Weber has soft spot for Chiefs

Before Charlie Weber became a seasoned actor on ABC’s hit show How to Get

Away With Murder, he played on the scout team as a slot receiver for the University of Missouri.

His role there, he said, was to be a “punching bag.” But Weber taking the hard hits in practice paid off — at least for the team.

“We were not particularly good then, but we went to a bowl game that year back when there weren’t a hundred of them and we hadn’t been to a bowl game in a long time,” Weber said. “That’s actually when we turned it around and had a really, really great run over the last 20 years. We started seeing guys go pro not long after that.”

Weber played wide receiver throughout his childhood and during his collegiate career, so Jerry Rice was his favorite NFL player.

“I still think he’s the greatest receiver of all time,” Weber said. “To watch him throughout his prime was really cool for me.”

Weber, who spoke to USA TODAY Sports’ For The Win for its Celeb Pick ’ Em series, is a huge Kansas City Chiefs fan. It was an easy choice for him. One of his favorite Missouri football alums, Chase Daniel, played for the Chiefs from 2013 to 2015, and another exTiger, Jeremy Maclin, currently plays for Kansas City, which Weber calls “a fun team to watch.”

But despite being a big football fan, Weber isn’t a fan of playing fantasy football. “It’s by design that I don’t,” he said. “It would consume me. I fear I would do nothing else, so that’s why I decided early on not to play fantasy football.”

As for how his football career carries over to his acting, Weber said he thinks his character on the ABC show, Frank, is a football fan. Unfortunately, he also thinks Frank doesn’t have time to watch the game because he’s been in a “dark place this season.”

“He’s a busy guy,” he said.

MONICA SCHIPPER, WIREIMAGE Charlie Weber says if he played fantasy football, “It would consume me.”