Illinois Football: Indianapolis Colts DT Jamal Woods is living a dream for two

The Illinois football class of 2017 was a special group of recruits who would help shape the program for years to come.

Kendrick Green, Del’Shawn Phillips, Tony Adams, Kendall Smith, Vederian Lowe, Alex Palczewski, Nate Hobbs, Bennett Williams, and Alex Pihlstrom have either been drafted or have signed with an NFL team from that coveted Illini recruiting class.

On Monday, Illinois was able to add another player to that list. Jamal Woods reportedly signed a 3-year, $2.56-million contract with the Indianapolis Colts.

This contract came about after Woods went undrafted in the 2023 NFL Draft, and then wowed the Colts in the rookie minicamp.

Career and personal adversity makes former Illinois football and current Indianapolis Colts lineman Jamal Woods even stronger

Not being the top option for teams is something that Woods has dealt with his entire career. He has dealt with this adversity starting in the high school ranks and through his time at Illinois, where he would finish his career with a total of 79 tackles, 19.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 pass deflections, 1.5 sacks, and 1.0 forced fumbles.

Woods wasn’t this highly-rated recruit coming out of Hueytown High School in Alabama. A 2-star by Rivals and a 3-star by 247Sports, Woods was one of the lowest-rated recruits coming out of the Illinois class of 2017.

Not only was he overlooked by many, but Woods’ career with the Illini wasn’t smooth by any means. He would have to miss most of the 2018 campaign with a season-ending injury. On top of that, he had a total of 18 starts over six years of playing with the Orange and Blue.

Most players would either transfer out of the program or quit football altogether. That isn’t what Woods is made of, though.

“My momma raised somebody who will never give up on their dreams and aspirations. I have to do what others believe I can’t do. Those are my motivators going and continuing through this journey,” Woods told the Writing Illini, “It’s a level of respect I have for myself. God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers. I consider myself one of those.”

“It was just like a breath of new life for me…I was very appreciative and grateful for this opportunity.”

That level of not just self-esteem but self-worth is extremely rare. Woods knows that he has the ability, talent, drive, and work ethic to be great, and he continues to prove his doubters wrong at every turn.

Woods didn’t take the easy path of just packing it in and finding a mundane career off the field. All of the great attributes that have been instilled in Woods have led to him signing the contract with the Colts and starting his professional career.

“It was just like a breath of new life for me, and I was thinking about where I could have been. I could have given up on football with the route that I was going, but I couldn’t let that tear my dreams down,” Woods said, “I was very appreciative and grateful for this opportunity.”

Like most things on social media, if you don’t follow it from the beginning, you aren’t sure what it means exactly. There might be some Colts fans, sports fans, or just people perusing social media who see Woods’ post about signing his contract with Indianapolis. In this post, Woods says, “For the shoe.” He continues in the post to put three hashtags. One of those hashtags is #97strong.

The hashtag #97strong is in memory of Bobby Roundtree, an Illinois football player who would tragically suffer an injury to his spine that left him paralyzed in 2019 and who would later lose his life in 2021.

As a fan, the memory of Bobby will never leave. He was a great football player and an even better person. For someone like Woods, the impact of losing Bobby goes much deeper. He did not just lose a teammate; he lost a brother that day.

Bobby joined the Illinois football team in the class of 2017. He would come into the program with Woods by his side. Making it to the NFL was a dream of both players and when Woods signed that contract with the Colts, he made that dream into a reality.

“Bobby was not only a teammate of mine, but he was my friend and a brother. We were roommates coming to Illinois and bonded greatly. Plenty of nights, that is all we would talk about is making it to the NFL and making an impact,” Woods said, “So, I am just trying to live out our dreams of doing so. I am not finished because the next step is making an impact, and I plan on doing that for the both of us.”

Without a doubt, Woods will make that impact in the NFL. He continues to work hard and achieve goals that many thought he couldn’t achieve. Woods ended our conversation with one final sentence that is hard to type out without getting misty-eyed.

“I hope he is proud of me in heaven.”

With 100% certainty, there is no question Bobby is proud. We all are.