Former Pittsburgh Steelers DT Ziggy Hood stops school tragedy
PITTSBURGH -- Former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Ziggy Hood recently stepped in to help a student and, in doing so, prevented a school tragedy at Palo Duro High School in Texas.
The former first-round pick has since found a new life outside of football.
How Ziggy Hood stopped a possible school shooting
After retiring in 2019, Hood turned to education, becoming a history teacher, currently employed at Palo Duro. In a story first reported by KAMR/KCIT, Hood stepped in to speak to a student and ended up preventing a much larger incident from occurring at the school.
Hood and a school resources officer discovered the student had thoughts of causing violence due to incidences of bullying. Ultimately, a weapon was discovered and the student was arrested.
“After talking with him for a little bit, trying to explain to him, there’s multiple ways of doing about going about this,” Hood told KAMR/KCIT. “And one way was not the way which he had planned.”
Afterward, Hood made it clear that he credits PD’s liaison officers for the safety of everyone involved, and instead of spotlighting his actions, he sent a message to young people struggling.
“The pressures of social media and trying to live up to a certain standard. This ain’t the way to do it,” Hood said. “Talk to somebody. If it’s not the teacher, if it’s not the counselor, if it’s not the principal, go to a local coach or go to somebody. You don’t want to make a permanent decision based off a temporary motion.”
CONNECT WITH US
WEB SITE ► https://www.mahoningmatters.com
DAILY NEWS EMAIL ► https://www.mahoningmatters.com/customer-service/newsletter-signup/
FACEBOOK ► https://www.facebook.com/mahoningmatters
TWITTER ► https://twitter.com/mahoningmatters
YOUTUBE ► https://www.youtube.com/@mahoningmatters2814
INSTAGRAM ► https://www.instagram.com/mahoningmatters
SUPPORT US ► https://givebutter.com/vNfzEW
Copyright ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published August 8, 2023 at 4:00 AM with the headline "Former Pittsburgh Steelers DT Ziggy Hood stops school tragedy."