Ickey Woods

Infobox NFLretired


|width=
caption=
position=Running back
number=31, 30
birthdate=birth date and age|1966|2|28
Fresno, California, USA
deathdate=
debutyear=1988
finalyear=1991
draftyear=1988
draftround=2
draftpick=31
college=UNLV
teams=
* Cincinnati Bengals (1988-1991)
stat1label=Rushing yards
stat1value=1,525
stat2label=Average
stat2value=4.6
stat3label=Touchdowns
stat3value=27
nfl=WOO480843
highlights=
* 2nd in the NFL in Rushing TDs in 1988 with 15
HOF=
CollegeHOF=

Elbert L. "Ickey" Woods (born February 28, 1966 in Fresno, California) is a former American football fullback who played his entire NFL career (1988 to 1991) with the Cincinnati Bengals. He played college football at UNLV. He is best remembered for his lumbering "Ickey Shuffle" end zone dance, performed when he scored touchdowns.

Woods rushed for 1,066 yards and 15 touchdowns in his rookie season, along with 228 yards and 3 touchdowns in the playoffs as the Bengals advanced to Super Bowl XXIII. His team lost the game 20-16, but he finished as the game's leading rusher with 79 yards. In 1989, Woods tore his left anterior cruciate ligament in the second game of the season, a 41-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. He missed 13 months. By the time he returned, his starting role was filled by Harold Green.

In 1991, Woods injured his right knee in the preseason. He returned at midseason but he ran for just 97 yards on 36 carries. He was out of football by age 26. His career statistics include 332 carries for 1,525 yards and 27 touchdowns, along with 47 receptions for 397 yards.

Following his injury-shortened football career, Woods made appearances as a boxer on the television series "Thunderbox". For a period of time, he was selling Omaha Steaks as a door to door salesman doing the Ickey Shuffle as part of his sales pitch.

Woods is currently the coach of the Cincinnati Sizzle of the National Women's Football Association and runs the Ickey Woods Youth Foundation. He also appeared in the Bootsy Collins's new music video Whodey Invasion.

Woods's contributions to the Bengals were noted on the television series "How I Met Your Mother" when character Barney Stinson, in a series of escalating dares, challenged another character to perform the "Ickey Shuffle" on a television news broadcast while declaring, "Elbert 'Ickey' Woods, the Bengals were fools to cut you in '91. Your 1,525 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns will not be forgotten. So, Coach Dave Shula, screw you and your crappy steakhouse!"

External links

* [http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/WoodIc00.htm Career Stats]
* [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/1997/weekly/catchingup/1215/ Catching Up With... Bengals running back Ickey Woods (1997)]
* [http://www.nflplayers.com/news/news_release.aspx?id=6109 Ickey Woods - Realizing His True Calling (2006)]