.jpg) Weinmeister in 1954 | |||||||||
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| Position | Defensive tackle | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1923-03-23)March 23, 1923 Rhein, Saskatchewan, Canada | ||||||||
| Died | June 28, 2000(2000-06-28) (aged 77) Seattle, Washington, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 235 lb (107 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Jefferson (Portland, Oregon) | ||||||||
| College | Washington | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1945: 17th round, 166th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| Career NFL/AAFC statistics | |||||||||
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Arnold George Weinmeister (March 23, 1923 – June 28, 2000) was a Canadian professionalfootball player who was adefensive tackle. Renowned for his speed as a lineman, he went to fourPro Bowls in a six-year combined tenure in theAll-America Football Conference andNational Football League. Weinmeister was inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1984, becoming the second Canadian to receive the honor; his six seasons is among the shortest for an inductee.[1] He also played in theCanadian Football League.
He was born inRhein, Saskatchewan. His family moved from the village toPortland, Oregon before eventually settling inSeattle, Washington.[2]
Weinmeister was a two-time All-Citytackle in high school, and playedend,fullback and tackle during a 4-year tenure at theUniversity of Washington which was interrupted by four years of army service. He was scouted byNew York Yankees (AAFC) head coachRay Flaherty while playing fullback.
Weinmeister turned professional in 1948 and playeddefensive tackle for theNew York Yankees in the All-America Football Conference until 1949, and for theNew York Giants from 1950 to 1953. During his final season in New York, he served as the team captain. In 1949, Weinmeister won second-team All-AAFC as a rookie followed by first-team All-AAFC honors, was voted All-NFL Choice for four consecutive years (1950–1953), and was selected to play in the NFL'sPro Bowl every year from 1950 to 1953.
He was on the inaugural roster for theBC Lions in1954, having accepted their offer of $15,000, $3,000 more than the Giants paid him. He played for the team for two seasons.[3] He is one of fiveSaskatchewan natives to make it to the NFL (the other four beingJon Ryan,Rueben Mayes,Ben Heenan, andBrett Jones).
In 1984, Weinmeister was announced as part of the class for thePro Football Hall of Fame; Weinmeister publicly thankedTom Landry, who was a vocal advocate for Weinmeister. In 2024, in celebration of the 100th season of the Giants, the team announced thetop 100 players in franchise history, with Weinmeister being ranked 21st.[4]
After he retired from football, Weinmeister became an organizer for theInternational Brotherhood of Teamsters, having joined the Teamsters as a warehouseman in college.[5] By the 1980s, he was the director of the Seattle-based Western Conference of Teamsters and served as the union's vice president. He was also president of Joint Council 28, covering locals in Washington, northern Idaho and Alaska, and was secretary-treasury of Local 117 in Seattle before retiring in 1992; the Justice Department filed a lawsuit to try and remove senior leadership such as Weinmeister in 1988 that tried to link the group to organized crime but he stayed in office.
Weinmeister had four children with his wife Joey. He died of congestive heart failure on June 28, 2000 at the age of 77.
Media related toArnie Weinmeister at Wikimedia Commons