Former NFL defensive lineman Ziggy Hood is being hailed as a hero after talking to a troubled young man at a Texas high school and preventing a potential tragedy.
Hood, who played for five teams over his 10-year career, works as a biology teacher and defensive line coach at Palo Duro High School in Amarillo, Texas. Last week, Hood noticed a student who appeared to be struggling emotionally. The 36-year-old took the time to talk to the young man, an act that may have saved many lives.
“After talking with him for a little bit, trying to explain to him, there’s multiple ways of doing about going about this,” said Hood, according to KAMR/KCIT. “And one way was not the way which he had planned.”
The student was later arrested after a subsequent police search uncovered a weapon on campus.
While others have praised Hood for his potentially life-saving intervention, the former defensive tackle praised the actions of local police.
Evander Ziggy Hood of The Pittsburgh Steelers conducts a youth football camp at Tec de Monterrey on June 12, 2010, in Mexico City, Mexico. (Hugo Avila/Jam Media/LatinContent via Getty Images)
“Officers Matthews and Pedraza did a wonderful job that day, they protected everybody. I’m just glad that he didn’t get hurt, somebody else didn’t get hurt, or multiple people, you know, didn’t get hurt,” he said.
Palo Duro head football coach Eric Mims credited the intervention training teachers and coaches receive and the close relationships they’ve developed with their students.
“That’s the biggest thing that AISD (Amarillo Independent School District) talks about,” Mims said. “Trainings on is just knowing who’s supposed to be where, and protecting the people that are supposed to be in keeping people off campus that aren’t supposed to be on campus.”
Mims continued, “We’re around them almost more than we are with our families, and so they become our children, they become our second families, they become extensions of us. So developing those relationships with our young men and our young women really help us in identifying when their attitude has changed demeanors change. Just being able to see kids and interact with them on a daily basis lets us notice when things are not normal.”
Hood said he stressed the importance of not giving into “the pressures of social media and trying to live up to a certain standard. This ain’t the way to do it. Talk to somebody. If it’s not the teacher, if it’s not the counselor, if it’s not the principal, go to a local coach or go to somebody. You don’t want to make a permanent decision based off a temporary motion.”
Washington Redskins defensive end Ziggy Hood (90) celebrates during a match between the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Browns at FedExField in Landover, Maryland. (Daniel Kucin Jr./Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Hood, a 2009 draft pick out of Missouri, spent his first five years with the Steelers before spending his final five years with Jacksonville, Chicago, Washington, and Miami.