Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Weatherington was selected by the

in the seventh round (207th overall) of the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

. His progress in training camp was slowed after suffering a high right ankle sprain in the preseason opener against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Ra ...

and missed the next 4 contests. He was released on September 2 and signed to the practice squad. In

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

, he was allocated to the

Amsterdam Admirals The Amsterdam Admirals were a professional American football team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, playing in the NFL Europe. History The Admirals were formed in 1995 as part of the NFL's plan to restart the World League of American Football, to ...

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

, where he recorded 15 tackles and a forced fumble. In 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 maj ...

regular season, he played in only 3 games (inactive in 11 contests), making one tackle and one pressure. The next year, he was tried at defensive tackle, before being waived on August 31,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

. He was signed to the practice squad and eventually cut on October 28.

Philadelphia Eagles

On August, 17,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, he was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by 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 ...

. He was released on August 30.

Dallas Desperados

On December 18,

, he signed with the

of the

, who were owned by

Jerry Jones Jerral Wayne Jones (born October 13, 1942) is an American businessman who has been the owner, president, and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) since February 1989. Early life Jones was born in Los Ange ...

, who also owned the

. After learning to be a two-way player and blocking as an

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

man, he earned

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

All-Rookie honors when he registered team-highs in sacks (7.5), quarterback pressures (5), forced fumbles (2) and blocked kicks (5). The next year, he finished with 17 tackles, 3.5 sacks (second on the team), 7.5 tackles for losses (led team), 9 quarterback pressures (led team) and 4

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

s. In 2006, he became one of the league's best players, recording 13.5 tackles (9 for loss), 7.5 sacks (led team), 4 forced fumbles, one safety, 2 passes defensed and 3

s. He also earned AFL Lineman of the Year and All-Arena honors. In

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

, he was named to the All-Arena team after registering 19.5 tackles (10.5 for loss), 10 sacks (second most in the AFL), 7 passes defensed, 5 forced fumbles and 2 blocked kicks. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

, he led the league in sacks (10.5) and ranked second in tackles for loss (11.0). He played five seasons until the team folded on August 4,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, upon the dissolving of the original AFL.

Orlando Predators

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, he was assigned to the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played it ...

of the

References

External links

Former Cowboy Weatherington Top AFL Lineman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weatherington, Colston 1977 births People from Graceville, Florida Players of American football from Florida American football defensive ends Northwest Mississippi Rangers football players Central Missouri Mules football players Central Missouri Mules basketball players Dallas Cowboys players Amsterdam Admirals players Dallas Desperados players Living people American men's basketball players