kc hopeful
01-13-2008, 12:07 PM
Ziggy Hood article in Amarillo Globe News (http://www.amarillo.com/stories/011308/col_9346612.shtml)
Soft-spoken Hood driven to succeed
By Lance Lahnert
lance.lahnert@amarillo.com
Stephen Spillman / Amarillo Globe-News
Evander "Ziggy" Hood says he will remain at Missouri for another season.
ARTICLE TOOLS: Email Article | Print-Friendly Format Hardly a day goes by when Evander "Ziggy" Hood doesn't answer THE question.
Under The Hood
Name: Evander "Ziggy" Hood
Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 300 pounds
High school: Palo Duro (2005 graduate)
College: Missouri
Position: Defensive tackle
The scoop: Started 14 games for the 12-2 Tigers. ... Earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors. ... Led Missouri with 1.5 quarterback sacks in the Cotton Bowl. ... Was told by the NFL College Advisory Committee that he could go as high as the third round in the 2008 draft. Hood said he will stay at Missouri. ... Thirty hours shy of earning a degree in Animal Science. ... Added 45 pounds since his high school playing days. ... Bench presses 440 pounds.
Bet You didn't know: Hood said offensive lineman hold so much during games, he replaces his jersey every two games.
How'd you get that unique nickname?
But lately, the nickname given him as a baby by his grandmother after a cartoon character named Ziggy isn't the only thing setting him apart at the University of Missouri.
"I think they have all heard the story by now with as many times as it has been told (by the media)," Hood said. "They pretty much want to talk football, now."
The 6-foot-4, 300-pound junior defensive lineman is a 2005 graduate of Palo Duro who has added 45 pounds of muscle since his high school days as a tight end-defensive lineman. He bench presses 440 pounds.
On Jan. 1, Hood led the Tigers in quarterback sacks with 1.5 during a 38-7 thrashing of Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl.
"I had watched the Cotton Bowl on TV growing up and remember Texas Tech playing somebody one year," Hood said. "It was wild to run out on the field. Our fans traveled well to that game.
"There for awhile I didn't think I would get a sack. But it all worked out."
Missouri put together an historic year, going 12-2, earning a No. 1 ranking for a week, and finishing with the highest ranking in school history at No. 4.
"For our school, the entire season and being ranked No. 1 was great," Hood said. "It seemed like everybody was happy and nobody was depressed. But for the team it just felt like another game. Because we know anybody can lose on any day."
Hood started 14 games for the Tigers, making 49 tackles and recording five sacks. In 2006, his Missouri teammates voted him the Rigman Outstanding Underclassman Leadership Award and most improved defensive lineman.
Missouri defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski said Hood is a dream to coach.
"Ziggy's motor on the field never stops," Kuligowski said. "He not only listens and is coachable, he learns quickly and nobody works harder. He is the first to arrive and the last to leave. The story I like to tell about Ziggy is when we run sprints, he runs with our receivers and running backs. None of our other lineman are athletic enough to dare do that."
Hood shrugs that off, saying: "I'm just trying to better myself. I've learned the harder you work the easier the game is.
"(Coach Kuligowski) is a cool man to be around. He taught me so many things when I got there. Hopefully, I will be able to share that with somebody else."
Palo Duro coach Steve Parr said Hood took time out of his schedule recently to talk with the Dons football team.
"If you can share your information with somebody else and bring their play up to another level, you can say you have done something good," Hood said. "It's not about me anymore at Palo Duro. It's the future coming up. I'm old news at Palo Duro."
Hood is rare news at Missouri. Few Amarillo ISD athletes are recruited by the Big 12 school.
But choosing the Tigers seems a perfect fit as Hood has the opportunity to put himself in elite AISD company next year when the NFL draft rolls around.
Hood and four of his junior teammates recently signed a waiver to allow the NFL College Advisory Committee to advise them on their opportunities in this year's draft.
Hood was informed he could go as high as the third round.
If Hood becomes an NFL draftee, he would join former Palo Duro star William Thomas, a 1991 fourth-round pick by the Philadelphia Eagles as the only AISD players drafted by the NFL in the past 40 years.
Hood, however, will wait.
"I just put my name out there," Hood said. "It wasn't nothing like to shake people up and saying I'm leaving. They tell you things like what round you might go in. They told me at the highest it would be the third round.
"It felt good. But there was no temptation. I'm 30 hours from getting my degree in Animal Science. Being drafted would mean a great deal, if it does come true. It would be awesome if it happens."
Obviously, this gentle giant who is soft spoken has been influenced by his family. That continues today.
Nearly every game Hood plays, his dad, Charles, finds the time to get in a car and travel the 12 hours - one way - from Amarillo to Columbia, Mo.
"My mother (Nellie Payne) and father, have touched me the way they have put their kids ahead of themselves," Hood said. "That shows me a lot. They give me my inspiration and that's where my passion comes from. I am doing this for them."
It may be tough to top this season in 2008. But with 16 starters returning, Hood said the Tigers will continue to growl.
