New York Giants rookie cornerback Colton Hood has been surprised by the fact that his “hood” celebration after making a nice defensive play has become a thing that people clamor to see.
“It’s really cool. I didn’t expect it to get this big,” Hood said after Saturday’s rookie minicamp practice. “I’ve seen other players from different teams use it, but it really isn’t the same because their last name is not Hood.
“It’s been really cool just to see it pick up like that. I’m going to keep doing it the rest of my career.”
When Hood picked off a pass on Saturday, ripping a ball out of the hands of tryout running back Miles Davis, he didn’t intend to break out his celebration.
“It’s practice. I’m not really going to celebrate on my teammates,” Hood said. “It’s definitely going to come out when the season starts for sure.”
Defensive backs coach Addison Lynch wanted to see it, though, so Hood obliged as he came off the field.
The Giants are hoping to see the celebration for real once the season begins.
Head coach John Harbaugh liked what he saw from Hood, a cornerback selected 37th overall.
“Loved him in press. He was at press corner. He was playing press out there with the other corners. He looked really good,” Harbaugh said. “You saw him make a couple of plays. How about the interception in two minute? That was a nice play. He was good. He was good and diligent the whole time.”
The first three words in the Hood scouting report from NFL Media’s Lance Zierlein are “press-man bully.”
That sounds like exactly what the Giants are looking for at cornerback.
“They want us to be up in guys’ faces,” Hood said. “That’s what I like to do.”
Hood had just three interceptions over the past two seasons, but did add 14 passes defensed. For Hood, tracking and catching tbe ball is not a big deal.
“I think a lot of DBs panic just because they’re not great at tracking the ball,” Hood said. “I played baseball, played center field, so tracking a football is 10,000 times easier than tracking a baseball. I wouldn’t say it’s easy, but it’s something that I’ve been doing my whole life. So, it comes natural to me.”
The Giants hope Hood’s aggression, and ball skills, bring about lots of ‘hood’ celebrations in East Rutherford.
