Tweet
This was from The Steelers Digest...... 
--------------------------
Big lineman no stranger to hard work
By BOB LABRIOLA
Editor
Coach Mike Tomlin welcomed the team’s No. 1 pick in the 2009 NFL draft to the Pittsburgh Steelers in a unique and personal way. “The first thing he said to me,” said Ziggy Hood, “was that he wanted an extra-long chili cheese coney.
That’s from when I worked at Sonic.”
There has been, and will continue to be, a lot written and said about Hood simply because he was the Steelers’ first-round draft pick, but so many of those reports miss what made him special to Tomlin and Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert.
As a teenager at Palo Duro High School in his hometown of Amarillo, Texas, Ziggy Hood stepped up, and not just on the football field or in the classroom. His mother, Mary Payne, was working at the sheriff’s office, but even with that things were tight. And it was around that time when Ziggy Hood first showed he always was going to be a team player.
“I didn’t have to do anything,” he said about the start of his career in the fast-food business, “but I chose to do it to take more(responsibility) off her.”
And so began a routine that lasted almost three years, and the ramifications of what he did and what he learned about life while doing everything at Sonic from flipping burgers to putting on the roller skates to serve as a car-hop will serve Hood well for a far longer period of time.
“It taught me how to work every day. Two-anda-half years of waking up, going to class, then going to practice and then turning around and going to work from 5 to midnight, then just repeating that day in and day out,” said Hood. “Sometimes I even worked after a Saturday game if I had to just to provide for my family. But not only that, it taught me how to work, and the more you work the better chance at life you’re going to get, the better chance of someone giving you a shot, like Missouri did.”
Missouri gave him a shot after seeing him pop out on a video of another player it was recruiting, and Coach Gary Pinkel quickly discovered that the work ethic Hood showed to get himself into a college wasn’t going to abate simply because he had gotten himself into a college.
“He’s one of those no-ego guys,” said Pinkel. “There is no job too big, too small. Whatever you ask him to do, he’s going to do it.”
Hood began working at his craft and that got him onto the field as a freshman, where he played in all 12 games and did a couple of things against USC in the Independence Bowl that reflected his promise. In 2006 as a sophomore, Hood was leading the team with three sacks after three games when he broke a bone in his foot, but he was back in the starting lineup just three weeks after surgery.
During his final two seasons at Missouri, Hood blossomed. He had 10 sacks, 15 tackles for loss and 16 quarterback pressures in those 28 starts, while also flashing the big-play ability that NFL scouts and coaches love. Hood made six tackles on goal-line plays in 2008, and in the Cotton Bowl after the 2007 season he turned in what Pinkel called his best game at Missouri with six tackles and 1.5 sacks in a win over Arkansas.
“Ziggy Hood is a Steelers type of player — there are no holes in this guy,” said Tomlin. “He is a high-character guy. He loves the game of football. He was described by many members of his team who went high in the draft as their guy. He is a captain, leader and good football player. We are excited to add him to our fold. He is a guy who will fit in pretty quickly from a personality standpoint. What he is capable of doing on the football field will help us.”
As is the case with every No. 1 pick, the issue with Hood is how quickly he will be able to get onto the field. Adding a defensive lineman early in this draft was a no-brainer, not because of any lack of talent on the team’s roster there but because of the fact the top six veterans all will be 30 or older come opening night of the regular season.
It was time to re-stock the shelves.
“A lot of times when scouts go out and look at a guy, you hear, ‘Well, this guy plays high and he doesn’t use his hands,’ ” said assistant head coach John Mitchell. “Well, that’s what you pay me to do. I’m not concerned about that. This guy stays on his feet, he is going to give you 60 minutes of football, he is a strong guy, he is very intelligent.
This guy already graduated.”
Graduated with a major in biology, and Hood will get to learn from two guys with PhDs in playing defensive end in a 3-4. Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel are now what Hood wants to become.
“They know that if we took a guy in the first round he must be a pretty good football player, and so they’re going to do everything in their power to help this guy be a good football player,” said Mitchell. “It’s not going to be easy. Here is a guy who’s going to have to work really hard.”
One thing’s for certain: Ziggy Hood isn’t afraid of hard work. The people at the Sonic in Amarillo will tell you that.
.
.
.
HOOD'S COLLEGE STATISTICS
Year...... GP...... GS...... Tkl...... TFL...... Sacks
2005..... 12........ 0........ 23...... 2.5........ 1.5
2006..... 10........ 7........ 36...... 5.0........ 4.0
2007..... 14....... 14....... 49...... 8.0........ 5.0
2008..... 14....... 14....... 62...... 7.0........ 5.0
Totals.... 50....... 35...... 170..... 22.5..... 15.5
--------------------------
Big lineman no stranger to hard work
By BOB LABRIOLA
Editor
Coach Mike Tomlin welcomed the team’s No. 1 pick in the 2009 NFL draft to the Pittsburgh Steelers in a unique and personal way. “The first thing he said to me,” said Ziggy Hood, “was that he wanted an extra-long chili cheese coney.
