21-05-2025
Woodbey's wish granted by Bombers
September 21, 2019 — 4:27 p.m. ET. That's the exact moment Jaiden Woodbey thought his football career was over.
Instead it became the inciting moment in what's been a tumultuous seven-year story for the versatile defender through college, with stops in the National Football League, Indoor Football League and now in the Canadian football League, where he is making a strong case to make the Winnipeg Blue Bombers roster out of training camp this spring.
'You want to talk about perseverance? Resilience? That's really everything that I've embodied,' Woodbey told the Free Press recently.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
Winnipeg rookie defensive back Jaiden Woodbey (2) goes to knock down a pass at Blue Bombers training camp.
It was the third quarter of Florida State University's fourth regular-season contest against the Louisville Cardinals when Woodbey's Seminole teammate, Carlos Becker III, landed on his left leg while making a tackle.
Woodbey dropped in a heap and grabbed at the limb, which was evidently broken. But that was the least of his worries.
The ACL, MCL, meniscus and posteromedial capsule in his knee were all completely torn — about as traumatic as it gets for sports-related knee injuries.
'It was the worst pain I've ever experienced,' said Woodbey, whose leg was put in an air cast and surgically put back together 48 hours later.
A sensational safety-linebacker hybrid, Woodbey was in his second year and looked to be on a rocket ship trajectory to the NFL. He was highly-touted, arriving at Florida State with five-star recognition (the 27th ranked prospect in the country), and backing that up by starting 12 games as a true freshman — one of nine players to start every game as a first-year player in program history — and being named to a Freshman All-American.
Now, the hard-hitting safety was delivered a huge blow to his future.
'I wasn't supposed to come back from that,' he said. 'It was definitely a change of events, and one of the lowest points of my life.'
Woodbey's recovery timetable was guessed to be anywhere from 12-18 months at best, and that still didn't guarantee he would come back anywhere close to the same player he was before.
He returned in six months and played the following season.
'It was a lot of resilience, a lot of work ethic,' he said. 'There was a lot of reasons for me to quit, and I kept going.'
However, there were concerns about whether the product of Fontana, Calif., was still the same player. Talent evaluators didn't think so, and after three years at Florida State and a year at Boston College, Woodbey went unselected in the 2023 NFL draft.
The 6-1 defender was signed by the Los Angeles Rams, who viewed him as a linebacker and asked him to put on an extra 10 pounds to fit the body type they were looking for. Woodbey, who weighed anywhere between 220 and 230 pounds since high school, got up to 244 pounds.
He quickly impressed in camp and across three pre-season games, particularly as a special teamer, and was told he would make the practice squad. The rug was swept from under him again, as the Rams later signed a veteran, which pushed Woodbey out of the mix.
Woodbey sat out the entire 2023 season waiting for an NFL opportunity that never materialized. In early 2024, he looked north to re-ignite his career.
'I took it upon myself to reach out. I still have it on my phone. I reached out to every CFL team, every CFL scout, every CFL position coach — I emailed them, texted them, (direct messaged) them on LinkedIn, on everything. I still have it on my phone to this today, my emails and everything,' said Woodbey.
'I only got two responses. One was from a coach that was at Calgary, now he's at Hamilton, and the running backs coach from Montreal (Dave Jackson).'
BROOK JONES/FREE PRESS
Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O'Shea has been impressed with Jaiden Woodbey's football IQ at training camp.
But again, nothing came of it. Woodbey's only offer was to play with the Massachusetts Pirates of the Indoor Football League, which proved to be a humbling experience, to say the least.
'I still wanted to play. And it was rough, playing in a hockey rink, with eight men on hard astro turf, getting paid $196. You gotta love football to do that,' he said.
'I was questioning myself, like, 'Is this over? Is football over? What did I do wrong throughout this whole process to get to where I'm at?' But I kept going because I love football. One thing I always tell myself is I'd rather keep playing until I can't, because you could work for the rest of your life. You can't play football for the rest of your life.'
On March 6, three days after he hired an agent, Woodbey signed with the Bombers.
It was the opportunity that the 25-year-old had prayed for, and he has done nothing but impress since arriving in the provincial capital. Woodbey, who is now down to 228 pounds, has primarily worked with the first and second team defence at linebacker this spring. He also believes he's still capable of playing defensive back.
Woodbey, who earned two master's degrees in college, has already earned a reputation as a guy who could quickly learn a different position if needed.
'Smart,' said head coach Mike O'Shea. 'Certainly a guy that has picked up what we're doing very quickly from that linebacker spot. Playing a little (lighter) is always better in this league. We don't need 245-pound middle linebackers. But I think he knows that. So being more versatile and keeping the weight down, and being able to play all the special teams is important.
'But right off the hop, you see him, you see how much making this team is going to matter to him. He actually showed up here early to get the lay of the land and suss things out, which is pretty cool. On the field, he's shown right away that he's grasping everything pretty quickly.'
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On Saturday, Woodbey will play his first game on a full-sized field in 21 months when the Bombers host the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Princess Auto Stadium (3 p.m.).
He's still trying to prove that he's the same player he's always been.
'I'm a big believer that everything is already written. So it's like you gotta have faith, you gotta believe. And my whole thing is, if you pray, why are you worrying? That means you don't believe in your prayers,' Woodbey said.
'I pray for these opportunities in these moments. So it's like, whatever happens is going to happen. It's already written. So that's why I just come out here with a smile on my face and just enjoy an opportunity.'
Joshua Frey-SamReporter
Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.
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