Jan. 10, 2000

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida State quarterback Chris Weinke announced Monday that he will return for his senior season with the Seminoles. Weinke, 21-1 as the starting quarterback for FSU, considered leaving early for the NFL.

"It was a difficult decision, and one that I was not really sure of until this morning," said Weinke. He then asked offensive coordinator Mark Richt to stand and asked him "if it's alright with you I'd like to comeback and try and win another national championship."

Weinke, 27, has led FSU to 20 consecutive wins as a starter and has a chance to become FSU's all-time leader in virtually every passing category.

"I've played in front of 80,000 people and I'm not nervous, but I'm nervous today," said Weinke. "It came down to me just deciding to do what I really wanted to do and that was come back and play another year at Florida State. This is a very special place. You look at Pete (Warrick) coming back last year and you realize that it is something special to play for Florida State. It's an honor and privilege to play here.

"I consider myself the luckiest guy in the world. I wasn't sure I'd ever get to play college football. I have a great deal of appreciation and admiration for Coach Bowden and Coach Richt. They have been great to me. They allowed me to come back and stuck to a promise they made 10 years ago. Had Dan Kendra not been injured, I might never have played here. Obviously, I'm sorry he got hurt, but that's how I got my shot. Then I wasn't sure if I'd ever play again because of the neck injury. I feel very blessed. The Lord has been good to me."

Weinke completed 232 of 377 passes for 3,103 and 25 touchdowns for the Seminoles during the 1999 season. He has thrown for 5,672 yards and 46 touchdowns over his career. In the national championship game against Virginia Tech, Weinke completed 20 of 34 passes for 329 yards and four touchdowns.