"This past season left us saying, look at all we accomplished," Hood said. "But we all know we can do better. The hunger is still there."
Soft-spoken Hood driven to succeed
By Lance Lahnert
lance.lahnert@amarillo.com
Stephen Spillman / Amarillo Globe-News
Evander "Ziggy" Hood says he will remain at Missouri for another season.
ARTICLE TOOLS: Email Article | Print-Friendly Format Hardly a day goes by when Evander "Ziggy" Hood doesn't answer THE question.
Under The Hood
Name: Evander "Ziggy" Hood
Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 300 pounds
High school: Palo Duro (2005 graduate)
College: Missouri
Position: Defensive tackle
The scoop: Started 14 games for the 12-2 Tigers. ... Earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors. ... Led Missouri with 1.5 quarterback sacks in the Cotton Bowl. ... Was told by the NFL College Advisory Committee that he could go as high as the third round in the 2008 draft. Hood said he will stay at Missouri. ... Thirty hours shy of earning a degree in Animal Science. ... Added 45 pounds since his high school playing days. ... Bench presses 440 pounds.
Bet You didn't know: Hood said offensive lineman hold so much during games, he replaces his jersey every two games.
How'd you get that unique nickname?
But lately, the nickname given him as a baby by his grandmother after a cartoon character named Ziggy isn't the only thing setting him apart at the University of Missouri.
"I think they have all heard the story by now with as many times as it has been told (by the media)," Hood said. "They pretty much want to talk football, now."
The 6-foot-4, 300-pound junior defensive lineman is a 2005 graduate of Palo Duro who has added 45 pounds of muscle since his high school days as a tight end-defensive lineman. He bench presses 440 pounds.
On Jan. 1, Hood led the Tigers in quarterback sacks with 1.5 during a 38-7 thrashing of Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl.
"I had watched the Cotton Bowl on TV growing up and remember Texas Tech playing somebody one year," Hood said. "It was wild to run out on the field. Our fans traveled well to that game.
"There for awhile I didn't think I would get a sack. But it all worked out."
Missouri put together an historic year, going 12-2, earning a No. 1 ranking for a week, and finishing with the highest ranking in school history at No. 4.
"For our school, the entire season and being ranked No. 1 was great," Hood said. "It seemed like everybody was happy and nobody was depressed. But for the team it just felt like another game. Because we know anybody can lose on any day."
Hood started 14 games for the Tigers, making 49 tackles and recording five sacks. In 2006, his Missouri teammates voted him the Rigman Outstanding Underclassman Leadership Award and most improved defensive lineman.
Missouri defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski said Hood is a dream to coach.
"Ziggy's motor on the field never stops," Kuligowski said. "He not only listens and is coachable, he learns quickly and nobody works harder. He is the first to arrive and the last to leave. The story I like to tell about Ziggy is when we run sprints, he runs with our receivers and running backs. None of our other lineman are athletic enough to dare do that."
Hood shrugs that off, saying: "I'm just trying to better myself. I've learned the harder you work the easier the game is.
"(Coach Kuligowski) is a cool man to be around. He taught me so many things when I got there. Hopefully, I will be able to share that with somebody else."
Palo Duro coach Steve Parr said Hood took time out of his schedule recently to talk with the Dons football team.
"If you can share your information with somebody else and bring their play up to another level, you can say you have done something good," Hood said. "It's not about me anymore at Palo Duro. It's the future coming up. I'm old news at Palo Duro."
Hood is rare news at Missouri. Few Amarillo ISD athletes are recruited by the Big 12 school.
But choosing the Tigers seems a perfect fit as Hood has the opportunity to put himself in elite AISD company next year when the NFL draft rolls around.
Hood and four of his junior teammates recently signed a waiver to allow the NFL College Advisory Committee to advise them on their opportunities in this year's draft.
Hood was informed he could go as high as the third round.
If Hood becomes an NFL draftee, he would join former Palo Duro star William Thomas, a 1991 fourth-round pick by the Philadelphia Eagles as the only AISD players drafted by the NFL in the past 40 years.
Hood, however, will wait.
"I just put my name out there," Hood said. "It wasn't nothing like to shake people up and saying I'm leaving. They tell you things like what round you might go in. They told me at the highest it would be the third round.
"It felt good. But there was no temptation. I'm 30 hours from getting my degree in Animal Science. Being drafted would mean a great deal, if it does come true. It would be awesome if it happens."
Obviously, this gentle giant who is soft spoken has been influenced by his family. That continues today.
Nearly every game Hood plays, his dad, Charles, finds the time to get in a car and travel the 12 hours - one way - from Amarillo to Columbia, Mo.
"My mother (Nellie Payne) and father, have touched me the way they have put their kids ahead of themselves," Hood said. "That shows me a lot. They give me my inspiration and that's where my passion comes from. I am doing this for them."
It may be tough to top this season in 2008. But with 16 starters returning, Hood said the Tigers will continue to growl.
"This past season left us saying, look at all we accomplished," Hood said. "But we all know we can do better. The hunger is still there."