The Pride Of Nebraska: Woodhead’s Spot on NFL Roster Unlikely

 

Danny Woodhead of North Platte, Nebraska ran for more yards in a single season than anybody in the history of college football. Anyone. Any division.

Unheralded out of high school in the Cornhusker State after setting numerous prep records, Division I locals such as Nebraska and Colorado made a lukewarm pursuit of this prep phenom from Western Nebraska. Both wanted Woodhead to walk-on to their programs, while Northwestern was rumored to be interest but nothing materialized.

Woodhead shocked Husker Nation by enrolling at Division II Chadron State.  Many observers believed Woodhead would want to prove his worth by walking on to Nebraska, but Woodhead called Nebraska’s bluff.

Woodhead’s older brother was a member of the football team at Chadron State, and Woodhead said, “I wanted to go to play for somebody that wanted me.”

Woodhead was too small according to the Big 12 North rivals.

Woodhead stands at just 5-foot-7, and weighs 200 pounds soaking wet. This Woodhead, however, had speed that you couldn’t teach and moves like former college football icon and Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders.

From day one in Chadron, it was a man playing amongst boys. Woodhead shattered every record known to mankind at the school, rushing towards an improbable icon status in his native Nebraska.

As a freshman in 2004, Woodhead rushed for 1,840 yards and rushed for 25 touchdowns. In 2005, there was no sophomore slump for Woodhead. Woodhead rumbled for 1,769 yards in 10 games, rushing for 21 touchdowns.

As a junior, Woodhead began his assault on college football record books. Woodhead rushed for eight yards per carry, juking his way to 2,756 rushing yards and 34 touchdowns. Woodhead caught 45 passes for 403 more yards, scoring four receiving touchdowns. His season yardage output of 2,756 is an NCAA single-season record.

Woodhead won the Division II equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, the Harlon Hill Trophy, in 2006.

Despite an injury-riddled senior campaign in 2007, Woodhead won the award again following his 1,597 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns.

Woodhead finished his career by rushing for 7,891 yards and 101 touchdowns, adding eight receiving touchdowns in 44 career games at Chadron State.

Woodhead was not invited to the NFL Draft Combine in Indianapolis, and went undrafted.

He inked a free agent contract with the New York Jets.  Rumor had it that the Jets were so impressed with Woodhead there would be a good chance he could make the roster on opening day as a rookie.

Woodhead was injured in the preseason, and missed the entire 2008 season. A year after being injured, Woodhead rejoined the Jets for the 2009 season.

Woodhead was one of the final cuts during preseason for the Jets. He was immediately signed to the Jets practice squad and spent over a month on it.

Woodhead was then signed to the active roster by the Jets in October prior to Week eight.

Listed as a wide receiver, Woodhead rushed for 24 yards on three carries in his first NFL game. In a Week 12 win over Carolina, Woodhead made two receptions for 23 yards in spot duty.

Woodhead is one big play away from becoming an overnight sensation.

Out of relative obscurity, the road to the NFL seemed like a long shot. But now, Woodhead is receiving the ultimate reward and showing everyone what he is made of.

He is the pride of North Platte, Chadron, and all of Nebraska. 

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The Kid Is All Right: “Franchez” Has New York Jets Flying High at 3-0

Super days are ahead, Jets fans.

Your time is coming. Joe Namath has a clone. He wears No. 6.

The J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets are 3-0. Clad in New York Titans uniforms, the Jets turned away the real Titans of Tennessee 24-17 behind two touchdown strikes and a touchdown scamper from Mark Sanchez on Sunday. It ain’t pretty, but neither was Namath when he made the AFL matter overnight.

How’s that for a coming out party?

Rex Ryan is the real deal. The Jets are not scared. The Jets are not afraid. The Jets are just getting warmed up.

This past summer was the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. And it was also the 40-year anniversary of the New York Jets victory guarantee by Namath. Kind of fitting that 2009 could be the year of the Jets.

