The sound of music could have ended Andre Weathers’ football career before it ever got started.
Weathers did a little of everything before realizing he might become something special as a football player.
His rst serious competitive outlet was in swimming, something he did through middle school.
He gave up swimming as he entered Flint Central High School, not because football beckoned, but because it would
interfere with band.
“I was going to be in band in high school,” Weathers said. “I grew up playing saxophone. When my dad asked me if
I wanted to play football, I said, ‘Sure.’ I was all prepared to be in band.”
Instead of having a rst-chair saxophone player in the marching band on Friday nights, Central had an All-State
receiver and defensive back who would lead the Indians to one of the best seasons in school history in 1993.
His father’s suggestion led to a career as a cornerback at the University of Michigan and with the New York Giants of the National Football League. It took him to the Rose Bowl, where he helped Michigan win a share of the 1997 national championship, and to the Super Bowl, although an injury kept him from playing in the Giants’ loss to the Baltimore Ravens
to cap the 2000 season.
Weathers put his football scholarship to good use, earning an engineering degree from Michigan. With his playing
days well behind him at the age of 39, Weathers is still involved in the sport as the head coach at Bentley High School.
“I really enjoy coaching,” Weathers said. “The biggest reason is a lot of kids don’t know anything outside of the realm they’re in. There’s a lot more out there. I’m hoping a lot of my experience can rub off and make those kids hungry to seek something else, whether it’s playing football or wanting to go to school somewhere. Maybe something triggers them to
want to come back and give back. It’s a beautiful game we play.”
At Central, Weathers and All-State wide receiver DeAngelo Mitchell led the Indians to a school-record 11 victories
in 1993. That Central team was the only Flint Community School to reach the state semi nals, losing 14-6 to a Westland John Glenn team that shut down Central’s explosive offense by eating up the time of possession.
