As a standout athlete from Goddard High School in Goddard, Kansas, hometown hero Stan Weber received a chance to make his dream of playing Power Five football come true.
Weber came to K-State the Kansas high school Male Athlete of the Year and the Kansas Shrine Bowl MVP.
“I had always loved sports and competition,” Weber said, “I was just like every other kid. I dreamt of competing at a Power Five school. I trained my whole life for it, from playing in the backyard to just playing two-on-two. Playing in the Shrine Bowl was definitely a unique experience. Being on an actual college football field with some of the best athletes that Kansas has to offer and competing with and against them was such a great experience.”
Weber knew K-State was the place for him after stepping foot on campus during his first visit.
“The people were a big reason that K-State was the place for me.” Weber said, “As a student-athlete, you spend almost 365 days a year in the city that you choose. So for me, [it was] being so close to Manhattan and the fact that I had a chance at being a part of something much bigger than just a football team. At that point, K-State wasn’t very good, but I wanted to help turn that around.”
Weber started his career at K-State as a free safety, recording one interception for a return of 20 yards. He really shined after switching quarterback, though, scrambling for 113 yards in 24 rushes against No. 1 Nebraska in 1983.
“It really felt like I was just in the zone.” Weber said, “Everything started to feel like it was in slow motion, and that’s just an unreal feeling. The game really started to slow down, and it made everything a whole lot easier. But, when I first got to K-State, I would spend half of the practice on defense and half of it on offense. Ultimately, the coaching staff decided that I would better fit on the defensive side of the ball since we already had an established quarterback.”
During his time at K-State, Weber said he learned many lessons and gained a lot of life skills from both his coaches and his teammates. For him, the main lesson is that you can’t evaluate yourself before the game is over.
Related:
Know Your Opponent: No. 7 Texas
“That kind of lesson applies to life as well,” Weber said, “Even today, I can’t look at a project I’m working on and determine that it is bad before it’s even done. You can’t get down on yourself in a game if you throw an interception, or the mistakes will just keep piling up and you’ll go down a hole that will be hard to get out of. Just like if I manage to mess something up at my job, I will just have to work harder to correct that mistake.”
Weber played in 33 games at K-State — 22 as a quarterback. In the two seasons he led the offense, he threw for 1,274 yards and six touchdowns while rushing for 685 yards and eight touchdowns.
After receiving his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting, Weber became a certified public accountant at KPMG International. He is now the president of Tower Properties, a real estate firm in Kansas City, Missouri, but his time with the Wildcats is not over.
Three years after graduating from K-State, Weber received a phone call asking him to commentate on the K-State Sports Radio Network with Mitch Holthus, who is now with the Kansas City Chiefs.
“For the first nine years that I was there, [Holthus] was there with me and really taught me everything I know about broadcasting,” Weber said. “It truly was a blessing to work with someone that works as hard and is as talented as Mitch. For two of the years he was at K-State, he was also announcing for the Kansas City Chiefs. It was just crazy to me because he started announcing at Kansas State while I was still playing.”
Weber has four kids — two daughters and two sons — who carry on the K-State legacy. He said his oldest daughter Brittani was the leader and the first to go to K-State, while his other daughter McKenzi played volleyball for the Wildcats. Both sons, Stanton and Landry, went on to play football for K-State.
“It was a great joy for me and my family that they chose K-State, but most importantly, was the joy that it brought them,” Weber said. “I started broadcasting before any of them were born, so they knew nothing but K-State and K-State sports. The three out of four kids that went on to play sports all walked on to play, and they all gained a scholarship by the end of their careers. It was just special for them to play against that kind of competition and still succeed at the highest level in both sports and in academics.”
Weber is entering his 36th season broadcasting for K-State. Between his playing days and his announcing days, he said he wants to thank K-State for giving him so many opportunities.
“I was recruited and introduced to the people of K-State, and ever since I had that introduction, I have enjoyed the greatness of the people of Manhattan,” Weber said. “I appreciate all of the experiences that I have gotten to share with the people of K-State. Lastly, it’s an honor to be associated with Kansas State in any and every way.”
