His post-NFL playing days have been rather quiet as a biology teacher at Palo Duro High School in Amarillo, Texas, but for former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Ziggy Hood, a quiet day is welcoming, especially after he played a major role in helping stop a potential tragedy at the school.
Hood, a football coach in his post-playing days after spending 10 seasons in the NFL with the Steelers, Washington, Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears, was able to step in and stop a potential school shooting, talking a student down, leading to an arrest and preventing tragedy.
According to KAMR/KCIT in Amarillo, Hood noticed that one of his students was struggling with something personal, so he took the time to talk with him. Upon having a conversation with the student, Hood learned that the student was planning on doing something violent to deal with an incident — presumably bullying — which then led to Hood and school resource officers stepping in and preventing the tragedy from happening.
“After talking with him for a little bit, trying to explain to him, there’s multiple ways of doing about going about this,” Hood said to KAMR/KCIT in Amarillo. “And one way was not the way which he had planned.”
Hood, along with his role as a biology teacher at Palo Duro, serves as a defensive line coach for the football team, remaining close to the game that made him a first-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft by the Steelers at No. 31 overall.
Being in the school daily and around the students each and every day, along with the countless numbers of training sessions to help spot and prevent serious situations, played a role in Hood intervening.
After helping prevent tragedy along with school resource officers, Hood had a message for his students and other area youth.
“The pressures of social media and trying to live up to a certain standard. This ain’t the way to do it. Talk to somebody,” Hood said following the incident, according to original reporting from KAMR/KCIT in Amarillo. “If it’s not the teacher, if it’s not the counselor, if it’s not the principal, go to a local coach or go to somebody. You don’t want to make a permanent decision based off a temporary motion.”
Thank goodness Hood was attentive and caring when it came to his student struggling. His training as a teacher and as a compassionate person kicked in, helped save not only a life, but a young person’s future in the process.
Take your hat off and hand it to Ziggy. Well done.
