College football’s oldest active quarterback, Austin Aune, had his collegiate career come to a close on Saturday night. He plans to turn pro and enter the NFL Draft in April before his 30th birthday.
Aune, who turned 29 years old in September, has one of the more intriguing stories in sports. He graduated high school in 2012 and enrolled in college for the first time in 2018.
Born on September 6, 1993, Aune grew up in the small town of Argyle, Texas and was a two-sport star in high school. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound prospect earned a three-star ranking as the starting quarterback and originally committed to TCU in 2011, but his future was initially in baseball.
Aune also started at shortstop and chose to forgo a college football career after being selected by the Yankees in the second round of the 2012 MLB Draft and inking a $1,000,000 signing bonus. Can you blame him?
Unfortunately, the baseball thing didn’t work out.
Aune spent six seasons in the New York farm system but never got out of the Class-A level. He had a career batting average of just .226 and decided to hang it up following the 2017 season.
Just a few months later, Aune turned his focus back to the gridiron and joined the Arkansas Razorbacks for their spring practice in 2018. However, the quarterback room was crowded so he transferred to North Texas before the fall.
Aune redshirted as a freshman and served as the third-string in 2019 and backup in 2020. He finally won the job during Week 5 of the 2021 season and led the Mean Green from a 1-3 record to a 6-6 finish.
As a result of his play last season, Austin Aune was the incumbent starter for 2022 as a 28-year-old.
He turned 29 not long after earning Conference USA Player of the Week honors in Week 0.
Aune led the Mean Green to a 7-5 regular season record and a C-USA Championship appearance. By throwing his 32nd touchdown of the year in the conference title game, he set a school record.
Unfortunately, Aune’s college career came to a disappointing end on Saturday night in a chippy, three-point loss in the Frisco Bowl.
Now, after six years of minor league baseball and five years of college football, Aune is set to turn pro. He, his high school sweetheart wife, and his one-year-old daughter will hope to hear his name called in April.
If he makes an NFL roster, Austin Aune would be a 30-year-old rookie come Week 1 of 2023.
