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Evander "Ziggy" Hood

From the Eastridge Elementary Eagles to 10 seasons in the National Football League and now back to where it began, Hood’s football career has gone full circle.

Hood began to learn the game in 1990s in Kids, Inc. at Eastridge and then on to Travis Middle School. At Palo Duro, he was a hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker who grew to 250 pounds. As a senior in 2004, he was named the District 3-4A Defensive Player of the Year with 93 tackles, 13 sacks and three defensive touchdowns.

He signed with the University of Missouri, and his career took another turn with the Tigers. Hood grew to 300 pounds, and was moved inside to defensive tackle. In his career at Missouri, he had 170 tackles, 15.5 sacks, and five forced fumbles. As a senior in 2008, he was named All-Big 12 Conference. Hood had been on the radar of NFL teams for more than two years, and his stock kept rising.

On the final selection in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Hood, the first Texas Panhandle athlete taken in the first round since the NFL merger in 1970. 

When the average NFL career is 3.5 seasons, Ziggy played 10. He played for the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV against Green Bay.  He played five seasons with Pittsburgh, then with Jacksonville, Chicago, Washington and Miami. In all he played in 142 NFL games from 2009-2018 where he had 231 tackles, including 14 quarterback sacks.

Hood returned to his roots three years ago as a defensive line coach at his alma mater, Palo Duro, where he also teaches biology. He and his wife Sarah have two sons.