Eric Weddle accomplished a lot in his football career — an undefeated season and Fiesta Bowl championship in 2004, consensus All-American honors, two first-team All-Pro appearances, six Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl championship.
Saturday’s Ring of Honor enshrinement at the University of Utah, Weddle says, stacks up to those other accolades he received throughout his nearly two-decade football career.
Weddle’s name was etched into Rice-Eccles Stadium forever during halftime of Utah’s game against Arkansas, joining Alex Smith, Roy Jefferson and Ron McBride in the Utes’ Ring of Honor.
“I try to wrap my head around what this actually means. I don’t still think I understand the significance of it. Never in my wildest dreams would I think I’d be in this moment right now. So very humbling, emotionally,” Weddle said.
“It’s just special how much I love this place, and to be recognized in a way for the rest of the time is going to be insane, man. It’s crazy. Even winning the Super Bowl and College Football Hall of Fame, this rivals or surpasses those moments and/or recognition.”
Weddle starred at Utah from 2003-2006, starting at cornerback before shifting to safety in 2004. During that 2004 season, the Utes became the first team from a non-Automatic Qualifying conference to make a Bowl Championship Series game.
Weddle totaled 78 tackles and four interceptions — including a pick-six — in one of Utah’s most memorable seasons.
Then in 2005, and especially 2006, Weddle did a little bit of everything for the Utes. In his senior season, Weddle put together one of the best individual campaigns in school history after new head coach Kyle Whittingham gave him the green light to play more on offense.
In addition to being a full-time starting safety (65 tackles, seven interceptions, two pick-sixes and a fumble return for a touchdown), Weddle rushed for 203 yards and five scores on 44 carries, returned eight punts for 44 yards, completed two passes for 43 yards and a touchdown and, if that wasn’t enough, held the ball for field goals and extra points.
The best encapsulation of Weddle’s sensational 2006 season came against San Diego State, when he scored on two straight plays from scrimmage. First, he scored on a two-yard rush, then he intercepted SDSU quarterback Darren Mougey and ran it 30 yards to the end zone to put Utah up 21-7.
He finished the game with three interceptions (two pick-sixes), four tackles, one pass breakup and one touchdown on offense.
Now back at Utah, it’s a full-circle moment for Weddle, as his college teammate Morgan Scalley is now head coach of the Utes a little over two decades since the two played together.
“I mean, he’s someone that I look up to, that I learn from,” Weddle said. “Anytime that we’re together, I take something from our conversations or our experiences and try to apply it to my life, and he is that person to me.
“I mean, he took me under his wing as a freshman and obviously we got really close when I was a sophomore in his senior year.”
The two have remained close friends and confidants, and to go into the Ring of Honor with Scalley coaching his alma mater made the moment even more special for Weddle.
“He’s been working for this moment for his entire life. Nobody was born to be the University of Utah head coach (more) than Morgan Scalley. He’s showing it every day how he works, how he treats people, how he connects with people. I think everyone can sense that and see that,” Weddle said.
Saturday’s game against Arkansas was just the third game of Scalley’s career, but Weddle is already envisioning a similar length of service as Whittingham, Scalley’s predecessor.
“I know you can see it in our team, how they play, how they react, how they treat each other, and it’s not always the most talented team that wins, it’s the closest and the most connected team that wins,” Weddle said.
“So you’re going to see greatness for as long as he’s the University of Utah head coach, which will probably be the next 20 to 25 years. Don’t want to put that pressure on him,” Weddle said with a smile, “but that is my expectation.”
While Saturday was Weddle’s time in the spotlight with his family, it was also a chance for his son, four-star recruit Gaige, to visit with Scalley and the Utes.
Gaige Weddle considers Scalley “like an uncle,” and has the Utes in his top list of teams. A safety in the high school graduating class of 2028, he is ranked the No. 1 safety prospect in the nation and the No. 12 overall player by Rivals and has the chance to follow in his father’s footsteps at Utah but also has offers from schools such as Georgia and Ohio State.
“Gaige is a special young man. Really proud of his maturity and his development and how he is becoming a young man,” Eric Weddle said. “He’s got a lot of pressure on him, and he loves it and he wants it, but also everyone thinks it may be easy being Eric Weddle’s son, but it could be quite the opposite a lot of times daily with the negativity that he has to deal with. But he channels that and he harnesses it and he uses it to be better.”
It’s pretty tough to beat a successful college and NFL career, but Weddle thinks his son can be even better than him.
“He’s got to the point that he doesn’t compare himself to me,” the elder Weddle said. “He wants to surpass me. Whether that’s here or anywhere else, he’s always going to get that comparison and he knows that he wants to mark his own journey and mark his own steps on what he wants to accomplish.
“At the end of the day, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s at mine or better because he’s one crazy kid.”
Eric Weddle is currently Gaige’s head coach at Rancho Bernardo High in California. After Gaige graduates, would Weddle like to team up with Scalley again, this time on the Utah coaching staff?
“As of right now, I got two daughters that are still in school, so I wouldn’t want to move them, so not for the foreseeable future, but you never know,” Weddle said.
“The recruiting and doing that type of stuff, I don’t know. We’d have to put it like a side plan if Coach Weddle wants to coach college that he’s not going to be going on the road for a month at a time to recruit,” he joked.
Weddle said that if he does coach college, it will be at Utah.
“I love being around young people. I love this program. If I do coach college, it would be here,” Weddle said. “Am I more meant for the NFL? I don’t know. Sometimes I think that’s more my route if I do end up doing something like that, but you never know.”
In the present, Weddle was surrounded by his family Saturday at Utah, minus daughter Silver, who is at a Team USA acrobatic gymnastics meet this weekend.
“Having my family here and then my friends that have been there every step of the way through college and NFL, it’s going to be a great moment to share with them,” Weddle said.