Seemed a little fitting that the franchise that couldn’t win the big one would be wearing Houston Oilers uniforms as the Titans slide to 0-3. Better get warm, Vince Young.

As a nation, we have come full circle since 1969. And now, the Jets are going to rock their throwbacks all the way to the Super Bowl. Wear the Titans uniforms. Change your name to the Titans. We don’t care. Just win.

The Jets might be America’s Team soon. Mark “Franchez” will deliver the goods to New York. Sanchez made a great decision to skip his senior season at USC to lead the New York Jets to the promise land.

Sanchez is gutty. Sanchez is sneaky. Sanchez flat out gets the job done. Sanchez is a poor man’s Ben Roethlisberger.

In fact, move over Ben. It’s Franchez’s turn now. Big Ben lost to the Bengals in heartbreaking fashion. The wheels are falling off the Steelers’ wagon.

Peyton Manning in Indy will still be a force as will a healthy Tom Brady for the New England Patriots, but those are teams that the Jets can beat (and already has over New England in Week Two).

It’s a feel good story for the ages. You couldn’t script this any better. The J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets are for real. The Jets are a force to be reckoned with in the near future. How many trophies can this kid win?

Jump on the bandwagon. Buy the classic, retro ringer T-shirt. Because in our entire lifetime, it was fun to make fun of the Jets. But not anymore. The Jets are no joke.

It all makes sense. 2009 is the year of the Jets. Life comes full circle, including the irony of having an African-American President of the United States just 40 years after Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated.

Our history comes full circle. Franchez’s play isn’t always pretty—much like on his short-yardage touchdown run where it appeared he fumbled away a sure touchdown. Instead, Franchez got the inch he needed to cross the goal line to put his team in command of a pivotal game against—despite its 0-3 record in 2009—a major player in the American Football Conference race.

And those throwbacks. It’s the 50-year anniversary of the formation of the American Football League. The throwbacks are slick, even the ones the officiating crews have been wearing with the red stripes. It’s almost the 40-year anniversary of the merger that Namath made possible.

Because before the Jets won the Super Bowl and Namath famously gliding off the field holding up the “We’re No. 1” sign, making it the coolest sign overnight, the AFL was a glorified phony league that threw the ball too much.

Teams like the Jets made it cool in 2009 to make a “Wildcat” formation look so groundbreaking. They played football like that once, back when the National Football League was being formed. The T-formation.

The first professional African-American starting quarterback was from the AFL. Marlin Briscoe out of the University of Nebraska-Omaha led the Denver Broncos onto the field in the 1960s, long before Doug Williams quarterbacked the Washington Redskins into the football history books by being the first African-American quarterback to win a major Professional football title. 

One of the greatest passing quarterbacks of the modern-era was an African-American, none other than former Houston Oilers gunslinger Warren Moon. Moon was so unlikely that he had to go break a bunch of records against the Mounties up north in Canada before even getting a sniff of the NFL.

Imagine if Moon would have played an entire career in the NFL. We wouldn’t be talking about Dan Marino’s records before they were Brett Favre’s records. Moon would have shattered them all.

The American Football League and franchises like the New York Titans/Jets are etched in our culture. So it would be impossible to shrug off it’s sudden turnaround let by a confident—some would say cocky—kid that nobody gave a chance to succeed in April.

A quarterback that—if Sam Bradford would have gone to the NFL instead of coming back to Oklahoma to win a National Championship—would be commanding the No. 2 team in American in USC.

Do you think Franchez would have lost in Seattle against Washington? Not even a coach that had all the answers to the secrets in Steve Sarkisian would have been able to slow down No. 6.

This whole revitalization of the Jets is kind of trendy.

It’s kind of groovy and it still shows neutral fans of the NFL across the country that this sport can still be fun and innocent. 

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Brett Favre Signs, Becomes Fifth-Best Quarterback in Metrodome

From NFC North contender to 7-9 in just one day—all because of the 21st century version of Ross Perot.

Larry King, he’s back in the race. You knew it would happen. If Brett Favre was on the former Fox television show Moment of Truth…that answer is…false.

