Roland Woolsey

Games played - started:	44 - 11
Interceptions:	5
	Player stats at NFL.com

Roland Woolsey
No. 45, 25, 44
Position:	Cornerback
Personal information
Born:	August 11, 1953 (age 65); Provo, Utah
Height:	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:	182 lb (83 kg)
Career information
High school:	Grand View (ID)
College:	Boise State
NFL Draft:	1975 / Round: 6 / Pick: 148
Career history
	Dallas Cowboys (1975); Seattle Seahawks (1976); Cleveland Browns (1977); St. Louis Cardinals (1978);
Career highlights and awards
	All-Big Sky (1974);
Career NFL statistics
Games played - started:	44 - 11
Interceptions:	5
	Player stats at NFL.com
	Player stats at PFR

Last updated February 19, 2019

Roland Bert Woolsey (born August 11, 1953) is a former professional American football cornerback in the NFL. Drafted by the Dallas Cowboys, he also played for the Seattle Seahawks, Cleveland Browns, and St. Louis Cardinals. From rural Idaho, he played college football at Boise State University.

American football, referred to as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, which is the team controlling the oval-shaped football, attempts to advance down the field by running with or passing the ball, while the defense, which is the team without control of the ball, aims to stop the offense's advance and aims to take control of the ball for themselves. The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, and otherwise they turn over the football to the defense; if the offense succeeds in advancing ten yards or more, they are given a new set of four downs. Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponent's goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins.

A cornerback (CB), also referred to as a corner or defensive halfback in older parlance, is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, to defend against offensive plays, i.e create turnovers in best case or deflect a forward pass or rather make a tackle. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position requires speed, agility, and strength. A cornerback's skillset typically requires proficiency in anticipating the quarterback, backpedaling, executing single and zone coverage, disrupting pass routes, block shedding, and tackling. Cornerbacks are among the fastest players on the field.

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, and the highest professional level of American football in the world. The NFL's 17-week regular season runs from early September to late December, with each team playing 16 games and having one bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, six teams from each conference advance to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the Super Bowl, which is usually held in the first Sunday in February, and is played between the champions of the NFC and AFC.

Early years

Born in Provo, Utah, Woolsey was raised in Grand View, Idaho, attended Grand View High School, where he competed in track, eight-man football, and basketball.

Provo is the third-largest city in Utah, United States. It is 43 miles (69 km) south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the largest city and county seat of Utah County.

Grand View is a city in Owyhee County, Idaho, United States. The population was 452 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Boise City–Nampa, Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Track and field is a sport which includes athletic contests established on the skills of running, jumping, and throwing. The name is derived from the sport's typical venue: a stadium with an oval running track enclosing a grass field where the throwing and some of the jumping events take place. Track and field is categorized under the umbrella sport of athletics, which also includes road running, cross country running, and race walking.

He received a track scholarship to Boise State, but eventually made his way to the football team, where he became a starter at safety and received All-Big Sky honors in 1974, after recording 72 tackles, 6 interceptions (led the team) and leading his team in punt returns.^[1] In track he set school records in the 220-yard dash, the 440-yard dash and the spring and mile relay teams.

The Boise State Broncos are the athletic teams that represent Boise State University and compete in the Mountain West Conference (MWC), a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conference. The Broncos have a successful athletic program overall, winning the WAC commissioner's cup for the 2005–06 and 2009–10 years. Boise State joined the MWC in 2011.

The Boise State Broncos football program represents Boise State University in college football and competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Mountain West Conference. The Broncos play their home games on campus at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho, and their head coach is Bryan Harsin. The program is 12–6 in bowl games since 1999, including a 3–0 record in the Fiesta Bowl.

The Big Sky Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I, with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the nine states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Four affiliate members each participate in one sport. Two schools from California are football-only participants, and two schools from the Northeast participate only in men's golf.

