Danny Woodhead
| New York Jets | |
|---|---|
| Career information | |
| College: | Chadron State |
| Undrafted: | 2008 |
| Career history | |
| |
| Roster status: | Active |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Danny Woodhead (born January 25, 1986 in North Platte, Nebraska) is an American football running back for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He went undrafted in the 2008 NFL Draft. On 4-28-08 he signed as undrafted free agent with the NY Jets. He played collegiately at Chadron State College.
Woodhead holds 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, he became the NCAA all-time, all-division leading rusher.
High school career
Woodhead played football at North Platte High School in North Platte, Nebraska, and broke many records. North Platte High School reached the state finals in 2001, with Woodhead's help after beating Millard North High School team 24-21. Woodhead blocked a field goal late in the fourth quarter to give North Platte possession with only minutes to go. North Platte's Ben Woodhead, Woodhead's older brother, threw a pass down field to set-up a game winning field goal kicked by Jake McCarthy. However, North Platte went on to lose the state championship 28-14 to Millard West High School.
In Woodhead's junior year, his team went 8-1 in the regular season, and won 2 games in the playoffs before falling to Millard North in the semifinals. Woodhead's offensive line was key in his junior year at North Platte, and included players such as Joel Jurgens, Troy Stark, Matt Gilbert, Jake Wilkinson, and Mike Perez.
Woodhead's senior year 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 High. The team went on to beat Omaha North 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. 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). North Platte High's quarterback that year, Derek Enderle, also finished as the state's leading passer. 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. Again, Woodhead's offensive line was key in paving the way for him and included players such as Jesse Perkins, Tim Hassel, John Striebel, Jeremy Caudillo, and again Jake Wilkinson.
Woodhead also ran track for a year and broke his school's 100 meter record at 10.5 seconds.
College athletic career
Freshman (2004)
In 2004, Woodhead began attending Chadron State College in Chadron, Nebraska. He quickly amassed many rushing yards and broke many records.
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 yard per reception.
Junior (2006)
In 2006, through 12 games, he had rushed for 2,740 yards, a new all-division single season rushing record,[1] 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. North West Missouri State went on to lose to Grand Valley State for the second year in a row.North West 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 North West 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, have ever scored more points in a season than Woodhead scored in 2006.
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.
Senior (2007)
In 2007, Woodhead at Chadron State, Woodhead has accumulated 7,441 yards on the ground, 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 performance 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, 1997 - 2000. Woodhead is also just the sixth NCAA Division II player to rush for more than 1,000 yards in four seasons.
Career summary
He has also tallied 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 2-point conversions for 658 points. Woodhead is only the second player in collegiate history to score more than 100 touchdowns.
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 senior at Oklahoma State in 1988, when he won the Heisman Trophy. Woodhead ranked 10th in D-II in career all-purpose yards with 7,349 after his junior year. The D-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.[2]
College Statistics
| Year | Games | Rushing | Receiving | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 43 | 1,135 | 7,871 | 6.9 | 183.0 | 101 | 119 | 1,388 | 11.7 | 32.3 | 8 |
Pro Day
Woodhead, who is 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 off his abilities. According to a report on NFLDraftWatch.net, Danny Woodhead 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). He also bench-pressed 225 pounds 20 times.[3]
Professional career
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 a rookie free agent contract. It was announced shortly after that Woodhead had signed a deal with the organization.[4]
Personal
His hobbies include painting with his father and two brothers, as well as an occasional round of golf.[citation needed]
President of the North Platte Chapter of the Kevin Kugler fan club