‘It’s been a fun ride’: Texans long snapper Jon Weeks celebrating 200-game milestone

Hugging his wife, Amanda, and their daughter, Texans veteran long snapper Jon Weeks became emotional as a congratulatory video paid tribute to his uncommon longevity and success in the NFL.

The Texans’ longest-tenured player is poised to play in his 200th consecutive game on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

And the pending milestone was commemorated with a surprise visit from his family at NRG Stadium, along with Texans co-founder Janice McNair, chairman and CEO Cal McNair, foundation vice president Hannah McNair, kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn, punter Cameron Johnston and special-teams coordinator Frank Ross.

Weeks has played for coaches Gary Kubiak to Bill O’Brien, Romeo Crennel, David Culley and Lovie Smith and has snapped for everyone from Neil Rackers, Matt Turk, Randy Bullock, Nick Novak, Fairbairn, Shane Lechler and Johnston.

“It’s definitely something I’m very proud of,” Weeks said. “I think the important part of my job and one of the aspects of it is to be as consistent as possible. I think when I can look back and say that I got to game 200 and done it consecutively, I feel like I’ve done my job at a high level. It’s something I’m very proud of. I’ll be more proud if we can go get the win.

“It’s funny, you look back at it and it’s like your time in college, it’s flown by. It’s been a fun ride and I’ve enjoyed every second of it. I’m incredibly blessed to do what I’m doing right now. I love doing it and I love playing with the guys in the locker room. I’ve really enjoyed my time and I hope to continue going for as long as possible.”

Weeks, 36, signed with the Texans in 2010 after going undrafted out of Baylor. He was named to the Pro Bowl in 2015 as the top long snapper in the NFL.

Honored with a cake with the numeral 200, Weeks had a packed room for his press conference, which included 86-year-old Janice McNair who hugged Weeks and congratulated him on his stellar run.

During the video, Weeks was honored by Ross, Fairbairn, Johnston, Texans general manager Nick Caserio, who cited his professionalism, coach Lovie Smith, who said he “plays the game the right way,” Bullock, Larry Izzo, “So proud of you, bro,” Brad Seely “That is an amazing accomplishment,” Rackers, Bob Ligashesky, Cecil Shorts III, Wade Smith and Kubiak.

“Selfishly, I’m fortunate and lucky to coach that, because people like Jon Weeks in our business, in the NFL, have the ability to do it day in and day out, season in season out for an extended period of time for years is difficult,” Ross said. “Now, we’re talking about 200 games. I’m fortunate to learn from him, and to have him on our roster where I know that week in and week out he’s going to do exactly as asked and work hard every week to do so.

“Talking about 200 games specifically, it’s an achievement that I honestly don’t know how many times that’s happened, and the ability that it’s been consecutive is a testament to consistency, every day, coming in, showing up, hard work, but doing work with intentionality and focus. Once you hit a certain age in life to be able to continue to work on your body and improve your body, becomes more and more challenging and he’s done just that. Excited for him, and happy he was able to achieve that. (It’s) A big goal for him and congrats to Jon.”

Weeks was out of football after two years after trying out for the Detroit Lions and was training in Arizona to be an emergency medical technician when he got the call from the Texans.

Weeks has the third-longest active streak in the NFL and has 36 career special teams tackles.

Weeks’ most memorable game: his first preseason game 13 years ago against his hometown Arizona Cardinals.

“To be able to put on the uniform for the first time in front of all my friends and family was a very special moment for me and something I look back and cherish,” Weeks said.

• Weeks signed a one-year, $1.272 million contract this offseason that includes a $1.12 million base salary and a $152,500 signing bonus.
• Weeks has been a fixture on the Texans’ special teams, delivering accurate snaps.
• He has been an iron man playing through injuries to snap every game for the past 13 years.
• Weeks is known for his consistency and velocity on his snaps.
• Weeks passed retired Pro Bowl wide receiver Andre Johnson for the most games in franchise history in 2020.

Despite some close calls over the years, Weeks has never missed a game.

“I’ve been lucky,” he said. “I’ve been very fortunate, thank goodness, that nothing very dangerous has come along. I’ve had one or two instances where I wasn’t sure, but I always told myself if I felt like I could go and I was still the best option for the job that I was going to do it, as long as I didn’t compromise the team. Fortunately for me, I’ve felt good every day. I just continue to keep working, trying to stay in shape, do things the right way and keep going.”

Weeks cited the examples of Matt Turk, Rackers, Lechler, Arian Foster, Andre Johnson, Owen Daniels, Matt Schaub, Brian Cushing, and J.J. Watt as inspirational to him to be able to have the kind of career he’s achieved.

“To see how they take care of their bodies, the mental aspect, the physical, everything that they did to prepare for Sundays. I sat back, I watched and I tried to learn and pick up from that,” Weeks said. “Those are things that I try to pass on to the younger kids because I watched a bunch of great football players do it the right way, and I was privileged to do so.”

Weeks hasn’t put a shelf life on when he’ll hang up his cleats. As long as he can keep doing it a high level, he intends to keep playing.

How much longer does Weeks intend to play?

“That’s the question of the day, right?” Weeks said. “I would love to play as many games as the organization would like to have me around, to be honest with you,” he said. “As long as I don’t think I’m a hindrance to this team, as long as I feel like I’m the best player for my position, I’m going to continue to go out there and do that.

“If the day comes where they ask me to step down, it would be a sad day, but I don’t see that day coming anytime soon from my point of view. Again, I’m going to enjoy Sunday, but I’m going to enjoy it more if we can get the W.”

Aaron Wilson is a contributor to KPRC 2 and click2houston.com