Semi-pro football player sentenced to 10 years in prison for bashing ref in face with helmet
Sep 5, 2010, 10:30 AM EST
Leon Woods will be spending the next 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree assault stemming from an incident after a semi-pro football game on October 24, 2009 when the former running back struck a referee in the face with his helmet after his team, the Western New York Cougars, lost a game to the Glove Cities Colonials of Johnston in Rochester, New York. Woods swung his helmet by the facemask, brutally connecting with the face of 54-year-old referee Peter McCabe Jr. As McCabe was left laying on the ground with blood gushing from his face, Woods approached another referee and said, “This is what I’m about!”
Sweet mercy.
The nearly incomprehensible injuries suffered by McCabe (via the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle):
Every bone in his face was broken, his nose was disconnected, his teeth hung to their sockets by threads, one eye was swollen shut, and he had to be sedated before a CAT scan because he was choking on blood dripping down his throat.
Nearly a year later, he has constant headaches, hasn’t recovered his sense of taste and smell, is in pain from pinching caused by plates used to restore his face, has insurmountable medical bills not paid by insurance, and has struggled to continue working as a sales representative. But worst of all, he has been unable to return to officiating a game he loves.
“I will be living with this the rest of my life financially and emotionally,” he said. “This event has changed my life and should never have happened. It has hurt my employer, my family and me beyond comprehension.”
Not that it makes one iota of a difference due to the heinous nature of the attack, Woods apologized to McCabe:
“I brutally attacked you for no reason and I’m truly sorry,” Woods said. “I know I can’t change what happened but I can tell you as a man that I’m sorry.”
Whether or not Woods truly feels any remorse, there really isn’t much to add to this terrible story regarding the despicable act committed by Woods other than this psychopath should consider himself very lucky he was sentenced to only 10 years in prison instead of the life sentence he would have served had he killed the man, which very well could have happened when Woods started wielding his helmet like some kind of medieval blunt-force weapon.
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Leon Woods gets 10 years for striking referee in face [Rochester Democrat and Chronicle]
(image credit: SHAWN DOWD staff photographer, Democrat and Chronicle]
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- Former Ref - Sep 5, 2010 at 12:30 PM
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I’ve called semi-pro football games as a referee in the Bay Area of California. Without question, every semi-pro player is a thug or former criminal. They should stand Woods up against the wall and shoot his ass. End of discussion.
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- J T M - Sep 5, 2010 at 1:31 PM
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Ten years in prison is a long time, but it still doesn’t seem harsh enough for what this guy did to the ref. I mean, he lost a football game…get over it.
Also, semi-pro? You’re either a professional that gets paid, or an amateur that doesn’t.
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- StakeX - Sep 5, 2010 at 2:17 PM
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This is what happens when you find kids in the gheto and throw them into pro sports (white or black)… you get a gang/thug mentality on the playing field.
Its too bad he only gets 10 years… but for an assult that is in fact a lot of time. With such serious injury they should have went after him for attempted murder.
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- johnny - Sep 5, 2010 at 2:35 PM
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heyhey all these sports atheletes and celebrities think they are above the law makes me sick and when i see them play who gives a crap about tiger or cheetah woods paris hilton ben rothlesberger what a joke they are and now this leon woods dude thats what ruines the sport people like that
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- USA - Sep 5, 2010 at 3:17 PM
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What? Al Sharpton hasn’t come around yelling how Woods is the true victim of the White Devil’s machinations?
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- Porkbevr - Sep 5, 2010 at 4:24 PM
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Outrageous. I feel so sorry for this referee whose life was destroyed for the “machismo” moment of a sociopath playing a game.
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- Amos - Sep 5, 2010 at 8:10 PM
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I agree. 10 years seems like a long time to me if you think about your life 10 years ago or what life will be like in 10 years, but this maniac should be locked away for a lot longer.
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- RickStone - Sep 5, 2010 at 10:13 PM
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…to Former Ref, you’re a mindless cretin. Sometimes it takes a thug to know one – “they” should not do anything “you” wouldn’t do…namely shoot someone over this.
…and to the USA dude…why would Al Sharpton be involved in this. If you think he should be, I can see if I can get his number for you…but this is not an authentic devil siting though so I don’t think he’d be interested.
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- Hollywood26 - Sep 7, 2010 at 12:52 PM
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I can’t believe you think that this clown represents semi-pro players. I’ve worked the league in VA for 8 years and most of these guys played in college and play for the love. I’ve never had an incident with a player being disrespectful. In point of fact, alot of these guys have jobs at major corporations, so unless Booz Allen Hamilton and Lockheed Martin have become thug magnets some of these statements seem to be spoken out of ignorance.
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- Ogre - Sep 7, 2010 at 7:33 PM
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Sad …………… from every POV
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- Salty - Sep 8, 2010 at 9:17 PM
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There is always somebody that has to bring race into it.
