Danny Woodhead Daniel Frank Henry Woodhead ( born January 25 , 1985 ) is an American football running back for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League ( NFL ) . He was signed by the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2008 . He has also played for the New England Patriots . He played college football at Chadron State . Woodhead set several NCAA college football rushing records , including single season rushing and all - time rushing . In 2006 and 2007 , he won the Harlon Hill Trophy , awarded to the best player in NCAA Division II , making him the third player to win the trophy twice in its history ( the other players are Johnny Bailey and Dusty Bonner ) . On October 6 , 2007 , Woodhead became the NCAA all - time , all - division leading rusher . Woodhead held this record until it was broken by Mount Union College running back Nate Kmic on December 13 , 2008 . Early years . Woodhead played football at North Platte High School in North Platte , Nebraska , and broke many records . North Platte reached the state finals in 2001 , with Woodhead ' s help after beating Millard North High School team 24 - 21 . Woodhead blocked a field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter to give North Platte possession with only minutes left . North Platte ' s Ben Woodhead , Woodhead ' s older brother , threw a pass down field to set up a game winning field goal by Jake McCarthy . However , North Platte went on to lose the state championship 28 - 14 to Millard West High School . In Woodhead ' s junior season , his team went 8 - 1 in the regular season , and won two games in the playoffs before falling to Millard North in the semifinals . Woodhead ' s senior season , North Platte had its first undefeated regular season in 40 years , going 9 - 0 . The team went on to beat Omaha North High School in the first round of the playoffs , Bellevue East in the second round , and finally lost to Millard North 21 - 7 in the semifinals for the second year in a row . Woodhead finished as Nebraska ' s Class A leading rusher , as well as Nebraska ' s Class A all - time leading rusher with 4 , 891 yards ( 2000 – 2003 ) . North Platte High ' s quarterback that year , Derek Enderle , also finished as the state ' s leading passer . This marked the first time in North Platte ' s history that the football team finished with the state ' s leading passer and rusher in the same season . College career . In 2004 , Woodhead began attending Chadron State College in Chadron , Nebraska , where he rushed for 1 , 840 yards as a true freshman . Woodhead was the first recipient of a full athletic scholarship at Chadron State in its 96 - year history . In 2005 , Woodhead carried the ball 278 times for 1 , 769 yards , averaging 6 . 4 yards per carry , and 21 touchdowns . He also had 30 receptions for 367 yards , averaging 12 . 2 yards per reception . In 2006 , through 12 games , Woodhead rushed for 2 , 740 yards , a new all - division single season rushing record , surpassing Kavin Gaillaird . Including the playoffs , his rushing yards in 2006 totaled 2 , 756 . He also led his team to the NCAA Division II playoffs in 2006 , losing to Northwest Missouri State . Northwest Missouri State managed to hold Woodhead to a season low 16 yards rushing on 16 carries while giving up 79 yards receiving , which was more than double anyone on the Northwest Missouri team . Chadron also had 327 yards of total offense compared to Northwest Missouri State ' s 306 . Through 39 games , Woodhead ’ s 606 points equated to 15 . 5 points a game , the highest ever in NCAA Division II . Only Dan Pugh of Mount Union College , a Division III school in Ohio , with 248 points in 2002 and Barry Sanders of Oklahoma State with 234 in 1988 , had ever scored more points in a season than Woodhead scored in 2006 . However , in 2007 Abilene Christian University ' s Bernard Scott broke Woodhead ' s Division II record by scoring 39 touchdowns ( 234 points ) . Woodhead accumulated 7 , 441 yards on the ground , for his career , giving him a career average of 190 . 