# Ziggy Hood

Evander Ja Mel "Ziggy" Hood (born February 16, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Missouri Tigers, and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round (32nd overall) of the 2009 NFL draft. Hood was also a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears, Washington Redskins, Miami Dolphins, and New Orleans Saints.

## Early life

Hood attended Palo Duro High School in Amarillo, Texas, where he was a two-sport star in both football and track. In high school football, he earned All-District honors his junior and senior seasons. As a junior, he made 76 tackles, including 5.0 sacks and returned an interception for a touchdown. As a senior, he was named 3-4A Defensive Player of the Year after making 93 tackles, including 13.0 sacks, and scoring three defensive touchdowns.
In track and field, Hood was one of the states top performers in the throwing events. He got top-throws of 15.50 meters (50 ft 8in) in the shot put and 50.55 meters (165 ft 7in) in the discus throw.

## College career

Hood played college football at the University of Missouri. During his college career, he played defensive tackle. He finished with 170 tackles (98 solos), 15.5 sacks, 22.5 tackles for loss and 22 quarterback pressures. He also had five forced fumbles, recovering three.

## Professional career

Pre-draft measurables :
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press |
| 6 ft 2+7⁄8 in (1.90 m) | 300 lb (136 kg) | 33+3⁄4 in (0.86 m) | 9+5⁄8 in (0.24 m) | 4.97 s | 1.73 s | 2.86 s | 4.45 s | 7.32 s | 34.5 in (0.88 m) | 9 ft 8 in (2.95 m) | 36 reps |
| Sources: ||||||||||||

### Pittsburgh Steelers

He was selected in the first round, 32nd overall, by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2009 NFL draft. He moved to defensive end in the Steelers' 3–4 defense, and served as a rotational back-up in his rookie year. Hood recorded both his first sack and first recovered fumble against the Baltimore Ravens on December 27, 2009.
At the end of the 2010 season, Hood and the Steelers appeared in Super Bowl XLV against the Green Bay Packers. He had one total tackle in the 31–25 loss.

### Jacksonville Jaguars

On March 13, 2014, Hood signed a four-year, $16 million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars released him on October 20, 2015.

### Chicago Bears

On October 22, 2015, the Chicago Bears signed Hood following the release of Jeremiah Ratliff. On December 15, 2015, he was waived.

### Washington Redskins

On February 2, 2016, Hood signed a one-year contract with the Washington Redskins. Hood re-signed on March 15, 2017.
On October 16, 2018, Hood was released by the Redskins.

### Miami Dolphins

On October 30, 2018, Hood was signed by the Miami Dolphins.

### New Orleans Saints

On July 24, 2019, Hood signed with the New Orleans Saints. He was released on August 31, 2019.

### NFL statistics

| Year | Team | Games | Games | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Fumbles | Fumbles | Fumbles | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Comb | Total | Ast | Sack | FF | FR | Yards | Int | Yards | Avg | Long | TD | PD |
| 2009 | PIT | 16 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2010 | PIT | 16 | 9 | 20 | 15 | 5 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2011 | PIT | 16 | 14 | 31 | 19 | 12 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2012 | PIT | 16 | 16 | 42 | 25 | 17 | 3.0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2013 | PIT | 16 | 7 | 39 | 26 | 13 | 3.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | JAX | 16 | 0 | 24 | 17 | 7 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | CHI | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | WSH | 16 | 14 | 33 | 17 | 16 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2017 | WSH | 15 | 13 | 25 | 13 | 12 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | WSH | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | MIA | 8 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Career | 142 | 73 | 231 | 141 | 90 | 14.0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |

## Personal life

Hood was named by his father after former professional boxer Evander Holyfield, of whom his father was a fan. He is of half Mexican ancestry. During his childhood, his Mexican grandmother could not correctly pronounce Evander, so she started calling him by the name of her favorite cartoon character, Ziggy.