TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Stephen Weatherford Withdraws From Land O' Lakes

Gators Also Lose Backup QB In Stocker

Tribune photo by Eddie Daniels

Stephen “B.B.” Weatherford, who was a fulltime starter this past season as a sophomore after splitting time as a freshman, has withdrawn from Land O' Lakes.

ADVERTISEMENT

By EDDIE DANIELS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 13, 2009

LAND O' LAKES - The lineage of Weatherford football players at Land O' Lakes High has come to an abrupt end.

Stephen "B.B." Weatherford, who was a fulltime starter this past season as a sophomore after splitting time as a freshman, has withdrawn from the school according to Gators coach John Benedetto and Weatherford's older brother Will Weatherford.

Although no reason was divulged about why the youngest Weatherford was pulled from the school, Will Weatherford assured, his family has nothing, but fond memories of their time at the school.

"We love Land O' Lakes we love the coaching staff, we love the school, the administrators," said Will Weatherford, a state representative. "We have personal friends there going back, 12, 13, 14 years, so that's not going to change anything. We still love them, love the school. This may or may not be a permanent move, but for now, Stephen is not going to be enrolled at Land O' Lakes and he's probably going to land somewhere else. We don't know where that is yet."

In addition to losing their starting signal caller in Stephen Weatherford, Land O' Lakes also lost its backup, Tanner Stocker, who transferred to Wharton last week.

Stephen Weatherford suffered a fractured left collarbone late in the team's second-to-last regular season game. Stocker, also a sophomore, took over the remainder of that game, which Land O' Lakes won, securing its 13th district title. He also started the regular season finale and the first round playoff game.

"Tanner's a pretty good quarterback and a great kid and I guess maybe the family figured B.B. was the starting quarterback and Tanner, after playing those really good two games for us, wasn't going to have a chance to play," Benedetto said. "So I guess they took him out to see if he can play at Wharton, which I think he probably can."

Stephen Weatherford finished the season completing 94-of-158 passes for 1,254 yards and 10 touchdowns. In two seasons with the Gators, Weatherford threw for 1,902 yards and 17 TDs.

In Benedetto's 32 seasons coaching Land O' Lakes, he coached Will Weatherford (1998 grad), Sam Weatherford (2001 grad), Drew Weatherford (2004 grad), Joe Weatherford (2006 grad), John Weatherford (2008 grad) and finally Stephen. With such a lineage, it's obvious there is an attachment, which goes deeper than just a player-coach relationship.

"First of all, I'm heartbroken," Benedetto said. "Really, other than just being heartbroken, I really don't know what else to say. I feel like I'm on a sinking ship and all the lifeboats have already left.

"I haven't had a chance to talk to BB, not at all. I don't know that I need to get involved with something that's a family issue, however, I did talk to Will and I did talk to Andrew. They pretty much explained the entire situation to me."

And with that, it appears the Weatherford-Land O' Lakes legacy has come to an end.

Reporter Eddie Daniels can be reached at (813) 948-4214 or edaniels@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT