Inductees

It’s often said of athletes that their most important ability isn’t speed, or strength, or stamina. The most important ability an athlete can have is availability.

Perhaps no one in Missouri sports history personifies that belief more than Casey Wiegmann.

The Iowa born-and-bred Wiegmann became a folk hero of sorts during his nine total seasons as the starting center for the Kansas City Chiefs (2001-07, 2010-11), starting 143 straight games. He also played for the New York Jets, Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos in a 16-year career, setting an NFL record playing 11,162 consecutive snaps along the way.

For his commitment to excellence and to being available, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proundly inducted Wiegmann as a member of the Class of 2024.

Growing up in Parkersburg, Iowa, Wiegmann was just like every other kid. He played basketball, participated in track & field, and in the summer, he joined the baseball team. But Wiegmann was exceptional in football, so much so that the University of Iowa and legendary head coach Hayden Fry took notice.

“I always wanted to be an Iowa Hawkeye,” Wiegmann said. “So, when Iowa started recruiting me, it was such a thrill. I still remember my recruiting visit and meeting one-on-one with Coach Fry. Towards the end of the meeting, he offered me a scholarship and it took about two seconds for me to accept.”In his four seasons at Iowa, Wiegmann started 27 games and earned second-team All-Big Ten honors. But a broken foot at the end of his senior year nearly derailed his pro football dreams.

“I was rated as a late first-to-second round draft pick,” Wiegmann said. “But I broke my foot in my senior year bowl game. I was red flagged by every team but one, as doctors told me I would never play football again. The Indianapolis Colts gave me a shot and I tried to make the most out of it.  It took a lot of time and rehabilitation for me to get back to playing but it was worth it.”

Wiegmann sweated out training camp, all the way to final cuts. He got the news he had waited for, and it came from a football legend.

“I was sitting in the locker room waiting for last cuts when Jim Harbaugh yells at me, ‘Hey Wiegmann, you’re going to be on this team’. I ended up making the practice squad, but that gave me a lot of confidence. I knew I could compete.”

In 1997, Wiegmann got his chance, but with a different team.

“I got my first start with the Chicago Bears in Soldier Field,” Wiegmann said. That start came against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Dec. 21. It was the first of 200 career starts for Wiegmann.

After three seasons in Chicago, Wiegmann signed with the Chiefs in 2001. It was the beginning of lengthy relationship with Kansas City, and a lengthy playing streak.

“Dick Vermeil (MSHOF, 2001) brought me to Kansas City for the 2001 season,” Wiegmann said. “In the last week of training camp, I had to get an emergency appendectomy. I felt I was letting my teammates down. As soon as I got healthy and doctors told me I could play, I told myself I never wanted to miss any time again. Fortunately, that came true.”

He missed just one regular-season game in 2001, then proceeded to never miss another game in the remainder of his career.

The consecutive snaps streak is impressive, but Wiegmann is equally proud of another aspect of his career.

“I really do take great pride in the consecutive snap streak, but also being able to say I started 200 NFL games,” he said. “Not too many guys can say that. There were times where I could have come out of games, but I wanted to keep the streak alive. I even had a couple teammates tell our offensive line coaches to never take me out because they knew the streak meant a lot to me.”

Wiegmann cites his grandfather, his high school coach Ed Thomas, and Vermeil as some of the people who had an impact on his football career.

“My grandpa got me hooked on football by just being able to watch games with him on television,” Wiegmann said. “Coach Thomas besides being just a coach, a mentor and someone to confide in, he would try to lead you in the right direction in life. And Coach Vermeil pushed you to limits you never thought you could get to, but also cared about you on a personal level and had more faith in you than you probably had in yourself. You don’t see that very often in the NFL.”

And the NFL may never see a streak like Wiegmann’s again.