Roo excelling in SEC football

Weatherford’s last football player to make it to the NFL, defensive tackle Kapron Lewis-Moore, hung up his cleats in 2019 after a six-year career.

Weatherford alum Hayden Hansen has a chance to follow that path. Hansen is a senior tight end, who transferred to The University of Oklahoma after spending his first four years at the University of Florida.

Fans can see him in action at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, in the Red River Shootout against the University of Texas.

Hansen graduated from Weatherford in 2022. His family moved to the school district after his sophomore season. He had been a quarterback at Boyd and Springtown. After making the switch to tight end, he made first team all-district his senior season while helping the Roos to the playoffs his senior year.

Hansen went to the University of Florida and redshirted his freshman year then played in 37 games as for the Gators, using his big size of 6-foot-8, 266 pounds to help block while accruing 57 receptions for 611 yards and five touchdowns during three seasons.

With Florida coach Billy Napier getting the boot mid-season and a lot of his teammate jumping ship after last season, Hansen said he wanted to give incoming coach Jon Sumrall a chance. However, he eventually decided to enter the transfer portal where the Sooners pursued him.

Later when former Dallas Cowboy and future Hall of Famer Jason Witten joined the staff to be his position coach, Hansen has benefited greatly from being around that kind of person.

“That kind of fan feeling lasted about two weeks before I got my first butt ripping,” Hansen said. “He is the most intense guy I’ve ever seen in my life. He doesn’t need this job financially; he just has pure love for the game. His knowledge is impressive.

Trading palm trees for tornados was different for Hansen since he loved his time at the University of Florida, where he had already graduated in 2025 with a degree in Education Services. Still, it was more familiar scenery to where he grew up and was a whole lot closer to home.

Even before changing schools Hansen was doing his best to give back to Weatherford. The summer of 2025 and 2026 Hansen has run a free football skills camp for kids in the community. He’s credited the Weatherford coaching staff and players for helping him put on the event both years.

“If a free kids camp can change just one kid’s life every year, I’ll do it every time,” Hansen said. “It’s been a great time. It is so easy to get high school varsity guys to come help me. It is the quickest ‘yes’ you ever get. It’s pretty selfless because I can’t pay them, but they just do it out of the kindness of their heart. It just shows the spirit of Weatherford overall.”

Hansen has been able to stay in touch with a couple of his high school coaches.

“I keep in contact with Coach (Joseph) Turner a lot, he’s at Godley now,” Hansen said. “He texts me about every week trying to pick my brain on some schemes and stuff. Another is Rick Weaver; he was my tight end coach. He had a lot of impact on me, too. I had never played tight end before, but he gave me enough knowledge to get me to the next level.”

Weaver, who is still at Weatherford and now serves as the offensive line/assistant head coach, cherishes the relationship he has with Hansen.

“Regardless of him playing Division I football or anything, the relationship I have been able to keep with him over the last five years has been one of the best ones I have had with a player that I have coached,” Weaver said.

While he is busy trying to help OU compete with the best in the nation despite a 2-2 record, that has not stopped him from keeping tabs on the Weatherford football team this season, even attending the season-opener.

“I really like Coach (Marshall) Williams,” Hansen said. “He’s a dude. He definitely got them going. I thought we should have won the first game, but you can’t turn the ball over that much. I’ve been keeping up with them and it seems they’ve turned it around. Scoring 59 points regardless of who you are playing is really hard to do, so that was impressive to see.”

Still, Hansen knows this last year in college is big for him. He believes he has what it takes after five seasons of playing in the Southeastern Conference to make a career in the National Football League if he is just given a chance.

Hansen has recorded four catches for 64 yards and one touchdown in the Sooners’ first three games this season. His size and blocking could be most valuable as the NFL is running more formations with two and three tight end sets. He is listed as the 17^th best draft eligible tight end on walterfootball.com early season list.

While he wants it for himself, Hansen also wants to show kids from Weatherford that they can chase their dreams of being a professional athlete.

“I really care about Weatherford; it means a lot to me more than anybody will know,” Hansen said. “Having to move two high schools, trying to find the fit for me and give me a college future. We ended up building a house in Weatherford and the community accepted me and my family. The more success I have in my career, I always make a point to give back to the place that built me up. There is so much potential in Weatherford and so many lives to impact.”