Joel Weimer signs LOI to play with Franklin College

Joel Weimer (center) sits between his grandfather Jim Weimer and his mother Jill Weimer as he gets read to sign his letter of intent to attend Franklin College next year.

By Andrew Bowen

LITTLE CINCINNATI – Joel Weimer will transmogrify: change from a Thunderbird to a Grizzly

With his mother, grandfather, coaches, and teammates looking on, the Eastern-Greene senior signed a letter of intent Tuesday afternoon to play football next year for Franklin College, a Division III college located on a beautiful 207-acre campus in Franklin. Division III schools do not offer academic scholarships, but Weimer said: “They can send me academic money.”

He said he doesn’t know what position he’ll play, “not at the moment, but I would like to continue to play wide receiver. I’ll play anywhere they need me.”

Weimer has been visiting Franklin the past two years as a member of the Thunderbirds. Last summer, he attended an individual camp and decided “I want to do this.” Weimer also plays basketball for the T-Birds, but said he won’t go out for the Franklin team.

“Over the past two years – since I started to play as a junior – we went there for a football camp,” he said. “I started falling in love with the campus. I wanted to play football at the college. Some of the coaches started to talk to me.”

Part of what attracted him to Franklin, home of the Grizzlies, was the smallness of the school, which has only 1,023 students, according to its web site. He explained it will be easier to adjust to a small school than a large college. He said he expects to meet a great many people and make friends.

“I make friendships pretty easily.”

Eastern head coach Joey Paridaen noted Weimer is one of 14 seniors that led Eastern to its first two sectional, its first regional, and its first semistate titles. Paridaen said he recruited Weimer when the coach first arrived at Eastern four years ago, but he didn’t go out for the team until he was a junior. Paridaen said Weimer made an immediate impact for the Thunderbirds.

“He’s been a kid that’s been a nice surprise,” Paridaen said.

The coach noted Weimer is not the largest player on the field – the senior stands 5-foot-6, but has the speed and strength to contribute good things to the team. Paridaen said a lot of people do not realize that small size doesn’t preclude them from contributing to their team.

“Just by looking at him, you’d think he couldn’t make a big impact on the football team because he’s not big,” he said.

Paridaen noted Weimer could make plays after catching the ball.

“He’s a great kid,” Paridaen said. “He does what it takes to make a Division III school where he’ll be asked to make contributions on the field and in the classroom.”

Weimer was one of Eastern’s top four receivers last season. He caught 24 passes for 294 yards (12.3 yards per catch) and two touchdowns. He also carried the pigskin nine times for 81 yards and a touchdown and gained 72 yards on kick returns.

As a defensive back, Weimer made 12 tackles, five of them solo

Among his fondest memories as an Eastern player is the Nov. 24 trip to Indianapolis to play the Class 1A championship against Pioneer in Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Colts. Pioneer whacked Eastern 42-14, but Weimer said “it was an amazing moment and a great experience.”

He said the players had to adjust from playing outside in the cold to playing in an indoor facility, They also had to adjust to playing in a much larger venue – the stadium could hold several thousand Eastern fans with plenty of room left over.

“Practicing there before the game was a real eyeopener as far as how ginormous it is,” he said.

Weimer has other great memories of his days as a Thunderbird. He said one of them came Oct. 6 when Eastern beat Linton for the first time in school history. The Thunderbirds trailed 12-7 late in the second quarter, but Weimer hauled in a 35-yard scoring pass to give Eastern a 14-12 halftime lead. The T-Birds put the game away with three TDs in the second half.

“I would like to say that my big catch against Linton in the second half this year kind of jump-started our win.”

He added that his performance against North Central in the Nov. 3 sectional championship, a 33-14 win for Eastern, was another fond memory. He caught three passes for 45 yards as the Thunderbirds surged out to a 26-0 lead.

“We were able to pick apart their defense and the way they were guarding us.”

Weimer said he wants to study business at Franklin and minor in barbering. After graduation, Weimer said, he wants to go into business for himself as a barber.

“Roar, Grizzlies, roar!” he concluded.