Service in front of the line
Terps guard Woods puts defending his country ahead of a chance to play football in his final season of eligibility
By Heather A. Dinich
Sun Reporter
Originally published December 27, 2006
COLLEGE PARK // There were signs. They were small signs, but they were there, and they suggested that Maryland guard Donnie Woods was serious about quitting football to defend his country.
An American flag hung from his locker, and he kept another in his room. Favorite movies? United 93 and World Trade Center. The hunter green camouflage Terps football hat he always wore. His criminal justice major.
Nobody, though - not even his parents - expected Woods to forgo his senior season of football to join the military or pursue a career in a police department with the hopes of eventually landing a job with the FBI or CIA.
"He sort of threw the idea out and we said, 'Yeah, OK, sure Donnie, whatever,' " said his father, Don.
Said Terps center Edwin Williams: "He talked about it during the season, but nobody really listened to it."
They're listening now.
Woods, one of the Terps' top offensive linemen, has contacted military recruiters, and the Montgomery County Police Department has contacted Woods. He will play the last football game of his college career Friday against Purdue in the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla. It was a decision he secretly made before the start of the season - while daydreaming one day in a summer class - and one he said he will not regret.
"I always wanted to serve my country," said Woods, who will turn 23 on Jan. 27. "I think freedom is an amazing thing. I love what this country stands for. I want to give back for what we have. There's no other high for me."
Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen said he has mixed feelings about his left guard's decision. Woods was his highest-rated offensive lineman in 2005 and was having another successful season before he suffered a serious neck injury Nov. 11 against Miami. He started the first 10 games of the season, but did not play at
Boston College and was in on only three plays in the season finale against Wake Forest.
"The shame of it is - and I told this to Donnie - next year would probably be his best year of ever playing football and he's not going to experience it," Friedgen said. " ... I don't know how much fun it is to have a bullet in you. I worry about that, I really do. I admire him for his patriotism and what he wants to do, but I don't necessarily agree with his decision. But I respect his decision. If that's what he wants to do, that's what he wants to do."
It's what Woods' older brother, Sean, chose to do, and something his parents aren't thrilled about experiencing again. Sean Woods was supposed to be in Iraq for a year, but his stay was extended one or two months.
"That was a pretty tough, especially for my wife and I," Don Woods said. "Anytime your son is in a combat situation, you never really feel at ease.
"We told Donnie how we feel about it," he said. "He's the kind of kid who's going to make his own decisions. We just said, 'Look before you make this decision. Talk to Sean about this whole situation.' We've had some other people who are career military say this could be a mistake for him at this day and time. We're going to encourage him to talk to other people before you put your name on the dotted line."
Woods said the ROTC program at Maryland eventually will schedule a physical for him so he can be cleared for Officer Cadet School, though he might need to take a summer class first. He said he plans to enter the program, though, immediately after he graduates.
It's a sharp turn away from the path he has always known.
Woods was highly recruited from Thomas Jefferson High School in Tampa, Fla., a magnet school that he drove 45 miles to every day from his home in Dade City. He had to wake up about 5:30 a.m., but the attention he garnered there paid off. Tennessee, Oklahoma, LSU, Southern California - they were all interested. During the spring of his junior year, Woods turned down Maryland.
He tore his anterior cruciate ligament his senior year, though, and most of those other schools backed off.
"I tell you what: As a high school senior, you learn real quick - especially when you get hurt like I did - that it's a business," Woods said. "I still feel strongly about that. You go from having phone calls every night and people sending you private jets to take you on visits to one or two phone calls a night and everyone saying they can't take you anymore.
"You learn real quick and grow up fast from the whole situation. I was very thankful for the University of Maryland [for the opportunity] to come to a big-time program and play."
Woods said he has about 20 tickets for Friday's game, but, as one of 10 children, he is looking for more. His family's five-bedroom home is just about an hour's drive from Orlando, and his mother, Donna, cooked for her 289-pound son and several of his teammates on Christmas.
"I've had a great time since I've been here," Woods said. "I learned a lot about myself, I've made some great friends. I have no regrets about leaving a year early."
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