Pierre Woods (born January 6, 1982) 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 ...

. He was signed by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

as an

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in 2006. 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 ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Early years

Woods was a two-year letterman at Glenville High School in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

under the guidance of coach

Ted Ginn Sr. Theodore Ginn Sr. (born November 10, 1955) is the coach of the Glenville High School Tarblooders football and track teams in Cleveland, Ohio. He is the father of wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. In addition, he has two other children, Tiffany Ginn ...

, and his most notable teammates at the time were Troy Smith,

Donte Whitner Donte Demetrius Whitner Sr. (born July 24, 1985) is a former professional American football strong safety. He played college football at Ohio State, and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills eighth overall in the 2006 NFL Draft. Whitner has also pla ...

and

Ted Ginn Jr. Theodore Ginn Jr. (born April 12, 1985) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Miami Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans S ...

He played in the first ever

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is played between all-star teams representing the eastern and western United S ...

game on December 30, 2000, alongside fellow Michigan Wolverine Marlin Jackson. He recorded 173 tackles and 42 sacks, caused seven fumbles and intercepted one pass during prep career and also tallied 34 career receptions for 581 yards and 13 touchdowns as a tight end. He registered 92 tackles, 26 sacks, five forced fumbles and one interception during senior campaign and was Second-team

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High School

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

. He was also a four-year letterman and three-year starter on the varsity

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team.

College career

Woods attended the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

where he appeared in all 13 games as a redshirt freshman and did not see any action as a freshman. As a sophomore in 2003 he had 68 tackles and led team with 14 tackles for loss and seven sacks and was second-team All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

after starting all 13 games at outside linebacker. In 2004, played in 12 games, recording 22 tackles, one tackle for loss and one fumble recovery. As a senior in 2005, played in all 12 games and made five starts at linebacker and made 24 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, three sacks, one pass breakup and two forced fumbles...

Professional career

Pre-draft

New England Patriots

Woods was signed by the

after going undrafted in the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

. In his rookie season, Woods saw action in eight games and finished fourth on the team with 11 special teams tackles In 2007, he played in all 16 regular-season games for the first time in his career and led the team in special teams tackles with 21. In 2008, he led the team in special teams tackles in three games and made his first career start on November 13, 2008, against the

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

and made nine tackles (7 solo) in the game. However, Woods suffered an arm injury weeks later and was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on December 13. Woods returned in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

to play in all 16 games for the Patriots, starting five. He finished the season with 36 tackles, 18 of which came on special teams. He was released during final cuts on September 4, 2010. Woods was re-signed by the Patriots on November 17, 2010, one day after the team waived outside linebacker Shawn Crable. He recorded his second career sack in the team's Week 12

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game against the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. The Patriots waived Woods on December 3, 2010.

Buffalo Bills

Woods was claimed off waivers by the

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. ...

on December 6, 2010. On February 11, 2011, Woods was released from the team's roster and is now an unrestricted free agent.

Cleveland Gladiators

On November 9, 2012, Woods was assigned to the Cleveland Gladiators of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. After going on injured reserve after Week 11, Woods was reassigned after the Gladiators Week 12 game.

References

External links

Buffalo Bills bioNew England Patriots bioMichigan Wolervines bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Pierre 1982 births Living people Glenville High School alumni American football outside linebackers Buffalo Bills players Cleveland Gladiators players Michigan Wolverines football players New England Patriots players Players of American football from Cleveland African-American players of American football 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people