Donovan Woods (born July 27, 1985) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

and

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

. He was signed by the

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2008. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

Early years

Woods attended

Millwood High School Millwood High School is a public secondary school in Middle Sackville, Nova Scotia that offers a post-secondary preparation program for students in grades nine through twelve. It is a part of the Halifax Regional School Board, and one of 17 high ...

. He initially played as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

. He became the starting

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

as a junior. He helped lead the school to 3 consecutive Class 2A state championships. As a senior, he registered 132-of-244 completions for 2,453 yards, 32 passing touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 119 carries for 1,081 yards and 15 rushing touchdowns.

College career

Woods accepted a football scholarship from

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. As a redshirt freshman, he posted 97-of-187 completions for 1,628 yards, 13 passing touchdowns (school freshman record), 9 rushing touchdowns, 1,855 total offense yards (school freshman record). He had 224 passing yards, one passing touchdown, 16 carries for 41 yards and one rushing touchdown against the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. The team qualified for the 2016 Alamo Bowl. As a sophomore, he began the season as the starting quarterback, passing for 117 yards in the win against

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...

. In week 3, Bobby Reid was named the starter at quarterback and Woods was converted into a safety. He started the final five games at

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

. He finished the season with 32 tackles (4 for loss), 2 interceptions, one forced fumble, one quarterback hurry, one pass defensed, 17-of-32 completions for 163 yards, one passing touchdown and 61 rushing yards. As a junior, he started 12 games at

. He tallied 62 tackles (fifth on the team), 2 interceptions, 4 passes defensed and returned a fumble for a 57-yard touchdown. As a senior, he led the team with 82 tackles, starting every game except against

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

(when the team went with an extra

). He was named Defensive MVP of the

2007 Insight Bowl The 2007 Insight Bowl, part of the 2007-08 NCAA football bowl games season, was played on December 31, 2007, at Sun Devil Stadium on the Arizona State University campus in Tempe, Arizona. The opponents were the Indiana Hoosiers of the Big Ten C ...

. He majored in general business.

Professional career

Pittsburgh Steelers

Woods was signed as an

by the

after the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

on April 28. He was waived on October 25. He was signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

on November 1. He was promoted to the active roster on November 8. He was released on November 11. He was signed to the

on November 12. He appeared in six games for the

Super Bowl Champion The Super Bowl is the annual American football game that determines the champion of the National Football League (NFL). The game culminates a season that begins in the previous calendar year, and is the conclusion of the NFL playoffs. The winn ...

, and had 5

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

tackles. In 2009, he was released on September 5. He was signed to the

on September 6. He was promoted to the active roster on November 17. He was released on November 24.

Dallas Cowboys

On November 30, 2009, he was signed by the

to their

, where he spent the remainder of the season. On July 20, 2010, the Cowboys cut him to make room for the new draft choices. He then left to work for the Steelers.

Buffalo Bills

On July 30, 2010, he was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

. On September 4, he was released later at the end of preseason as part of the team's final roster cuts.

References

External links

Oklahoma State Cowboys bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Donovan 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Oklahoma City Players of American football from Oklahoma African-American players of American football American football safeties American football linebackers Oklahoma State Cowboys football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Dallas Cowboys players Buffalo Bills players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people