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The Pride of the Jaguars | Jacksonville Jaguars

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Wayne & Delores Weaver's Careers

Jacksonville Jaguars owners Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver wave and pose for a photo with former cheerleaders during an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, September 20, 2009 in Jacksonville, Florida. The Cardinals won the game 31-17. (AP Photo/Paul Spinelli)
Jacksonville Jaguars owners Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver wave and pose for a photo with former cheerleaders during an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, September 20, 2009 in Jacksonville, Florida. The Cardinals won the game 31-17. (AP Photo/Paul Spinelli)

Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver were inducted into the Pride of the Jaguars on January 1, 2012, during the final game of the 2011 season after selling the team to Shahid Khan.

The Weavers spearheaded the city of Jacksonville's drive to earn the NFL's 30th franchise when they joined forces with prominent local business leaders including Tom Petway, Laurie DuBow, Ron Weaver and Preston Haskell prior to the NFL's 1993 Expansion announcement.

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The success of Weaver's shoe empire provided financial stability and added proven leadership to the Touchdown Jacksonville entry through the expansion process. On November 30, 1993, after a fitful period of stops and starts that was designed by the NFL to give St. Louis and Baltimore more time to revisit their proposals, the NFL's owners settled on Weaver and Jacksonville. The biggest and most prominent sporting league in America placed it's bet on a self-made millionaire and on a sun-splashed city on the Atlantic Ocean with seemingly limitless potential.

The Weavers built their team in the front office and the locker room while the city built its' stadium, both rising from the ground up simultaneously as a passionate fan base watched with almost breathless anticipation as the Inaugural Game was scheduled against the Houston Oilers for September 3, 1995. Though they lost that first game by a score of 10-3 the Jaguars were off and running and the dream of playing NFL football in Jacksonville, which dated back to the 1970's was finally a reality.

The Jaguars enjoyed almost immediate success under Head Coach Tom Coughlin, making the playoffs and reaching the AFC Championship Game in 1996 and over the next five seasons reaching the playoffs four times and to within a game of the Super Bowl twice. The Jaguars featured star performers such as left tackle Tony Boselli, wide receiver Jimmy Smith, running back Fred Taylor and quarterback Mark Brunell and like the upstart city that once surprised the entire NFL, the team took the league by storm.

Off the field the Jaguars Foundation reached into nearly every corner of Jacksonville with its' mission to impact the lives of children in a positive way. Leading with the slogan; Love the Children, the Jaguars Foundation granted millions of dollars to benefit disadvantaged youth and families through the United Way, the Bridge of Northeast Florida, Honor Rows and countless other community initiatives. The Weavers have been honored by a wide array of organizations for their philanthropic endeavors from the FBI to Episcopal Children's Services and even by Mayor John Peyton at an environmental luncheon in 2009 for their advocacy of the St. John's River.

The Jaguars alone would have been an incredible legacy for Wayne and Delores Weaver for all the benefits that an NFL team can bring to a city. But combined with their heroic efforts to make this a better place for every citizen to live their impact on north Florida will endure of generations if not ages.

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