Weinke To Remain At FSU
Chris Weinke is staying.
The 27-year-old Florida State quarterback, who threw four touchdown passes against Virginia Tech in the national championship game, will return for one more season with the Seminoles.
Weinke made the surprise announcement Monday at a news conference.
"I'd like to come back and try to win another national championship," Weinke said.
Weinke, who spent six years in the Toronto Blue Jays minor league system before resuming his football career, threw for 3,103 yards and 25 touchdowns this season. He has passed for 5,672 yards and 46 TDs in his Florida State career, ranking fifth in passing yardage and fourth in TD passes. He threw for 329 yards and four TDs two to Peter Warrick in the 46-29 Sugar Bowl win over the Hokies.
Weinke also holds an Atlantic Coast Conference record with a string of 237 pass attempts without an interception.
Warrick surprised the Seminoles after the 1998 season, when he announced he was returning for the '99 season.
Weinke said he didn't make up his mind until Monday. He said he had talked to people in the NFL, and thought there was an opportunity for him there.
But he said he wanted to be the best college quarterback in the country and try for another national title.
Weinke was awarded the Brian Piccolo Award last month recognizing the "most courageous" athlete in the ACC for coming back from a serious injury suffered in 1998.
Just as Weinke seemed to have shaken off the rust of his long layoff from football, he suffered a career-threatening neck injury in November 1998 against Virginia.
Weinke missed the final two games of the 1998 season and was on the sidelines when Florida State was defeated 23-16 in the 1998 title game by Tennessee at the Fiesta Bowl.
Weinke's 21-1 record as a starter is the best by any Florida State quarterback, eclipsing Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward's 22-2 mark in 1992-93. He has quarterbacked 20 straight victories since a 24-7 defeat at North Carolina State in September 1998 when Weinke threw six interceptions.
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