Roderick Hood (born October 3, 1981) 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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

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). He was signed by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

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 2003 and also played for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

and

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

. 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 ...

for the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

Early years

Hood attended Carver High School in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

and was a

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

in football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

. In track, his 4x100 relay team went to the state finals, and he helped lead the basketball team to the state finals.

College career

Hood played

and played in 47 games (18 starts) and finished his career with five interceptions and 106 tackles. He was also a star return specialist, returning 51 punts for 571 yards (11.2 yards per punt return) and averaged 19.9 yards on kick returns. Hood returned to Auburn following his NFL career and graduated. He completed the requirements and was awarded a Baccalaureate Degree in Public Administration following Auburn's 2014-15 academic Year.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Height: 5-11. Weight: 198. 40 Yard Dash: 4.47; Bench Press: 13; Vertical Jump: 34"; Broad Jump: 10'5"

Philadelphia Eagles

Hood signed as an

with the

in 2003. He signed a three-year $910,000 contract with the Eagles and as a rookie he tied for fifth on the Eagles in special teams tackles with 21. As the nickel cornerback, he recorded four tackles and recovered a fumble and recorded his first career interception. Hood finished 2004 with 32 tackles and a team-high three fumble recoveries on defense. Following an injury to starter

Lito Sheppard Lito Decorian Sheppard (born April 8, 1981) is an American football coach and former cornerback. During his playing career, he played in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the first ...

, Hood worked his way into the

starting lineup In sports, a starting lineup is an official list of the set of players who will participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as ''starters'', whereas the others are ''substitutes'' o ...

in 2005 where he had three interceptions and 41 tackles and was named to USA Today’s “2005 All-Joe” team. In 2006, he played ten games with four starts and recorded 18 tackles after he signed a one-year, $1.573 million tender to remain with the Eagles for the 2006 season.

Arizona Cardinals

Following the 2006 season, Hood left the Eagles in free agency and signed a five-year $15 million contract with the

where he was the starting cornerback in 2007 and 2008. In the 2007 season, Hood had his best season with five interceptions and two of them were returned for touchdowns. Hood started all 16 games and his 196 return yards on five interceptions were second best in the NFL this season behind

Antrel Rolle Antrel Rocelious Rolle (born December 16, 1982) is a former American football defensive back of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Miami, where he was recognized as a unanimous All-American, an ...

’s 231 return yards. In 2008 Hood played 15 games with 14 starts and intercepted one pass as the Arizona Cardinals advanced to the Super Bowl. Hood was released by the Cardinals on April 28, 2009. Hood signed with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

and later signed with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

during the offseason, but failed to make either team's final 53-man roster.

Tennessee Titans

Hood was signed by the

on October 15, 2009. In his first two games with the Titans, Hood recorded 6 tackles and 1 interception for 17 yards on November 1, 2009 against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

. During preparations for the 2010 season Hood tore his ACL 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 ...

for the remainder of the season. He became a free agent at the end of the season.

St. Louis Rams

On September 27, 2011, Hood signed with the

References

External links

ESPN Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hood, Rod 1981 births Living people Players of American football from Columbus, Georgia American football cornerbacks Auburn Tigers football players Philadelphia Eagles players Arizona Cardinals players Cleveland Browns players Chicago Bears players Tennessee Titans players St. Louis Rams players George Washington Carver High School (Columbus, Georgia) alumni