Danny Woodhead

Danny Woodhead is a running back for the Los Angeles Chargers. He wears jersey number 39.

Youth

Woodhead was born in North Platte, Nebraska, on January 25, 1985. Woodhead played for the North Platte High School football team where he finished as Nebraska’s Class A number one career rusher with 4,891 yards over the three years.

College Career

Woodhead went to the same college as his parents, Chadron State College. He started as a true freshman in 2004 and ran for 1,840 yards on 284 attempts. He also caught 16 passes for 163 yards. These numbers earned him a full athletic scholarship – the first one ever given in Chadron’s 96 year history.

He followed up his freshman year with 1,769 yards on 278 touches while scoring 21 touchdowns in his sophomore year. He caught 30 passes for 367 yards.

Woodhead continued to improve over the next two years. In his junior and senior year, he accumulated 4,353 rushing yards on 594 touches with 55 touchdowns. He caught 83 passes for 887 receiving yards and 6 TDs.

Danny Woodhead's College Highlights: 

NFL Pro Day

Woodhead was not invited to the NFL Combine in 2008. Instead, he held a Pro Day and posted the following numbers:

• 40 Time: 4.38 seconds
• Bench Press (225 lbs.): 20 times
• Vertical Jump: 38 ½ inches
• Broad Jump: 10’01”
• 20 YD Shuttle: 4.20 seconds
• 60 YD Shuttle: 11.2 seconds

The scouts rated him as the 28^th best running back out of 181 backs eligible for the NFL draft.

NFL Draft

Woodhead went undrafted in the 2008 draft. Instead, he signed an undrafted rookie free agent contract to play on the New York Jets.

NFL York Jets

Woodhead’s time with the Jets was a rocky one. He was injured in a preseason game in 2008 and spent the season on injured reserve. The following season, Woodhead rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns against the Philadelphia Eagles in another preseason game, but he was waived after the end of the preseason. The Jets resigned him to the practice squad two days later. However, later that season, they shifted him from running back to wide receiver. Woodhead was released at the start of the regular 2010 regular season.

New England Patriots

The Patriots signed Woodhead four days after his release from the Jets. Woodhead’s time with the Patriots went much better than his time with the Jets. He got to play due to injuries to other players and scored a 22-yard rushing touchdown against the Bills and a 36-yard TD Indianapolis Colts. He also had an 11-yard TD pass against the Dolphins. He ended the season with 97 rushes for 547 yards and 34 receptions for 379 yards. He also scored 6 touchdowns. New England signed him to two-year contract extension.

San Diego Chargers

San Diego Chargers (now Los Angeles Chargers) signed Woodhead as a free agent in 2013 to a two-year contract worth an annual salary of $1.75 million. He played in all 16 games in 2013. He had 429 rushing yards on 106 attempts and 605 yards on 76 receptions. The 2014 season was spent mostly on injured reserve, but he bounced back in 2015 with 366 rushing yards and 755 passing yards. The 2016 season was again lost to injury. His future going into the 2017 is now up in the air.

Here are some of Woodhead's professional highlights.

Follow Woodhead

Follow Woodhead on Twitter @danny_woodhead and on Instagram @teamwoody39.