Jay Woods of ‘Farmer Wants a Wife’ on His Football Career and Why He Decided to ‘Hang Up the Cleats’
Jay Woods of Farmer Wants a Wife has traded the gridiron for greener pastures. Woods is one of four guys looking for the perfect woman to join them on the farm in season 3 of Fox’s dating series. But before trying his hand at reality TV, Woods dreamed of a different kind of fame. The 25-year-old from Florence, Alabama, hoped for a career in the NFL until an injury forced him to rethink his plans for going pro.
Jay Woods played football for Michigan and Duke
Woods grew up spending time on his grandfather’s farm in rural Alabama. As a young man, he left home to play football at the University of Michigan, where he spent three seasons as a defensive back under coach Jim Harbaugh. For his senior year, he transferred to Duke. Unfortunately, injuries brought his playing career to an early end.
Forced to rethink his life’s plan, Woods ended up returning to his roots. He moved back home to Alabama and purchased 15 acres that his grandfather had previously owned. Now, he splits his time between hay and cattle farming and working in sales.
“My family always grew up farming,” Woods explained in an interview with Rocket City Now. “I was always around it … Football just was such a big part of my life. Once I got out of that space, I had to find another passion and it was farming.”
The ‘Farmer Wants a Wife’ star on why he gave up football
Woods – who has a master’s degree from Duke’s school of business – had hoped he would be able to make it “to the highest level, which is [the] NFL.”
“That was definitely my goal,” he said. “But you know, injuries happen you know shoulder, head, knee, everything like that and you start looking at the big picture. Like, I love this game, but am I willing to sacrifice my body where 10 years from now or five years from now, I could hardly walk or lift my shoulder up, or even think right? So I had to make that tough decision to hang up the cleats. But, I’m glad I did it because I wouldn’t be in the position I am now if I didn’t.”
His new dream is to find a woman on Farmer Wants a Wife who shares his vision for the future.
“I always wanted to find a person that was like-minded, you know, wanted the same things as me building their faith, building a family, and a future,” he said. “My future is a farm. So, it made sense once I had an opportunity to be on Farmer Wants a Wife just to find that perfect person for me that knows that, hey, you’re getting involved with a guy who loves to be outside, loves the country, loves cows, loves all these things, and with their show, you know, it has a high success rate.”
Farmer Wants a Wife airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Fox. Episodes stream the next day on Hulu.
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