Jerome Harlan Woods (born March 17, 1973) 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 ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

who played his entire ten-year career with the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

of 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).Safety Jerome Woods to retire as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs
''KCChiefs.com'', 7 June 2007. With Kansas City, he produced 720 tackles (487 solo), 5.0 sacks (-27.0 yards), 15 interceptions for 282 yards with two touchdowns, 49 passes defensed, 29 QB pressures, four fumble recoveries and 11 forced fumbles. He added 27

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 ...

stops and 25 kickoff returns for 581 yards (23.2 avg.). His 720 career tackles with the Chiefs rank seventh in team history.

High school

Woods attended Melrose High School and won the state championship his senior year playing quarterback and free safety. He holds the Tennessee record for interceptions in a game (4), season (20) and career (45). He also played basketball in high school, winning the state championship in his junior year. He averaged 16.3 points per game. He was also a high school All-American.

College career

In college, Woods played two seasons at the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

after transferring from

Northeast Mississippi Community College Northeast Mississippi Community College (NEMCC) is a public community college in Booneville, Mississippi. History The college was founded in 1948 as ''Northeast Mississippi Junior College,'' and became known primarily as an agricultural school a ...

. In two campaigns with UM, he tallied 219 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, seven interceptions, 17 pass break-ups, three forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries with one touchdown. He was a three-time All-American in college.

Professional career

Woods was just the fifth player in Memphis history to be selected in the opening round of the

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

, when he was selected by Kansas City in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

with the 28th overall pick. Woods made a remarkable comeback in

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to earn his initial

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

nod after missing the entire 2002 campaign with a broken right leg. Woods started all 16 games in 2003, recording 99 tackles (68 solo), three interceptions for 125 yards with two touchdowns, nine passes defensed, one fumble recovery and three forced fumbles. He played in seven games in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, registering three tackles and three special teams stops. Woods enjoyed four triple-digit tackle campaigns with the Chiefs, including a career-high 132 tackles in his first year as a starter in ‘97. He also registered a career-best four interceptions that season as the Kansas City defense led the NFL in scoring defense by allowing just 14.5 points per game. Upon his request, Woods was released by the Chiefs prior to the 2006 season. Woods could not find a new team to sign with for 2006, and on June 7, 2007, it was announced that the Chiefs had signed Woods to a one-day contract, allowing him to officially retire as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs. Woods moved to the club’s Reserve/Retired list on June 8, 2007.

NFL statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Jerome 1973 births Living people Players of American football from Memphis, Tennessee American football safeties Northeast Mississippi Tigers football players Memphis Tigers football players Kansas City Chiefs players American Conference Pro Bowl players