Position: Running Back
Years: 2004-07
Place of Birth: North Platte, NE
Date of Birth: January 25, 1985
Jersey Number: 3
Height: 5-8
Weight: 204
High School: North Platte (NE)
One of most gifted and accomplished running backs in history, Danny Woodhead finished his career as college football's all-time rushing leader across all levels of play. The North Platte, Nebraska, native now becomes Chadron State's first-ever College Football Hall of Fame inductee.
A three-time First Team All-American (2004, 2006-07), Woodhead twice claimed the Harlon Hill Trophy as the most valuable player in Division II (2006, 2007). A four-time Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) First Team selection, he was the RMAC Offensive Player of the Year three times after being selected as the RMAC Offensive Freshman of the Year in 2004. He was named the most valuable player for Chadron State all four years in college, and he was also named the All-Century Offensive Player by the RMAC.
Woodhead finished his Chadron State career as college football's all-time rushing leader with 7,962 yards, and he owned 21 NCAA Division II records when he graduated. The records included most consecutive games rushing 100 or more yards (16), games rushing 200 or more yards (19), most consecutive games scoring a touchdown (38) and most yards rushing in a season (2,756 in 2006).
He averaged 181 rushing yards per game during his career and 6.89 yards per carry, while rushing for 101 career touchdowns. He added 129 receptions for 1,417 yards and eight touchdowns, finishing his career with 109 total touchdowns and tying him for the most in college football annals. He also had 101 yards on kickoff returns, giving him a total of 9,480 all-purpose yards by career's end.
He holds virtually every rushing/all-purpose record in RMAC and Chadron State annals.
Chadron State went 35-11 during Woodhead's four years with the team. The Eagles claimed two RMAC titles with consecutive 12-win seasons in 2006 and 2007, and they went 2-2 in the NCAA Division II Playoffs.
A 2007 NFF National Scholar-Athlete and Campbell Trophy® finalist, Woodhead also excelled in the classroom, notching a 3.72 GPA as a double major. He was named a CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-American in 2006 and 2007 and the inaugural recipient of the RMAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award in 2007.
Undrafted in 2008, Woodhead signed with the New Jets as a free agent, and he went onto a successful 10-year NFL career with the Jets, Patriots (playing in Super Bowl XLVI), Chargers and Ravens. He retired after the 2017 season with 4,936 all-purpose yards and 32 touchdowns.
Woodhead currently is the co-CEO of Arise Venture, a business consulting firm in Nebraska. A scratch golfer, Woodhead made a run at becoming a professional golfer, falling just short of qualifying for the U.S. Open. He was inducted into the Chadron State College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2023.
