The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

Another candidate at tackle is newcomer Jonta Woodard, a first-year player out of Louisville who hopes to establish himself in the NFL. The last two years, Woodard started at left tackle for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League.

Both head coach Joe Gibbs and director of pro personnel Louis Riddick have mentioned the 6-5, 325-pound Woodard as an intriguing prospect. Coming out of college, Woodard's NFL career was sidetracked due to a legal matter in Louisville.

http://www.redskins.com/news/newsDetail.jsp?id=17417

Does anyone remember what the 'legal matter' was all about?

I found this.

Louisville offensive lineman Jonta Woodard was sentenced to two years in prison for receiving marijuana in the mail and possessing steroids, but will not serve time behind bars. Woodard will enter a supervised program that will remove the marijuana conviction from his record after five years, prosecutors said Tuesday. Woodard pleaded guilty to receiving 15.1 ounces of marijuana in the mail. The amount necessitated a mandatory trafficking charge.

He received 15 oz of marijuana in the mail. The amount neccessitated a trafficking charge. He was sentenced to two years in prison but was allowed to enter a supervised program instead.

That was in 2002.

Maybe he could play the Nate Newton role for this team...

I live in Louisville & hadn't remembered the incident. He sounds like trouble.

It doesn't seem that he is a Gibbs type of player .... unless he has truely seen the light.

Somebody always breaks out the 'not a Gibbs type player' speech and I say the EXACT same thing every time... it isn't about what what you were, it's about what Joe Gibbs thinks you can be.

... were it not so, who knows where Mike Sellers would be right now? It's only one example but Sellers was up on felony drug charges in Cleveland when he last came to the CFL. He used the time wisely and when the Redskins brought him back in 2004, he made the most of it. It's easy to look back NOW and say that Sellers had 'seen the light' but it could just be that some of these men benefit greatly from Gibbs in ways most of us will never know.

I had the opportunity to speak to many Redskin alumni at the Ken Harvey event a few years ago and nearly EVERY guy I talked to made a point of telling me how much of a difference Gibbs had made in their lives. Not in their football careers... in their lives. The odd thing was that this response was NEVER illicited by me, they all just seemed to feel compelled to tell me at some point. It was very interesting and very inspirational to say the least... and this was well before Gibbs returned to coach the Redskins.

Personally... I'm REALLY hoping Jonta works out... the guy is massive and it would be a huge bonus to score usable o-line depth from the CFL. He has a mean streak and plays nasty but what do you expect? He gets paid to smash people in the face for a living... I hope he does it well.

What he was doing in College 5 years ago seems of little consequence to me if he can make a solid contribution to the Redskins and keep his nose out of trouble.

I hope he works out and is able to create some depth. I think that we have one or two guys who's contracts are up in the next year or so.

I hope you're right, I tend to be a worrier.

Boss- You hit that nail right on the head!!! This man is massive and is a monster on the field!!!! Gibbs is a master at eyeing "people". Everybody makes their mistakes. But take the ratio.

Joe Gibbs has a lot of experience dealing with guys with episodes of trouble in their history. Often with great success. A few exceptions have escaped him, Manley comes to mind.

Anybody can make a mistake, we all often do. It is the ability to learn from our mistakes that gets us ahead in life. I am all for a chance to J. Woodward albeit with a very short leash.

He must know that his first mistake is likely to be his last with us and probably the end of his career with consequences to his entire family. Joe will make sure that he is aware of the good future that would await him if he workshard. Or else...

We all hope it works out that way. Many players in similar circumstances melt down. Time will tell.