That’s from when I worked at Sonic.”
There has been, and will continue to be, a lot written and said about Hood simply because he was the Steelers’ first-round draft pick, but so many of those reports miss what made him special to Tomlin and Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert.
As a teenager at Palo Duro High School in his hometown of Amarillo, Texas, Ziggy Hood stepped up, and not just on the football field or in the classroom. His mother, Mary Payne, was working at the sheriff’s office, but even with that things were tight. And it was around that time when Ziggy Hood first showed he always was going to be a team player.
“I didn’t have to do anything,” he said about the start of his career in the fast-food business, “but I chose to do it to take more(responsibility) off her.”
And so began a routine that lasted almost three years, and the ramifications of what he did and what he learned about life while doing everything at Sonic from flipping burgers to putting on the roller skates to serve as a car-hop will serve Hood well for a far longer period of time.
“It taught me how to work every day. Two-anda-half years of waking up, going to class, then going to practice and then turning around and going to work from 5 to midnight, then just repeating that day in and day out,” said Hood. “Sometimes I even worked after a Saturday game if I had to just to provide for my family. But not only that, it taught me how to work, and the more you work the better chance at life you’re going to get, the better chance of someone giving you a shot, like Missouri did.”
Missouri gave him a shot after seeing him pop out on a video of another player it was recruiting, and Coach Gary Pinkel quickly discovered that the work ethic Hood showed to get himself into a college wasn’t going to abate simply because he had gotten himself into a college.
“He’s one of those no-ego guys,” said Pinkel. “There is no job too big, too small. Whatever you ask him to do, he’s going to do it.”
Hood began working at his craft and that got him onto the field as a freshman, where he played in all 12 games and did a couple of things against USC in the Independence Bowl that reflected his promise. In 2006 as a sophomore, Hood was leading the team with three sacks after three games when he broke a bone in his foot, but he was back in the starting lineup just three weeks after surgery.
During his final two seasons at Missouri, Hood blossomed. He had 10 sacks, 15 tackles for loss and 16 quarterback pressures in those 28 starts, while also flashing the big-play ability that NFL scouts and coaches love. Hood made six tackles on goal-line plays in 2008, and in the Cotton Bowl after the 2007 season he turned in what Pinkel called his best game at Missouri with six tackles and 1.5 sacks in a win over Arkansas.
“Ziggy Hood is a Steelers type of player — there are no holes in this guy,” said Tomlin. “He is a high-character guy. He loves the game of football. He was described by many members of his team who went high in the draft as their guy. He is a captain, leader and good football player. We are excited to add him to our fold. He is a guy who will fit in pretty quickly from a personality standpoint. What he is capable of doing on the football field will help us.”
As is the case with every No. 1 pick, the issue with Hood is how quickly he will be able to get onto the field. Adding a defensive lineman early in this draft was a no-brainer, not because of any lack of talent on the team’s roster there but because of the fact the top six veterans all will be 30 or older come opening night of the regular season.
It was time to re-stock the shelves.
“A lot of times when scouts go out and look at a guy, you hear, ‘Well, this guy plays high and he doesn’t use his hands,’ ” said assistant head coach John Mitchell. “Well, that’s what you pay me to do. I’m not concerned about that. This guy stays on his feet, he is going to give you 60 minutes of football, he is a strong guy, he is very intelligent.
This guy already graduated.”
Graduated with a major in biology, and Hood will get to learn from two guys with PhDs in playing defensive end in a 3-4. Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel are now what Hood wants to become.
“They know that if we took a guy in the first round he must be a pretty good football player, and so they’re going to do everything in their power to help this guy be a good football player,” said Mitchell. “It’s not going to be easy. Here is a guy who’s going to have to work really hard.”
One thing’s for certain: Ziggy Hood isn’t afraid of hard work. The people at the Sonic in Amarillo will tell you that.
.
.
.
HOOD'S COLLEGE STATISTICS
Year...... GP...... GS...... Tkl...... TFL...... Sacks
2005..... 12........ 0........ 23...... 2.5........ 1.5
2006..... 10........ 7........ 36...... 5.0........ 4.0
2007..... 14....... 14....... 49...... 8.0........ 5.0
2008..... 14....... 14....... 62...... 7.0........ 5.0
Totals.... 50....... 35...... 170..... 22.5..... 15.5
Comment