TEMPE – Jonathan Johnson was Thomas Weber’s primary holder during his freshman season at Arizona State. Johnson remembers an inside joke the team had about its kicker.
“Thomas is about as straight edge as you can get,” Johnson said. ”Like, the guy doesn’t really drink, he doesn’t smoke, he does none of that stuff.
“But he has this thing called asthma of the eye. He always has red eyes.”
To ASU special teams coordinator Tom Osborne, Weber’s red eyes were always a concern.
“Coach Osborne always accused Thomas of being high, but the guy’s never even seen the stuff,” Johnson said.
The straight line that Weber walked also defined his kicking.
Weber began his collegiate career on a tear, connecting on his first 17 field goal attempts to set an ASU record. He finished that season 24 of 25. His 118 points equaled the Sun Devils’ single-season record.
Midway through the season, Weber also took over punting duties as ASU raced to a share of the 2007 Pac-10 title. He capped off the year by becoming the first freshman to win the Lou Groza award given to the best placekicker in the country.
“I grew up playing soccer and then had no intention of actually playing football,” Weber said. “Then I was asked to play on the high school team, and started realizing that I was pretty good at it, and so I started to devote more time to it.”
Weber’s devotion will be rewarded Friday night when he is inducted into the Sun Devil Athletics Hall of Fame. Weber will join baseball player Andrew Beinbrink, track and field’s Victoria Jackson, swimmer Beata Kaszuba-Baker and the late Hannah Henry, a Sun Devil triathlete who was killed by a hit-and-run driver. The ceremony will take place at The Westin Tempe. Tickets are $50 per person and all proceeds go to the Sun Angel Foundation.
“It’s a little crazy, it’s just surreal,” said Weber, who played for ASU from 2007 to 2010. “For the longest time it didn’t really sink in.”
In Weber’s time at ASU, his kindness led to many friendships, one of which is with former special teams teammate Ryan Skorupka. Their bond, formed through tragedy, still resonates with Skorupka.
“I had gotten news that back in New Jersey, my sister had passed away, and so I had to leave pretty suddenly, ” Skorupka said. “I was still in the midst of getting to know everybody and when I got back, Tom was the first one that was there for me.”
Brian Johnson, ASU’s groundskeeper at the time, recalls the first interaction he had with Weber.
“He would see me out on the field working and painting and just came over and introduced himself, and just very kindly and humbly told me how much he appreciated the work that I had done,” Johnson said. “It meant a great deal to me.”
Recently, Brian Johnson contacted Weber to congratulate him on getting inducted, even though he was unsure if Weber would remember him. Johnson immediately received a text back. Weber knew exactly who he was.
“I look at him as a special person first,” Johnson said, “and a great football player second.”
Long snapper Cameron Kastl’s favorite memory of Weber is when he asked Kastl to be the godfather of his first-born son. His favorite football memory with Weber took place in 2010 against rival Arizona in Tucson.
“We spent the night before in the hotel with the two of us watching “Miracle on Ice”,” Kastl said.
The next day they had miracles of their own. ASU defensive end James Brooks blocked two PATs and the Sun Devils beat the Wildcats in double overtime, 30-29.
Weber scored 16 points in that game, going 5-for-5 on field goal attempts, including a 52-yard field goal he made in the first quarter.
When the players chose the MVP to plant the pitchfork in the field, they picked Weber.
“I would say one of my favorite moments in particular would be my final U of A game,” Weber said. “That was pretty cool, just beyond, to celebrate with the team and with the fans. It was just a great way to go out in terms of being in a last game.
“To me, growing up or when you were at a school, you had the pride. You wanted to be there and you wanted to do everything you could to help the program succeed and flourish. I think that area, Tempe, and that whole area is just such a wonderful spot.”
Weber will also be acknowledged at the Hall of Fame game on Saturday when the Sun Devils face Hawaii at Mountain America Stadium. It will be a full circle moment for Weber, who finished his football career at ASU with 68 field goals, then the second-most in program history, as well as being a four-time Academic All-Pac 10 selection.
“Just excited to be there and be around everyone, and very thankful for ASU, the football program, and happy for the opportunity,” Weber said.
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