Oct. 14, 2010
Getting To Know …
Running Back Cierre Wood
No. 20 * 6-0 * 210 * So. – Oxnard, Calif./Santa Clara
Sophomore running back Cierre Wood has become a major piece of the Notre Dame halfback platoon in his second season with the Irish. He enjoyed a breakout game in his debut on the field against the Purdue Boilermaker, rushing for 58 yards on the day. He, along with Armando Allen, Jonas Gray and Robert Hughes compose a potent attack behind quarterback Dayne Crist. Gameday’s Maura Jones gives Irish fans a chance to get to know Cierre Wood.
Jones: What is your major and why does it interest you?
Wood: Right now my major is film and television because I like TV, and I like seeing myself on TV a lot.
Jones: What is your favorite place on campus?
Wood: South Dining Hall, of course.
Jones: What is the most important thing you’ve learned while playing at Notre
Dame? Wood: I’ve learned that you have to play fast.
Jones: Do you have any hidden talents?
Wood: I play the flute a little bit and my little sister taught me to knit.
Jones: What song always gets you ready to take the field?
Wood: Hard in the Paint by Waka Flocka.
Jones: When you were younger, what were you always getting in trouble for?
Wood: I always got in trouble for breaking things because I was mischievous.
Jones: What do you miss the most about home?
Wood: The weather, all my friends and family, and that it doesn’t snow (in Oxnard, Calif.).
Jones: If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play you in the lead role?
Wood: Denzel Washington.
Jones: If you weren’t playing football, what sport would you be playing?
Wood: I would definitely be playing basketball.
Jones: If you could have any superpower, what would you want?
Wood: I’d probably have Professor Xavier’s (from X-Men) power to control minds.
Jones: Who has been the most influential on your life and why?
Wood: That has to be my mother and my father. They always taught me to fight for what I believe, and that’s what got me here.
Jones: What song on your iPod would surprise people?
Wood: Paparazzi by Lady Gaga.
Jones: If you could trade places with any person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, who would it be?
Wood: I’d probably trade places with Lil Wayne.
Jones: Do you have any pre-game rituals? If so, what?
Wood: I listen to this play list that I made, and then I start stretching.
Jones: What is your favorite video game of all-time to play?
Wood: Modern Warfare 2 for Xbox 360.
Jones: What was the one thing that sold you on Notre Dame?
Wood: The alumni system. I’m always trying to think a few steps ahead, and if football wouldn’t work out, I would have a degree from Notre Dame that would set me up for life.
Jones: What is your favorite nickname for a teammate?
Wood: We call Jonas Gray “Meatball.”
Jones: Who is the funniest guy on the team?
Wood: Jonas Gray. I can never look at him seriously. He could say the most serious thing to me, and I can’t look at him without laughing. Everything he says is a joke to me.
Jones: What is your craziest ambition?
Wood: I want to be the richest man in the world.
Jones: What is one thing you want to happen before you leave Notre Dame?
Wood: I want to win the Heisman.
-ND-