Former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle, Ziggy Hood, has been crowned a local hero during his post-playing career in Amarillo, Texas. Since he announced his retirement from the NFL in 2019, Hood has become a high school biology teacher and football coach at Palo Duro High School in Amarillo. This begins to give a look at the character of Hood. As a player who earned over $20 million throughout his playing career, Hood did not need to become a teacher. He could have chose to just become a coach, however he wanted an opportunity to shape young kids lives and have an impact on them.
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Former Steelers' DT Ziggy Hood
Hood was selected by the Steelers in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He was considered a "draft bust" for Pittsburgh, as he left the team after just four years before bouncing around the NFL. He played for the Steelers during their Super Bowl loss to the Green Bay Packers at the end of the 2010 season. He recorded one tackle in the game. Now, he is making much more of an impact as a high school teacher.
Hood was having a normal day of teaching high school biology, but then he noticed one of his students looked like they were struggling; not with the school work or the biology itself, but mentally. Hood acknowledged this and decided to talk with the teen for a little while, and the teen made it seem like he was dealing with some bullying within the school and was trying to find a way to protect himself from the bullies. Hood went onto share the discussion that helped steer the student away from performing any violent acts during an interview with KAMR/KCIT in Amarillo.
"He showed me what he was dealing with, told me of incidents of him protecting himself. And I tried to explain to him there's multiple ways to go about this and one way was not the way he had planned."
Hood potentially saved a lot of lives that day. A weapon was found on the school's campus and the student was arrested, but no one was injured. By Hood noticing something was wrong with just one student and taking the time to talk to them, he saved many lives within the school, including the life of the troubled student who was potentially going to make a horrible mistake.
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Former Steelers' DT Ziggy Hood
Steelers Former Defensive Tackle Appreciative Towards Staff
Although Hood was the first member of the school's staff to talk with the troubled teen, many other people were involved behind the scenes to recover the weapon and alert the police department. During Hood's interview with the local news, he made sure to thank everyone who helped prevent a potential horrible tragedy on that day, especially the school's liaison officers.
"Officer Matthews and Officer Pedraza. They 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."
Hood was truly a hero that day, as well as everyone else involved in the process of defusing the situation. Hood even pointed out that he did not want to be the main point of the interview and didn't do it just to put the spotlight on him, but rather to spread awareness and a message to everyone that there is always someone there to listen to what you have to say.
Rick Stewart
Former Steelers' DT Ziggy Hood bats down a pass
Hood did an amazing thing that day by noticing something was wrong with one of his students and approaching them about it, but he wanted to emphasize the point that kids shouldn't be scared to reach out to anyone for help. Instead of keeping something bottled up inside, let someone know what you are going through.
"The pressures of social media and living up to a certain standard. That 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 somebody. You don't want to make a permanent decision based off a temporary emotion."
One of Hood's coaching colleagues shared with the local news team in Amarillo that Hood is always preaching to the players not to try to live up to anyone else's standards. That showed through the entire way that Hood dealt with this troubling situation at the school. Hood's character has shined bright ever since he retired from the league. Now, he is a local hero who stopped a potential tragedy.
What do you think of Hood's actions Steeler Nation? Let us know in the comments below!
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