Sports

Woolridge at ease with return

• Defensive lineman Joe Woolridge rejoined the Wildcats after being released by the AFL’s Kansas City Brigade and finds himself happy to be back in Albany.

Paul Dehner Jr.

ALBANY — All 6-foot-2 and 300 pounds of the Wildcats’ Joe Woolridge stood in front of his locker Thursday, iPod headphones wrapping his ears.

This focused, introspective presence became a scene as common as his harassment of quarterbacks last season, the defensive lineman’s first with the Wildcats in which he finished first on the team in sacks despite playing in just 12 games.

Woolridge, like most Wildcats, desired advancement to the AFL.

Self-proclaimed as a “shy guy sometimes,” and a new guy in South Georgia, Woolridge focused on his job and followed the leaders. He would spend most days quietly listening to rapper Lil’ Boosie while nursing a paralyzing trio of tears to his left groin, right groin and abdominals.

“I’d be quiet,” he began, “just thinking about how I don’t want to get cut.”

A year later, a perception may hover around this intimidating presence that after a recent stint he earned with the AFL’s Kansas City Brigade failed, he feels uneasy or disenchanted with his return to its developmental understudy.

But as his headphones drop down and tone perks up at the talk of his 3-month-old daughter, the changes a year of life’s wild roller coaster can inflict appear to have softened his introverted edges.

“Her name is Karma Jada,” he said of his daughter, who stayed in Albany as Woolridge played in Kansas City. “Karma means fate. Now, I am back down here. I had a feeling I was going to be back down here. It’s fate, now I’m hanging out with her and chilling, hanging with teammates. I feel comfortable.

“I’m just grown up.”

His path to maturity weaved down a nerve-racking road.

The Wildcats were introduced to a half version of the aggressive pass rusher last season. It was one in which Woolridge never neared 100-percent while he dealt with two torn groins and torn, swollen abdominals, all striking at once.

He missed time and only played in 12 games. He still managed to grab a team-best six sacks and finish second in tackles for loss with 6.5.

His grit and potential blended for a shot at the AFL with Kansas City.

There, his only stat was one assisted tackle.

Two weeks ago, the Brigade released him.

“I worked hard,” he said. “It was a good feeling up there but a faster pace than af2. I like the atmosphere here (with the Wildcats), in Kansas, every day you have to worry about whether you might be here or you might not be here.”

His position won’t be questioned with the Wildcats.

The new-guy tag has been ripped off. He’s now a veteran in the Civic Center and one carrying credibility of time at The Show, as well.

Though frustrated by his dismissal from Kansas City, particularly for the financial element, he embraces his role as a leader with his old and new team.

“I am happy to back,” he said. “I am taking a big role. I want to bring some energy back and show some of the things I learned. I was hungry up there so I need to bring some of that hunger down here.”

He wasted little time in his first game this past Monday. Just three days after joining the Wildcats, he chased the Daytona Beach quarterback all night, registering a sack, 1.5 tackles for a loss, four total, a forced fumble and pass breakup.

“I got a sack,” he said, “but I think I hit him about eight times.”

Happy to see his performance was Derek Stingley. The Wildcats coach came into the season unsure of his situation on the defensive line, but with the signing of Woolridge, along with Darin Damron, weakness has transformed into strength.

“I expected Joe to come in and be immediately one of those impact players,” Stingley said. “It was the Joe of old. It was good to see him out there because last time I saw him he was banged up and couldn’t do what he wanted to do.”

For defensive back Pierre Lee, Woolridge’s impact ripples from the line of scrimmage all the way out to the corners of the end zone.

“It’s good to have a guy that you know is going to pressure the quarterback,” Lee said. “When he’s cutting into those five or six seconds, it makes your job a lot easier as a DB.”

Analyzing the goal of his return to South Georgia, the healthy Woolridge hopes to post numbers and bridge connections that could return him to the AFL.

But the attitude of this lineman bounces with the same upbeat tempo as the new Rick Ross release pumping out of his head phones these days.

“The goal is to play hard and we want to win the championship,” he said.

Life has come full circle for Woolridge. Despite the Wildcats uneven moments in the early going, the respect his circle warrants in this locker room creates a sense of ease for this team.

His comfort is rubbing off.

“We have a lot of things we are working on and I am trying to get caught up,” he said. “But everything is going to come together.”

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