In 1988, he was inducted into the BSU Hall of Fame. Sports Illustrated named him one of the greatest Idaho athletes of the 20th century.^[2]

Sports Illustrated (SI) is an American sports magazine owned by Meredith Corporation. First published in August 1954, it has over 3 million subscribers and is read by 23 million people each week, including over 18 million men.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Woolsey was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the sixth round (148th overall) of the 1975 NFL Draft, also known as the Dirty Dozen draft. As a rookie, he was used mainly on special teams and became the first Boise State graduate to play in a Super Bowl.

The 1975 Dallas Cowboys season was the team's sixteenth season in the National Football League (NFL) and their sixteenth under head coach Tom Landry. They finished second in the National Football Conference (NFC) East division with a 10–4 regular season record and advanced through the playoffs to Super Bowl X, where they were defeated by the Pittsburgh Steelers. They were also the first wild card team to reach the Super Bowl.

The 1975 National Football League draft was held January 28–29, 1975, at the New York Hilton at Rockefeller Center in New York City, New York.

The Dirty Dozen were the rookies that made the Dallas Cowboys team in 1975. These players were credited with helping the Cowboys advance to Super Bowl X and was a key foundation of the team's success during the latter half of the 1970s going into the early 1980s, as by 1979 many of these players would have replaced many of the Cowboys' aging starters of the 1960s. The rookies came up with the nickname inspired by the film of the same name, and spent half of the season without shaving.

Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks selected him from the Cowboys roster in the 1976 NFL Expansion Draft. He missed four pre-season games with a knee injury,^[3] but was able to play in 14 games (11 starts), registering 59 tackles and 4 interceptions (tied for the team lead).^[4] His play was affected after never fully recovering from his previous knee injury and was waived on August 29, 1977.^[5]

The 1976 Seattle Seahawks season was the team's first season with the National Football League. The 1976 season was the team's only one in the NFC until the league realigned divisions before the 2002 season, at which point the Seahawks were once again placed in the NFC West. The Seahawks obtained a future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee from the Houston Oilers, who had drafted receiver Steve Largent in the 4th round in 1976. Largent would go on to be a first-ballot Hall-of-Fame wide receiver, making it to seven Pro Bowls and recording over 13,000 receiving yards in a 13-year career with the Seahawks.

The 1977 NFL season was the 58th regular season of the National Football League. The Seattle Seahawks were placed in the AFC West while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were slotted into the NFC Central.

Cleveland Browns

On September 14, 1977, he was signed by the Cleveland Browns.^[6] He was one of the NFL's leading punt returners with 32 returns for 290 yards, but was released on August 22, 1978.^[7]

St. Louis Cardinals

In December 1978, he was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals and played in 2 games as a returner on special teams .

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References

↑ "Landry: Rookies Reason We're Here" . Retrieved April 30, 2017.
↑ "The 50 greatest sports figures of the century from each of the 50 states" . Retrieved April 30, 2017.
↑ "Player say fire Garvey" . Retrieved April 30, 2017.
↑ "Two different philosophies in draft" . Retrieved April 30, 2017.
↑ "Trio Timmed by Seahawks" . Retrieved April 30, 2017.
↑ "More big names cut By pro clubs" . Retrieved April 30, 2017.
↑ "Transactions" . Retrieved April 30, 2017.

External links

Career statistics and player information from NFL.com · Pro-Football-Reference
Boise State Hall of Fame bio

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[1] "Landry: Rookies Reason We're Here" . Retrieved April 30, 2017.

[2] "The 50 greatest sports figures of the century from each of the 50 states" . Retrieved April 30, 2017.

[3] "Player say fire Garvey" . Retrieved April 30, 2017.

[4] "Two different philosophies in draft" . Retrieved April 30, 2017.

[5] "Trio Timmed by Seahawks" . Retrieved April 30, 2017.

[6] "More big names cut By pro clubs" . Retrieved April 30, 2017.

[7] "Transactions" . Retrieved April 30, 2017.