This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Berea, Ohio • Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden is heading home to help his cherished Oklahoma heal.
Weeden is returning to his home state this weekend to assist in any way he can in the aftermath of the deadly tornado that tore through Moore, Okla., killing 24 people and destroying thousands of homes in the Oklahoma City suburb earlier this week.
Weeden has been in contact with Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb and he plans to be there this weekend to help.
"I'll do anything, whether it's getting in the rubble and doing whatever, it doesn't matter," said Weeden, who is from Edmond. "I'll be there to help."
Weeden's wife, Melanie, has family who in Moore. They were not injured by the monstrous twister, but sustained damage to their homes.
"It actually went right through my wife's hometown," Weeden said following Thursday's practice. "Fourth Street, the path they keep talking about, my mother-in-law lives on Main, which is four blocks north of it, and my brother-in-law lives two blocks south of it. It went right over the top of them. Very, very fortunate to have no injuries and everybody's safe."
Weeden, who starred at Oklahoma State, said there were some frantic moments for he and his wife when they couldn't contact family as the tornado bore down on Moore.
"There's a park, literally there's two blocks between my brother-in-law and my mother-in-law," he said. "They said, 'If you're at that park, get out of the way.' It was destroyed. Once we heard it was destroyed, obviously there's no cellphone service. We couldn't get hold of them for about an hour. So my wife's panicked and we're panicked. It was tough being so far away.
Weeden said family members were able to take cover in time.