Evan Weaver (born August 11, 1998) is an American former

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 ...

player who was a

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 ...

for the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

. He was selected by 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 ...

's (NFL)

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

in the sixth round of the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The ...

Early life

Weaver was born and raised in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

and attended

Gonzaga Preparatory School Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane, Washington, is a Private school, private, Catholic Church, Catholic high school in the Inland Northwest. Colloquially nicknamed "G-Prep", the Jesuits, Jesuit school has been recognized for its college prepa ...

, where he played baseball and football. He attended grade school at Cataldo Catholic School, located in South Spokane. He was named first-team All-State and the

Inland Northwest The Inland Northwest, historically and alternatively known as the Inland Empire, is a region of the Northwestern United States centered on the Greater Spokane, Washington Area, encompassing all of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. Under ...

Defensive MVP after making 123 tackles, 36 for a loss, with 14 sacks and six forced fumbles. Rated a three-star prospect by most recruiting services, Weaver committed to play

at California over offers from Arizona, Boise State, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Washington State. As a senior, Weaver was named the State Defensive Player of the Year after recording 125 tackles, 1 int, 5 forced fumbles, 37 tackles for loss, 24 sacks, and two safeties. He finished his high school career with 393 tackles, 78.0 tackles for loss, 45.0 sacks, and 14 forced fumbles. Weaver also played as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

his senior year in the 2015 season, and scored the third and fourth touchdown for Gonzaga Prep in the WIAA 2015 Championship against Skyline, where he rushed for a net gain of 133 yards, with his longest run being 24 yards. Although he played baseball in high school, he opted out his senior year once he made his college commitment.

College career

Weaver played in 11 games as a

true freshman The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

as a reserve

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

, making 16 tackles with 1.5 sacks. Weaver moved from defensive end to

outside 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 lin ...

during spring camp and then moved to inside linebacker going into his sophomore year. He became a starter midway through the season and finished with 55 tackles, two for loss, and two passes broken up. As a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

, Weaver started all 13 of the Golden Bears games and led the

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

with 159 tackles (9.5 for loss) with 4.5 sacks, two

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team bu ...

, and six passes broken up. He was named the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

player of the week on October 29, 2018 for an 11-tackle (one for loss) performance with a pass broken up and an interception return for a touchdown in Cal's 12-10 upset of #15

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. Weaver was named a second-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

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, first-team All-Pac-12 by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

(AP) and second-team All-Pac-12 by the league's coaches. Weaver entered his senior season on the watchlists for the

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

and the

Bronko Nagurski Trophy The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been awarded annually since 1993 to the collegiate American football defensive player adjudged by the membership of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) to be the best in the National Collegiate Athle ...

. He was named a midseason All-American by the AP and

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...

. At the end of the season, Weaver was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors after leading the nation with a school-record and Pac-12-record 182 tackles. He also became the first Cal player to earn unanimous first-team All-American honors since Daymeion Hughes and

DeSean Jackson DeSean William Jackson (born December 1, 1986) is an American college football coach and former player who is the Head coach, head football coach at Delaware State Hornets football, Delaware State University. Known for his speed, he is recog ...

in 2006.

College statistics

Professional career

Weaver was selected by the

in the sixth round with the 202nd overall pick of the

. He was waived on September 5, 2020. He was re-signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

a day later. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 5, 2021. He was waived on August 30, 2021.

References

External links

California Golden Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weaver, Evan 1998 births Living people American football linebackers California Golden Bears football players Players of American football from Spokane, Washington All-American college football players Arizona Cardinals players