Danny Woodhead

**Danny Woodhead**
	New York Jets — No. 22
	Running back
	Date of birth: January 25, 1985 (age 24)
	Place of birth: North Platte, Nebraska
Height: 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)	Weight: 200 lb (91 kg)
Professional debut
	No regular season or postseason appearances
Career history
	College: Chadron State
	Undrafted in 2008
	Teams:; New York Jets (2008-present);
	Roster status: Injured Reserve
Career highlights and awards
	2x Harlon Hill Trophy winner (2006 and 2007);
Stats at NFL.com

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Danny Woodhead (born January 25, 1985 in North Platte, Nebraska) is an American football running back, who is currently a member of the New York Jets in the National Football League. He went undrafted in the 2008 NFL Draft and signed as a free agent with the New York Jets. He played collegiately at Chadron State.

Woodhead set several NCAA college football rushing records, including single season rushing and all-time rushing. In 2006 and 2007, he won the Harlon Hill Trophy, awarded to the best player in NCAA Division II, making him the third player to win the trophy twice in its history (the other players are Johnny Bailey and Dusty Bonner). On October 6, 2007, Woodhead became the NCAA all-time, all-division leading rusher. Woodhead held this record until it was broken by Mount Union College running back Nate Kmic on December 13, 2008..^[1]

[edit] High school career

Woodhead played football at North Platte High School in North Platte, Nebraska, and broke many records. North Platte reached the state finals in 2001, with Woodhead's help after beating Millard North High School team 24-21.^{[citation needed]} Woodhead blocked a field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter to give North Platte possession with only minutes left. North Platte's Ben Woodhead, Woodhead's older brother, threw a pass down field to set-up a game winning field goal by Jake McCarthy.^{[citation needed]} However, North Platte went on to lose the state championship 28-14 to Millard West High School.

In Woodhead's junior season, his team went 8-1 in the regular season, and won two games in the playoffs before falling to Millard North in the semifinals.

Woodhead's senior season included a 9-0 run in the regular season. This was the first time a team had gone undefeated in the regular season in 40 years at North Platte. The team went on to beat Omaha North High School in the first round of the playoffs, Bellevue East in the second round, and finally lost to Millard North 21-7 in the semifinals for the second year in a row.^{[citation needed]} Woodhead finished as Nebraska's Class A leading rusher, as well as Nebraska's Class A all-time leading rusher with 4,891 yards (2000 - 2003).^{[citation needed]} North Platte High's quarterback that year, Derek Enderle, also finished as the state's leading passer.^{[citation needed]} This marked the first time in North Platte's history that the football team finished with the state's leading passer and rusher in the same season.

Woodhead also ran track for a year and broke his school's 100 meter record at 10.5 seconds.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] College career

[edit] Freshman (2004)

In 2004, Woodhead began attending Chadron State College in Chadron, Nebraska. Where he rushed for 1,840 yards, as a true freshman.

[edit] Sophomore (2005)

In 2005, Woodhead carried the ball 278 times for 1,769, averaging 6.4 yards per carry, and 21 touchdowns. He also had 30 receptions for 367 yards, averaging 12.2 yards-per-reception.

[edit] Junior (2006)

In 2006, through 12 games, Woodhead rushed for 2,740 yards, a new all-division single season rushing record,^[2] surpassing Kavin Gaillaird. His rushing yards for 2006 were 2,756. He also led his team to the NCAA Division II playoffs in 2006, losing to Northwest Missouri State. Northwest Missouri State went on to lose to Grand Valley State for the second year in a row. Northwest Missouri State managed to hold Woodhead to a season low 16 yards rushing on 16 carries while giving up 79 yards receiving, which was more than double anyone on the Northwest Missouri team. Chadron also had 327 yards of total offense compared to Northwest Missouri State's 306.

Through 39 games, Woodhead’s 606 points equates to 15.5 points a game, the highest ever in NCAA Division II. Only Dan Pugh of Mount Union College, a Division III school in Ohio, with 248 points in 2002 and Barry Sanders of Oklahoma State with 234 in 1988, had ever scored more points in a season than Woodhead scored in 2006. However, in 2007 Abilene Christian University's Bernard Scott broke Woodhead's Division II record by scoring 39 touchdowns (234 points).^{[citation needed]}

Woodhead has been electronically timed at 4.41 seconds in the 40-yard dash by the Atlanta Falcons and he won the 55-meter dash at the RMAC Indoor Meet in 2006.

