Jake Wieneke


Jake Wieneke is an American football wide receiver for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. He played college football at South Dakota State and signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2018. He was cut by the Vikings prior to the 2018 season, and then signed by the Salt Lake City Stallions of the AAF. He was released by the Stallions in January 2019.

Early years

Wieneke attended Maple Grove Senior High School, where he was a three-sport star in football, basketball and track and field. After dealing with injuries for the most part of his junior season, Wieneke established himself as one of the top wide receivers in the state of Minnesota during his senior season. He was a first-team All-State selection and Mr. Football finalist after recording 68 receptions for 1,330 yards and 13 touchdowns. Following his senior campaign, he was invited to play at the Minnesota All-Star Game held in June 2013 and was named the North Offensive MVP after catching two touchdown passes.

College career

After redshirting in 2013, Wieneke was the runner-up for the Jerry Rice Award as the Football Championship Subdivision's top freshman the following year. He garnered second-team Associated Press All-American status and his first first-team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference nod after catching 73 passes for 1,404 yards and a school-record 16 touchdowns. Wieneke finished his collegiate career as the Missouri Valley Football Conference career leader in receptions with 288, in receiving yards with 5,157 and in receiving touchdowns with 59.

Statistics

Professional career

As the 2018 NFL Draft was coming to an end, Wieneke was hoping he would not be selected. With five picks to go, he received a call from the Vikings' wide receivers coach Darrell Hazell asking if he wanted to sign as a free agent with Minnesota if not taken. “So for the last five picks of the draft, I was just kind of hoping that I don’t get drafted and I get to sign with the Vikings,’’ Wieneke said. When the draft ended, Wieneke agreed to terms with the Minnesota Vikings. Wieneke stated: “It’s the best feeling in the world, I get to stay with the team I grew up loving and I get to stay in Minnesota. It can’t be anything better than this.’’ He was waived on August 31, 2018.