COLLEGE FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : Sister Says Texas Impostor Loves Game

Bonita Money, the sister of Ron Weaver, the Texas football player who skipped town amid allegations he was playing under an assumed name, says he pulled the scam because he loves the game.

“He is not writing a book,” Money said Sunday in a telephone interview from a New Orleans hotel where the Longhorns were staying. “He did this because he loves football and wanted a second chance to play.”

Weaver, 30, enrolled at Texas in August under the name Joel Ron McKelvey. Texas officials said he was a highly recruited player after two standout seasons at Pierce Community College in Woodland Hills.

Weaver packed his bags and left New Orleans without notifying the team on Saturday.

Money said he didn’t flee to escape the authorities, but because he needs time to collect his thoughts.

“It’s not like he’s a fugitive,” she said. “He’s not on the run because he thinks police are after him. He just didn’t want to deal with the coaches. And there are 20,000 Longhorns fans walking around here.”

Money read a statement from her brother, in which he apologized to Texas players and coaches for any trouble he has caused them. She expects Weaver to make his own statement soon.

“He definitely understands the severity of the situation,” she said.

Money, 33, said Weaver kept his assumed identity a secret from Texas officials and from his parents, Sung and Richard Weaver of Salinas.

“They knew he was in school, but they didn’t know he was playing football,” Money said. She said they learned the truth Saturday night.

“They were very concerned about my brother,” she said.

Money, who said she is a film producer in Los Angeles, said she and Weaver are half-siblings.

Money said she learned of her brother’s false identity a few months after he assumed it in 1993. He was living with her in the Los Angeles area, she said, and already starring as a cornerback for Pierce Junior College.

“For somebody to do that takes a lot of guts,” she said. “It’s not your average story.”