Woodman puts jolt into CFL career with Elks
Less than a year after he worried his football career was over, Josh Woodman is ready to earn a starting job with the Edmonton Elks.
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Josh Woodman went from working on his backup plan to being a backup safety.
Now, less than a year after he worried his football career was over, Woodman is ready to earn a starting job with the Edmonton Elks.
The 29-year-old defensive back from Chatham already has a contract for the 2022 CFL season after looking impressive in a mid-season return to the Elks last year.
“This year I’m obviously going in trying to win a starting position,” Woodman said. “It was a little bit different going back, of course. It felt like I had to almost maybe earn a little bit of my stripes back, but I was up for the challenge.”
He’ll leave in mid-May for his first training camp in three years.
He’s eager to play a bigger role this season not only on defence but also on special teams.
“Coming into training camp and being there for the whole year, I think it’s going to be a lot different for me this year for me in terms of playing time and what not, so I’m excited,” said the former Chatham-Kent Cougar.
Woodman, a Western Mustangs alumnus, played three seasons with the Edmonton Eskimos from 2016 to 2018 before signing with the B.C. Lions in 2019.
He was a free agent when the 2020 season was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was still unsigned when the 2021 season got underway, so he enrolled at North American Trade Schools in London and studied to be an electrician.
“I was enjoying the course,” he said. “It was cool. I learned a lot, just in terms of electrical and how to put a few things together. It was a really good time.
“But, of course, I’d rather play football,” he said, laughing.
Except he turned down the Elks when they first called him last summer.
“I still had a couple months left of school, so I told them I couldn’t at the moment, unfortunately,” he said. “I need to finish these two months of school.
“When two months was up, they ended up calling again and seeing if I was available and I was. I was happy to jump out there and not have to start a real job yet,” he said, laughing again.
He returned in September to a different Edmonton team than the one he’d left in 2018.
“It was obviously nice to be back in the league,” the Ursuline College Chatham graduate said. “It was a whole different team than I remembered, of course. Different coaching staff. We were the Elks now, they’re not the Eskimos.
“But it was still nice to be back in the city and be back at the stadium and just back in the community. I enjoy it there.”
After playing seven games last season, Woodman wasn’t sure where he’d land this season until the Elks called just after Christmas.
“I got a call from my agent just saying, ‘They want to bring you back if you’re willing to come back,’” Woodman said. “Sure enough, I said, ‘Of course. I’ll sign right now.’
“Sure enough, I did. I’m just getting excited, getting ready to be out there in May and really hit things off like the old times.”
The contract gives him a chance to continue a 49-game career that includes 35 defensive tackles and 17 special-teams tackles.
“I was so happy just because I honestly thought my career might have been done, just with everything that happened with COVID and what not,” he said. “Just to hear that they wanted to have me back and give me a chance to come into training camp and really prove that I can still play, I was elated.”
The Elks finished in the West Division cellar in 2021 with a 3-11 record, but their off-season pickups include Kenny Lawler, the CFL’s leading receiver last season, and defensive back Ed Gainey, a two-time all-star.
They also brought back head coach Chris Jones for his second stint in Edmonton. He guided the team to its last Grey Cup in 2015.
“There’s big expectations this year and we’re hoping to fill them,” Woodman said.
He hasn’t given up on starting work as an electrical apprentice, but that job can wait.
“It’ll still be there,” he said. “I’m just happy, man. Just happy everything’s working how it is.”
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