Ernest Jackson Woodard (born July 2, 2002) is an American 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for 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 ...

of 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). He 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

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

and the

UNLV Rebels The UNLV Rebels are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The Rebels compete in the NCAA Division I (NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Footb ...

Early life

Woodard attended

Little Rock Christian Academy Little Rock Christian Academy is a private, college-preparatory Christian school catering to students from PK3 through 12th grade. Established in 1977 under the name Walnut Valley Christian Academy, it holds accreditation from several organizati ...

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

. He was an unranked recruit and received offers from schools such as Southern Nazarene and VMI. However, Woodard decided to commit to play

for the

as a preferred walk-on.

College career

Arkansas

In three seasons at Arkansas from 2020 to 2022, Woodard played in 28 games where he totaled 16 tackles, and a pass deflection. After the 2022 season, he entered his name into the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool created to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions. It is i ...

UNLV

Woodard transferred to play for the

. In his first season with UNLV in 2023, he had a breakout season notching 116 tackles with nine being for a loss, two and a half sacks, four pass deflections, and an interception. In the 2024 season opener, Woodard was named the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

defensive player of the week after posting 11 tackles with four being for a loss, three sacks, and a pass deflection in a win over

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

Woodard signed with 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 ...

as an undrafted free agent on May 2, 2025. He was waived four days later.

Houston Texans

On May 7, 2025, Woodard was claimed off waivers by the

References

External links

Arkansas Razorbacks bioUNLV Rebels bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodard, Jackson Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Players of American football from Little Rock, Arkansas American football linebackers Arkansas Razorbacks football players UNLV Rebels football players Seattle Seahawks players Houston Texans players