8 yards per game . He rushed for more than 200 yards in 19 of his 39 appearances and scored in 37 consecutive games , both of which are NCAA all - division records . After a 208 - yard game against Western New Mexico in 2007 , he became college football ’ s all - time leading rusher , breaking the record previously held by R . J . Bowers , who played for Grove City College , a Division III school in Pennsylvania from 1997 – 2000 . Woodhead is also just the sixth NCAA Division II player to rush for more than 1 , 000 yards in four seasons . He has also recorded 9 , 259 all - purpose yards , which ranks second on the NCAA all - time list . Brian Westbrook ( Villanova , 1997 – 2001 ) currently holds the record with 9 , 512 total yards of offense . Woodhead is also tied with Germaine Race ( Pittsburg State 2003 – 2006 ) for first place in Division II in career scoring with 654 points on 109 touchdowns . Race is also the all - time leader in two two - point conversions for 658 points . Woodhead is only the second player in collegiate history to score more than 100 touchdowns . Barry Sanders is the only college player to accumulate more all - purpose yards than the 3 , 159 that Woodhead gained in 2006 , as he gained 3 , 250 as a junior at Oklahoma State University in 1988 , when he won the Heisman Trophy . Woodhead ranked 10th in Division - II in career all - purpose yards with 7 , 349 after his junior season . The Division - II leader is Brian Shay of Emporia State with 9 , 301 yards , including 1 , 207 on kickoff returns , 1995 – 1998 . Woodhead was a Harlon Hill Trophy candidate in 2004 , 2005 , 2006 , and 2007 , winning the award in both 2006 and 2007 . When interviewed , Woodhead stated that Nebraska never showed much interest in him and that he wanted to go somewhere where he was wanted . Chadron State showed a lot of interest in him , which is where he ended up . While at Chadron State , he majored in math education . Professional career . Pre - draft . Woodhead did not receive an invite to the NFL Scouting Combine so he had to use his pro day to show his abilities . According to a report on " NFLDraftWatch . net " , he ran the 40 - yard dash in times of 4 . 33 to 4 . 38 seconds which would have been the second - fastest among all running backs at the NFL Combine in March 2008 . He posted the best pro - agility time of 4 . 03 seconds , the second - best vertical jump ( 38½ inches ) and the best 60 - yard shuttle time ( 11 . 2 seconds ) . He also bench pressed 225 pounds 20 times . New York Jets . Woodhead went undrafted in the 2008 NFL Draft . However , he received a call from the New York Jets moments before the draft ended , about the two parties coming to an agreement on an undrafted rookie free agent contract . It was announced shortly after , that Woodhead had signed a deal with the organization . On July 26 , 2008 , Woodhead was waived / injured by the Jets after being carted off the field due to an injury . He spent his entire rookie season on injured reserve . On September 3 , 2009 , the Jets faced the Philadelphia Eagles in a preseason matchup . During this game , Woodhead rushed for 158 yards , the NFL ' s second - highest preseason total since 1992 , and two touchdowns . Woodhead initially survived final cuts in September 2009 , only to be waived a day later on September 6 . He was re - signed to the Jets ' practice squad on September 8 . In October , Woodhead was moved from running back to wide receiver and on October 17 , he was signed to the active roster after Jerricho Cotchery and Brad Smith became injured . Woodhead saw his first regular season action on October 25 , 2009 . In the 38 – 0 win over the Oakland Raiders , Woodhead rushed three times for 24 yards . He was waived on September 14 , 2010 . New England Patriots . Woodhead was signed by the New England Patriots on September 18 , 2010 , one day before the team ' s Week 2 matchup against the Jets . The team had an open roster spot for Woodhead after the trade of Laurence Maroney ; Woodhead was inactive for the game , which saw longtime Patriots third - down running back Kevin Faulk go down for the season with a knee injury . On September 26 , making his Patriots debut as well as his first career start , Woodhead had a 22 - yard touchdown run against the Buffalo Bills , his first NFL touchdown . In Week 4 , Woodhead added an 11 - yard touchdown reception in a win over the Miami Dolphins . Against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 11 , Woodhead had a 36 - yard touchdown run in a Patriots win . On November 19 , 2010 , Woodhead signed a two - year contract extension with the Patriots , through the 2012 season . Woodhead finished the 2010 season with 3 starts in 14 games played . He had 97 carries for 547 yards ( 5 . 6 yard average ) , and five rushing touchdowns . He also caught 34 passes for 379 yards and one receiving touchdown . On February 5 , 2012 , Woodhead made a catch in the second quarter of Super Bowl XLVI to score a touchdown for the New England Patriots . The New York Giants went on to beat the New England Patriots 21 - 17 . Woodhead ended the game with 4 catches for 42 yards and ran 7 times for 18 yards . San Diego Chargers . Woodhead agreed to terms with the San Diego Chargers on March 15 , 2013 .