At least Frank Caliendo has one more season of stand-up. Maybe two if you believe the two-year deal Favre signed will actually last for two years. Caliendo was running out of material since George Bush left office and since his Charles Barkley impression is…well…terrible.

Call it a two-year deal—just not between January and August of 2010. In August 2010—miraculously—here he comes out of the tunnel again.

You have to wonder if the high school kids he practiced with—the ESPN footage shown over and over again—are better receivers than what the Minnesota Vikings have this season. Percy Harvin was a great college player, but he doesn’t exactly jump off the page as a prototypical NFL receiver. 

The Vikings, however, have the best running back in football since Barry Sanders. Maybe Favre can handle giving Adrian Peterson the rock 30 times a game, and then tear his shoulder and every muscle in his throwing arm when he throws to Lord knows whom.

The trouble is, 7-9 might be good enough to win the NFC North.

You have the worst team in football history in Detroit.

You have the Chicago Bears, who just signed the 21st century version of Jeff George in Jay Cutler.

Then there’s Green Bay. Remember Aaron Rodgers, the quarterback that made cheeseheads forget about No. 4 for about three weeks last season until reality hit?

Green Bay didn’t have enough weapons around Rodgers to make a splash. Rodgers did just fine as the starter in Green Bay.

The NFC North makes the Big 12 North look outstanding. Get Joe Namath on speed dial. The Vikings might need a backup.

This is reality television, America, and this is getting old and just plain sad. This is Survivor—can a 56-year-old quarterback lead his team to the promise land?

Also, when did Minnesota become a Super Bowl contender? Apparently, John Clayton of ESPN wiped enough spit from his lip to call Minnesota one of the contenders in the NFC.

Huh? Since when? Did Fran Tarkenton get younger?

Peterson is injury prone and it’s a shame. A healthy Peterson would have won two Heisman Trophies at Oklahoma and would have run for 10,000 yards in five seasons in the NFL.

Peterson is that good. He was 40 yards shy of 1,800 last season. As a rookie, he was never the same following his injury.

Minnesota was better off with Sage Rosenfels and his 12 NFL starts than it would be with Favre.

This just in…Tarvaris Jackson threw nine touchdowns last season compared to two interceptions. Jackson also had a quarterback rating of 95.4.

Favre’s “should-have-been” last season in Green Bay was a rating of 95.7, and he was outstanding in 2007 for the Packers.

Jackson was 0-2 in his first two starts last season, but these were losses at Green Bay and against some guy named Peyton Manning.

Jackson was 2-1 in the last three games of the season, including victories over Arizona and the New York Giants. You know, the last two NFC representatives in the Super Bowl.

Jackson lost to Atlanta in Week 16. He was 22-for-36 through the air for 233 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Oh, and by the way, Jackson rushed for 82 yards on eight carries. Was it really his two lost fumbles in the loss to the Atlanta Falcons that handed Favre the job in 2009?

Favre threw 22 interceptions last season, four more than Jay Cutler. Cutler, remember, is the most overrated quarterback prospect since Jeff George. Drew Brees threw 17 picks, but he also only threw for 5,069 yards.

Green Bay made the right decision to go with Rodgers. The 2008 season was not the fault of Rodgers, who calmly threw for over 4,000 yards and 28 touchdowns.

This is a move that ought to get the whole organization in Minnesota fired. Move the team to Toronto. Because outside of Minneapolis, nobody cares anymore.

ESPN will run the story because it loves to “make the news.”

Favre would be a great high school football coach at this stage of his career, and that’s about it. I almost feel sorry for the poor guy.

Memo to Favre: If you want to play that badly, create yourself on PS3 and make yourself as good as you used to be back when you could actually play a little.

This is going be as ugly as Minnesota’s uniforms.

Favre is the fifth-best quarterback in Minnesota right now behind Jackson, Rosenfels, John David Booty, and Joe Mauer. You could probably include the quarterback at the University of Minnesota if he mattered enough to even be Googled.

Brett Favre deserves better…and that’s called “retirement.”

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