Cierre Marcelle Wood (born February 21, 1991) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was convicted of murder. He played as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). Wood played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

. He was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

in 2013. In 2024, he was sentenced to life in prison for the 2019 murder of his girlfriend’s five-year-old daughter.

High school career

Wood attended Santa Clara High School in

Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County in the U.S. state of California, United States. On California's Central Coast (California), Central Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the List of largest California cities by populati ...

. He rushed for 1,632 yards and 20 touchdowns and caught eight passes for 182 yards and four touchdowns as a senior. During his junior year, he had 2,612 yards rushing with 34 touchdowns. Wood was a ''USA Today'' All-American in 2008. He was also selected to play in the 2009

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl (currently branded as the Navy All-American Bowl for sponsorship reasons) is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is p ...

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Considered a four-star recruit by '' Rivals.com'', Wood was listed as the No. 8

in the nation. He chose to attend Notre Dame over

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

College career

After redshirting in the 2009 season, Wood emerged on the depth chart as the No. 2 running back in 2010. He was used sparingly over the first few games, but after an injury to starter

Armando Allen Armando Allen, Jr. (born April 30, 1989) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a running back for two seasons with the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for th ...

, he started the final six games where he recorded 603 yards on 119 carries and three touchdowns, and 20 receptions for 170 yards and 2 touchdowns. In his junior year, he took over the starting role. He recorded 1,102 yards on 217 carries (5.1 AVG) and 9 touchdowns, and 27 receptions for 187 yards. In 2012, Wood had been suspended for the opening two games, against

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

and

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

, for violating team rules. In the final 11 games, he rushed for 742 yards on 114 carries (6.5 avg) and four touchdowns after splitting carries with classmate

Theo Riddick Theo Riddick (born May 4, 1991) is an American former professional football running back of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Notre Dame and was selected by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL dr ...

Professional career

In January 2013, Wood decided to forgo his final year of eligibility, entering the

2013 NFL draft The 2013 NFL draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

Houston Texans

Wood went undrafted and was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the

hours after the draft. The Texans released Wood, along with two others players, on October 21, 2013, for unspecified violations of team rules prior to a game in Kansas City.

New England Patriots

The

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

signed Wood to their practice squad on November 5, 2013. He was released by the Patriots on December 26.

Baltimore Ravens

Wood was signed by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

to a reserve-future deal on January 15, 2014. The Ravens released Wood on August 25.

Seattle Seahawks

Wood was signed by the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

to their practice squad on November 12, 2014.

Buffalo Bills

The

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

signed Wood to their roster on August 19, 2015. On September 4, he was released by the Bills. On September 6, the Bills re-signed Wood to their practice squad. Wood was promoted to the Bills' active roster on Friday, October 2. However, in Week 5, Wood tore his ACL, ending his season.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Wood signed with the Canadian football team, the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

on March 9, 2017.

Montreal Alouettes

On May 1, 2017, Wood was traded to the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

along with defensive end Denzell Perine, in exchange for defensive back Khalid Wooten. He was released on May 1, 2018.

Personal life

Wood and his girlfriend, Amy Taylor, were arrested on April 10, 2019, by the

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (also known as the LVMPD or Metro) is a combined city and county law enforcement agency for the Las Vegas, City of Las Vegas and Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is headed by the Sheriff of Clar ...

on charges of first-degree homicide and child abuse, after the death of the girlfriend's five-year-old daughter, La’Rayah Davis, who was found with extreme bruising and trauma. Wood was additionally accused of forcing the child to participate in extreme exercise routines as a punishment for being overweight. On August 13, 2024, Wood was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 12 years and four months, after entering an

Alford plea In United States law, an Alford plea, also called a Kennedy plea in West Virginia, an Alford guilty plea, and the Alford doctrine, is a guilty plea in criminal court, whereby a defendant in a criminal case does not admit to the criminal act a ...

to second degree murder and child abuse.

References

External links

Notre Dame Fighting Irish bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Cierre 1991 births Living people Players of American football from Oxnard, California American football running backs Canadian football running backs Players of Canadian football from California Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen New England Patriots players Baltimore Ravens players Seattle Seahawks players Buffalo Bills players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Montreal Alouettes players Child murder in Nevada Filicides in the United States American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment American murderers of children Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Nevada People convicted of murder by Nevada 21st-century American criminals American male criminals Incidents of violence against girls Criminals from California American people convicted of murder American sportspeople convicted of crimes Sportspeople convicted of murder