Age nothing but a number for Oklahoma State QB Weeden
Published: January 25th, 2012 | Tags: 2012 Senior Bowl, Andrew Luck, Brandon Weeden, Oklahoma State
MOBILE, Ala. — Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden, like the rest of us, keeps getting old. Questions about his age, however, do not.
“I haven’t done an interview in a long time where I haven’t talked about my age …” Weeden said Wednesday after Senior Bowl practice. “I got used to it about eight months ago, and I just realized there’s nothing I can do to change it. I took a different approach. It doesn’t bother me anymore, because I’m so used to talking about it.”
What’s the big deal? Well, Weeden is 28 years old, making him by far the oldest prospect in the 2012 NFL Draft. In fact, he’s older than Aaron Rodgers by nearly two months, which tells you just how late to the draft party Weeden is because of his previous minor league baseball career.
Where it gets tricky for scouts and general managers is that Weeden has the qualities of an NFL quarterback. He’s got the height at 6-foot-4. He’s got the strong arm. He can throw a tight spiral. And he’s accurate, with a career 69.5 completion percentage.
That all started to surface during the final padded practice on Wednesday.
And in case anybody forgot, Weeden out-dueled Stanford QB Andrew Luck, the projected No. 1 overall pick, in a memorable Fiesta Bowl earlier this month.
If Weeden was 22, we might be talking about him and Luck going 1-2 in April. As it stands, though, Weeden will be asked about his age from now until then.
“I can change a lot of things, but I can’t change that birth certificate,” Weeden said. “That’s just kind of my response. It’s there, and I just have fun with it. It’s more of an advantage than anything. There aren’t any negatives. I think I bring a lot of value with my age, my maturity and how stable I am both mentally and physically.”
