Dwayne Woodruff

Dwayne Donzell Woodruff (born February 18, 1957) is a former professional American football player who played twelve seasons as a cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he accumulated 37 interceptions after being drafted in the sixth round. As a rookie, he won a Super Bowl ring with the Steelers in Super Bowl XIV.^[1] Outside of football, Woodruff has a law degree and is a common pleas judge in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

Football career

Woodruff played college football for the Louisville Cardinals of the University of Louisville, before being drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1979 as the 161st overall pick during the sixth round. He made his NFL debut with the Steelers in 1979, playing in sixteen games and starting in one as part of the Super Bowl XIV champion roster. Woodruff did not start in any games during the 1980 season, but made fourteen starts in 1981 and nine in 1982. In 1982, he was named Pittsburgh Steelers Team MVP. He made at least 10 starts each year until his final season, 1990, during which he made one.^[2]

Career after football

During his football career, Woodruff obtained his Juris Doctor from Duquesne University School of Law, subsequently becoming a founding member of the law firm Woodruff & Flaherty, P.C. (now Flaherty Fardo, LLC) out of Shadyside in Pittsburgh. Woodruff was elected in 2005 to be a Judge in the Court of Common Pleas in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.^[3] Woodruff announced in November 2014 that he would seek a seat on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in the 2015 election.^[4]

Woodruff is a 1979 graduate of the University of Louisville in Kentucky,^[5] where his football jersey hangs in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium and where athletes study at the Woodruff Academic Center, named in Woodruff's honor in 2007 upon a significant monetary donation.^[6]

Woodruff is married to Joy Maxberry Woodruff. They are the parents of three children; Jillian an Ob/Gyn Physician, Jenyce an attorney and John a law student at the Duquesne University School of Law.^[7]

Charitable Work

Woodruff and his wife Joy are currently chairpersons of the "Do The Write Thing" in Pittsburgh. The program is an Initiative of the National Campaign to Stop Violence (NCSV). The Do the Write Thing Challenge gives middle school students an opportunity to examine the impact of youth violence on their lives in classroom discussions and in written form by communicating what they think should be done to change our culture of violence. By encouraging students to make personal commitments to do something about the problem, the program ultimately seeks to empower them to break the cycles of violence in their homes, schools and neighborhoods.^[8]

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