[edit] Senior (2007)

In 2007, Woodhead accumulated 7,441 yards on the ground, for his career, giving him a career average of 190.8 yards per game. He has rushed for more than 200 yards in 19 of his 39 appearances and scored in 37 consecutive games, both of which are NCAA all-division records.

After a 208 yard game against Western New Mexico in 2007, he became college football’s all-time leading rusher, breaking the record previously held by R.J. Bowers, who played for Grove City College, a Division III school in Pennsylvania from 1997 - 2000.^[1] Woodhead is also just the sixth NCAA Division II player to rush for more than 1,000 yards in four seasons.

[edit] Career summary

He has also recorded 9,259 all purpose yards, which ranks second on the NCAA all-time list. Brian Westbrook (Villanova, 1997 - 2001) currently holds the record with 9,512 total yards of offense.

Woodhead is also tied with Germaine Race (Pittsburg State 2003 - 2006) for first place in Division II in career scoring with 654 points on 109 touchdowns. Race is also the all-time leader in two two-point conversions for 658 points. Woodhead is only the second player in collegiate history to score more than 100 touchdowns.

Barry Sanders is the only college player to accumulate more all-purpose yards than the 3,159 that Woodhead gained in 2006. Sanders managed 3,250 as a junior at Oklahoma State in 1988, when he won the Heisman Trophy. Woodhead ranked 10th in Division-II in career all-purpose yards with 7,349 after his junior season. The Division-II leader is Brian Shay of Emporia State with 9,301 yards, including 1,207 on kickoff returns, 1995 - 1998.

Woodhead was a Harlon Hill Trophy candidate in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. He won the trophy in both 2006 and 2007.

There was some discussion among some Nebraskans as to whether or not Woodhead was recruited by the University of Nebraska. When interviewed, Woodhead stated that Nebraska never showed much interest in him and that he wanted to go somewhere where he was wanted. Chadron State showed a lot of interest in him, and that's where he ended up.^[3] While at Chadron State, he majored in Math education.

[edit] College Statistics

Year	Games	Rushing					Receiving
Year	Games	Att	Yds	Avg	YPG	TD	Rec	Yds	Avg	YPG	TD
2004	10	284	1,840	6.5	184.0	25	16	163	10.2	16.3	2
2005	10	278	1,769	6.4	176.9	21	30	367	12.2	36.7	0
2006	13	344	2,756	8.0	212.0	34	45	403	9.0	31.0	4
2007	11	250	1,597	6.4	145.2	21	38	484	12.7	41.0	2
Career	44	1,135	7,871	6.9	183.0	101	119	1,388	11.7	32.3	8

[edit] Pro Day

Woodhead, the all time leading rusher in NCAA history did not receive a invite to the NFL Scouting Combine so he had to use his pro day to show his abilities. According to a report on NFLDraftWatch.net, he ran the 40-yard dash in a time of 4.33 to 4.38 seconds which would have been the second-fastest among all running backs at the NFL Combine in March 2008. He posted the best pro-agility time of 4.03 seconds, the second-best vertical jump (38½ inches) and the best 60-yard shuttle time (11.2 seconds).^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Professional career

[edit] NFL Draft

Woodhead went undrafted in the 2008 NFL Draft. However, he received a call from the New York Jets moments before the draft ended, about the two parties coming to an agreement on an undrafted rookie free agent contract. It was announced shortly after, that Woodhead had signed a deal with the organization.^[4]

[edit] New York Jets

On Saturday, July 26, 2008, Woodhead was waived by the New York Jets, after being carted off due to an injury. He was resigned in early 2009.

[edit] Personal

Woodhead's hobbies include painting with his father and two brothers, and occasionally a round of golf. His wife's name is Stacia.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

[Leader-0] "Chadron State's Woodhead becomes all-time rushing leader". ESPN.com. ESPN. October 6, 2007. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3051838. Retrieved on November 21, 2008.

[1] "Chadron State RB sets NCAA season rushing record". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 25, 2006. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2675895.

[2] ttp://www.cornnation.com/story/2006/12/13/223034/52

[3] "Jets ink rushing leader Woodhead to free-agent deal". ESPN.com. ESPN. April 28, 2008. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft08/news/story?id=3371122.

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Professional debut
New York Jets — No. 22
Running back
Date of birth: January 25, 1985 (1985-01-25) (age 24)
Place of birth: North Platte, Nebraska
Height: 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)	Weight: 200 lb (91 kg)
No regular season or postseason appearances
Career history
College: Chadron State
Undrafted in 2008
Teams: New York Jets (2008-present)
Roster status: Injured Reserve
Career highlights and awards
2x Harlon Hill Trophy winner (2006 and 2007)
Stats at NFL.com