Northeast Mississippi Community College Athletics

Jerome Woods may have the best career of any former Northeast Mississippi Community College football player that reached the professional ranks.

Woods was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs franchise with the 28th overall pick in the opening round of the 1996 National Football League (NFL) Draft following a pair of stellar seasons at the University of Memphis (Tenn.).

He appeared in all 16 games for the Chiefs as a rookie and made six tackles along with one forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Woods made a much greater impact as a kickoff returner during his inaugural year with Kansas City.

Woods had 25 returns for 581 yards with a season-long of 66 yards. He compiled two 100-plus yard performances, including during his NFL debut inside the historic Astrodome against the Houston Oilers.

The Memphis, Tenn., product moved into a starting role at free safety during the 1997 campaign. Woods started to show just how talented he could be by setting career-highs of four interceptions and six forced turnovers overall.

The 6-3, 205-pounder was recognized as the American Football Conference (AFC) Defensive Player of the Week for the only time in his career following the Chiefs' week five triumph over Seattle in overtime.

Woods setup Kansas City's game winning drive in the extra session by intercepting Seahawks quarterback Warren Moon and returning it 13 yards to midfield. He also had eight takedowns and one sack in the 20-17 win by the Chiefs.

He was also picked later that season as the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for November after guiding Kansas City to a 4-1 record with key wins over Denver, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Seattle.

Woods had 30 tackles during that five-game stretch by the Chiefs and also accounted for two turnovers. He had an interception that led to the winning score against the Steelers and then picked up a fumble inside the legendary Kingdome versus the Seahawks.

He made his initial postseason appearance during the 1998 AFC Divisional Round. Woods recorded four stops, including a strip sack of future Pro Football Hall of Famer John Elway right before halftime that Kansas City recovered, in a heartbreaking 14-10 loss to the Broncos inside Arrowhead Stadium.

Woods started in 79 consecutive contests as a defensive back for the Chiefs over a five-year period from 1997-2001. He racked up 415 tackles with eight interceptions, seven forced fumbles and three sacks during the heart of his tenure in Kansas City.

The Melrose (Tenn.) High School graduate missed the entire 2002 campaign with an injury that threatened to end his career. But Woods returned to the Chiefs better than ever one year later.

Woods reclaimed his spot in Kansas City's lineup and posted 76 takedowns, including 58 solo tackles, with a career-high 11 pass break ups plus four forced turnovers to earn his first-ever selection to the Pro Bowl.

He had three interceptions that season, including two that were returned for touchdowns during the Chiefs' victories over the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers. 

Woods' two non-offensive touchdowns were the fourth most in the NFL while his 125 total interception return yards ranked as the ninth highest for the 2003 campaign.

His 79-yard pick-six off another eventual Pro Football Hall of Famer and Mississippi native in Brett Favre inside Lambeau Field was the sixth longest interception return of the entire year in the NFL.

Woods and the Chiefs captured the 2003 AFC West Division title and welcomed Indianapolis for a 2004 AFC Divisional Round matchup. He accumulated six tackles in a heartbreaking 38-31 loss to the Colts in what turned out to be his final playoff contest.

He travelled to Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii, for the 2004 Pro Bowl less than a month after the postseason defeat. Woods participated in the highest scoring NFL all-star game of all-time, which was won by the National Football Conference (NFC) 55-52, and tallied two tackles.

Woods made 17 more outings over the next two years with 43 additional tackles, one sack and a forced fumble to his credit. He eventually retired from professional football after the 2005 season.

His final statistics over nine campaigns with Kansas City include 540 total tackles, which averages to 4.2 per game, 16 pass break ups, 15 interceptions, 11 forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and five sacks.

Woods was a three-way tool that saw time offensively, defensively and on special teams while at Northeast from 1992-93. He caught a 46-yard pass to get the Tigers into the red zone late in his very first collegiate contest at Pearl River Community College.

He fielded a punt at Coahoma Community College and raced 62 yards for a touchdown to cap a 42-0 Northeast victory just two weeks later. Woods concluded his freshman year with an interception versus Mississippi Delta Community College.

Woods improved tremendously during his sophomore campaign and garnered Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) All-State first-team recognition. He finished third in the league with 77 tackles and also averaged 17.8 yards per kickoff return.

He was a factor for the Tigers offensively for a second consecutive season versus Pearl River with a five-yard scoring reception from quarterback Herman Taylor. Woods added the initial two-interception showing of his career in a win over Coahoma.

Woods showed out during his last regular season game at Tiger Stadium with 13 tackles against Mississippi Delta. He made one last outing on the Booneville campus as part of the 20th annual MACJC All-Star Football Classic.

He was an explosive athlete during his two-year stint at Memphis. Woods totaled 219 tackles, including 120 during a senior campaign in which he was the Independent Defensive Player of the Year and the Football News All-American second-team.

Woods paced the Tigers during his All-American season of 1995 with a team-high six interceptions. He posted a career-best 19 tackles in a 17-16 triumph by Memphis at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) as a junior and one game later had 18 stops at the University of Tennessee.

The Tigers' defense with Woods leading the way was eighth nationally in 1994 with just 14.5 points allowed per game. He was inducted into the Memphis M-Club Hall of Fame in 2009.