J. J. Weaver (born November 30, 1999) is an American

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 ...

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 ...

for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

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 played

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 ...

for the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...

Early life

Weaver grew up in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

before moving to

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

before starting high school. He attended Moore Traditional School. As a senior, he had 70 tackles with 10 sacks and three interceptions. Weaver committed to play college football at Kentucky over offers from Louisville, Miami, and Purdue.

College career

Weaver played in three games during his true freshman season and maintained a redshirt. He had 33 tackles with 6.5 tackles for loss during his redshirt freshman year. Weaver tore his ACL in Kentucky's game against Florida and missed the rest of the season. He returned the next season and had 33 tackles with 10.5 tackles for loss and led the Wildcats with 6.5 sacks.

Professional career

Weaver signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on July 25, 2025.

Personal life

Weaver was born with six fingers on his right hand.

References

External links

Carolina Panthers bioKentucky Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weaver, J.J. 1999 births Living people People with polydactyly Players of American football from Fort Lauderdale, Florida Players of American football from Louisville, Kentucky American football linebackers Kentucky Wildcats football players Carolina Panthers players