Clayton Weishuhn remembered as a family man with a farmer's heart

Mike Martin taught Clayton Weishuhn about football. Weishuhn taught Martin about family.

Martin, the Angelo State defensive coordinator from 1975-2004, lost more than a former All-American linebacker when Weishuhn died April 22 in a vehicle wreck at age 62. Like a lot of folks around Wall, Martin felt like he lost a family member.

“I had a heck of a time growing up with that family,” Martin said a few days ago, recalling times starting in 1970s spent with the Weishuhn family from Wall. “I fell in love with Olen and Merline (Clayton’s parents) and the closeness of a huge family that they put together.

“I already knew (older brother) Darryl and Clayton, but I got to know the other brothers, Karl and Doyle – and all their children. We barbecued together and had all our kids together in the swimming pool. Shoot, I went dove hunting with them. They invited me and (wife) Sari to all their family gatherings.

“They taught me how to be a better family man with my own family.”

Martin might not have experienced that unique relationship if he hadn’t counseled Clayton Weishuhn through the challenging transition from high school to college football. Farming, family and girlfriend-turned-wife Diane were always above football on Clayton’s priority list. Despite offers from NCAA Division I programs, he chose to play college football at Angelo State, then a NAIA member, in 1978 primarily because it was closer to home, and he could still farm.

Clayton came to ASU as a fast – 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash – but raw talent. As a freshman, he became restless playing mainly as a backup and on special teams while senior linebackers Kelvin Smith, Boyd Gray and Undrea Walker helped the Rams win their only national championship.

“We were a little concerned that Clayton might quit football and return to farming full-time,” Martin said. “It was not a huge problem, but we discussed it. We convinced him that after those seniors moved on that he’d be playing and had the ability to be a special player.”

Martin had to catch up Clayton’s college football IQ to his raw talent.

“Clayton was used to getting after whoever had the ball – the quarterback or the running back,” Martin said. “We ran a disciplined, gap-control defense, and the passing offenses in the Lone Star Conference were a lot more complicated than what Clayton was used to. On pass coverages, he couldn’t understand why he should be running away from the quarterback when he had the ball.”

Martin also taught Clayton individual techniques that aided his enormous talent.

“In high school,” Martin said of Clayton, “he was so much quicker than the offensive linemen, they hardly ever touched him. He had to learn to take on much better blockers in college. We taught him blow delivery and separation, and how to keep his hands up on the lineman’s shoulder pads. That first year he had his hands between his helmet and their helmet, and his fingers were always cut and beat up.

“He learned to keep his feet behind him in pursuit so the blockers couldn’t get to his feet. He learned that reading the linemen – not the quarterback or running back – would lead him to the football. Linebackers have to do all that in a matter of seconds.”

A star is born

Once he learned and combined these techniques with his speed and natural ability, a star linebacker emerged. Clayton was a two-time All-American linebacker and a two-time Lone Star Conference Lineman of the Year. His 523 career tackles still stand as the Rams’ record, and he’s a member of the ASU Athletics and LSC halls of fame.

“Nobody could block him,” Martin said of Clayton’s latter ASU seasons. “They’d try to hold him or just out and out tackle him.”

The 1978-1980 seasons when Clayton played are still the only time ASU has made the playoffs in three consecutive years. During his four years, the Rams put up a 39-8-1 record.

A common scene for Rams’ home games during that era was former ASU administrator Ollie Cauthen sitting in the press box. He watched the Rams while listening to Texas or Texas Tech games on his transistor radio.

Because he wore ear plugs, Cauthen talked way louder than necessary. Every time Clayton made a big hit – which was often – Cauthen shouted “Wy-soooon” at a startling volume. ASU fans outside the press box felt the same way about their star linebacker.

“It seemed like the whole Wall community came to those games to watch him play,” said Martin, who called Weishuhn and Pierce Holt the best defenders he coached in 33 seasons at ASU. “Clayton was such a pleasure to coach and watch. He was so intense, and he’d do anything to please you. He never did anything half-speed.”

Meanwhile, the ASU football coaches helped accommodate Clayton’s love for farming.

“He was able to set his schedule where all his classes were on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” Martin said. “That way, he could farm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.

“He and Diane were high school sweethearts, and I got to watch their love affair keep growing in college. Clayton would come in (to ASU) from farming about 12:30 or 1 o’clock and meet Dianne over where the Junell Center is now. She’d have made him three or four baloney sandwiches. He’d gobble those down and be at the field house at 2 for football meetings and practice.

“With Clayton, it was always farming, family, Diane, and God was in there somewhere. Then it was football. I don’t think it was ever his dream to play college or pro football. He liked to play football because he was good at it, and during his last couple of years, he started getting noticed by some pro scouts,” Martin said.

NFL and life after football

The New England Patriots drafted Clayton in the third round of the 1982 NFL Draft, and true to his priorities, Clayton made farming part of his pro football contract negotiations with Ron Meyer, head coach of the Patriots at the time.

“Ron Meyer told the story about how they were trying to get Clayton signed,” Martin said, “and Clayton finally said, ‘Heck, if y’all will throw in (some fancy model) John Deere Tractor, I’ll sign.’ Meyer said, ‘Heck, yeah, we’ll do that.’ Meyer said he had no idea that tractor was going to cost $75,000. That was a lot of money back in the early ‘80s.”

Clayton started every New England game in his first two seasons. In his second season in 1983, he made 229 tackles – a single-season record that still stands for the six-time Super Bowl champion franchise. Sadly, though, that was his last full season in football.

A knee injury in this third season eventually led the Patriots to trade Weishuhn to the Packers. In a 2015 article, the Boston Globe listed Weishuhn as one of 11 most promising young athletes to have their careers cut short by injuries. On that list with Clayton were football player Bo Jackson, and basketball players Bill Walton, Penny Hardaway and Grant Hill.

Weishuhn was healthy again after the trade to Green Bay, but Diane was diagnosed with cancer. Again showing where family and football fit into his priorities, Clayton quit the NFL and returned home to Wall to be with his wife.

“He didn’t have to think about it for one second,” Martin said of Clayton ending his football career at age 27. “And he never looked back. He was always a lot happier on a tractor than on a football field, anyway.”

For the next 35 years, Clayton returned to the roles he enjoyed most in life. The roles in which those around Wall saw him. As a husband. Father. Brother. Son. Extended family member. Neighbor. Friend. Farmer. Worker. And a Wall Hawks fan.

Those are the roles that will make it tough for folks around Wall to get over the loss of Clayton Weishuhn.

“That family worked together. They played together. They prayed together,” Martin said of the Weishuhns. “That always stuck with me. They’re such good people.”

This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Clayton Weishuhn remembered as a family man with a farmer's heart