Troy University Athletics
Gameday Feature: The Killer B's
10/5/2009 8:15:00 PM | Football
Batman and Robin. Mo and Curly. Siskel and Ebert. Ozzie and Harriett. Sonny and Cher. The Lone Ranger and Tonto.
All are well-known duos in their own right, but a pair of Troy University linebackers have made it their goal to be remembered as one of the great duos of all time on the football field.
Many have said you can't play linebacker unless you have a cool name, and the duo that sports the cardinal and white every Saturday falls in the “cool” category. Really, imagine a running back named Bear and a wide receiver named Boris ... sounds better as linebackers, just ask anyone.
“I wouldn't trade playing linebacker for anything,” Boris Lee said. “I love being part of this duo, it is something special.”
But, if you ask Bear Woods and Boris Lee, nothing is out of reach as far as they are concerned.
“I wouldn't trade it either,” Woods said. “When you hear those two names it just sounds defensive. But if you do want to see me at quarterback and Boris at receiver, that can be a good combination as well. We can still call it the Killer B's.”
THE NICKNAMES
Although known as the Killer B's by the fans of the Trojans, the duo is also known by other names as well. Lee drives around town in a Toyota Corolla with the word “Legend” stretched across the back windshield in red lettering. He also tapes his wrists every game and writes the words 'Living Legend' on each wrist in black marker.
But if you ask Boris, the nickname Legend was never supposed to get out.
“When I first came to Troy, I was young,” Lee said. “I still had some cocky ways when I got here so I had this voice mail message that said Legend. Coach [Larry] Blakeney called my phone one day looking for me and heard my voice mail. That is the first time it got out and it just spread after that. He brought it up at practice and people just starting calling me that.
“I sat down with a friend after people starting calling me that and I was thinking I can use this as motivation. I always wanted to be remembered, I always wanted to be known as that guy, so what better way to be known.”
While Lee says the nickname wasn't supposed to get out, Woods seems to differ on that.
“He can say what he wants to say about the nickname,” Woods said with a laugh. “He can say he didn't want it to get out, but once it did, he supported it 100 percent.”
Meanwhile, Bear is not Woods' given name. It is a nickname he got at a very young age, and it has stuck with him. Some people have even suggested that he be like Chad Ochocino and legally change his name from Jonathan Mark Woods to Bear Woods.
"You can go back home and ask my closest friends and they will tell you that my name is Bear,” he said. “They don't know me by anything but Bear because it was given to me at such a young age. My grandpa gave me that name, and it is what it is. Growing up, in school everyone called me Bear, it has never been a problem. Some people have told me to go change my name, but I just don't want to waste that time.”
THE TRANSITION TO DEFENSE
Although the two are linebackers today, they were two-way players in high school. Lee played wide receiver and tight end on the offensive side of the ball; while Bear played quarterback.
“The transition was not as bad as most people would think,” Lee said. “I played both ways so I had a little taste of defense in me. Moving to linebacker, running to the ball is basically the way I was taught to play.”
Although Lee was destined to be a linebacker when he arrived on campus, Woods was not. He was told he was going to play fullback.
“I always played quarterback and safety growing up,” Woods said. “They wanted to move me to fullback, but I told them I would rather move to linebacker since I was more comfortable on defense. The same thing with Boris, you just learn the plays and run to the ball. When coach [Benjy] Parker came along, that is when we really learned. He has really taught us both how to play linebacker.”
THE RELATIONSHIP
It is amazing how close the two have become, especially since they did not know each other before their days at Troy even though they lived just 30 minutes apart. The only thing that separated the two was a state line and the Okefenokee Swamp.
“People ask us all the time how we didn't know each other,” Lee said ...
“The only thing that separates us is the swamp,” Woods said. “We were competitors when we first got here, trying to get on the field. It started from there and we just starting hanging out. We enjoy the same little things, it is those things that make you friends. We have classes together, we are always picking on each other, things like that.”
Although the two never met in high school, they wonder what would have happened if they had met during their prep days on the field.
“Keep in mind now, I was a 210-pound quarterback,” Woods said. “I ran over guys at bigger schools so I think I could do that to him.”
Lee begs to differ.
“I moved around a lot on defense,” Lee said. “It wouldn't be just me hitting him, he would get hit by a lot of guys. I think he would finish with negative yards rushing.”
Although they didn't know each other in high school, the two are inseparable except when it comes to one thing, and that is their in-game traditions. Lee would rather stick to his taped wrists, while Woods has become known as a warrior with the face paint he and Terence Moore started wearing last season.
Woods did try to get Lee to join him this year with the paint when he dressed for his first game against UAB. When asked about the paint, Woods couldn't hold back in stating that he tried to get Boris to join him.
“It is funny because I put some paint on him against UAB,” Woods said ...
“I am a little dark, a little darker than he is,” Lee said ...
“His paint didn't show up as well on him as it did me,” Woods said. “T-Mo had some Puerto Rican in him and was light, like me and you can see the paint better. Boris had some paint on him but you couldn't really tell. Maybe somebody got a picture of Boris with the paint on so everyone can see it.”
Boris was trying to do something special for his partner when he came back after missing the first two games of the season.
“I was trying to be nice to him,” Lee said. “I wanted to welcome him back on the field since he didn't get to play the first two games. And there better not be a picture out there, if there is, don't show anybody.”
The pair knows how to have fun when they around each other, and know how to have fun when it comes to the other. Just search Bear and Boris on YouTube for a first hand look.
“That is deep,” Lee said, as he was the one having to carry around the teddy bear ...
“I would have done just about anything,” Woods said. “I would have done anything to get a few laughs ... except hold a teddy bear and try to feed it dry fruit loops. I don't know how many grown men can hold a teddy bear.”
Boris seemed to disagree.
“It was fun,” he said. “I look at it and laugh. I can look at it to this day and get a good laugh out of it. I really enjoyed doing that.”
Although the two are close off the field, they really respect each other and find it hard to be on the field when the other one is not there.
“I want Bear with me,” Lee said. “I know there is going to be a day when we are not playing together, but it is something about that kid out there next to me that gives me that comfortable feeling. It helps me relax knowing he is out there and we are about to play. There are so many high hopes with him out there with me. When he was out for those two games, I missed him out there and I told him that.”
Although he missed two games, Woods still looks to Boris when they are on the field.
“The Florida game I was intense even though I couldn't play,” Woods said. “Boris plays at another level when he is out there on the field, and to see him doing that and me not being able to contribute got me fired up. As far as when I am out there with him, you see one of the best linebackers to ever come through the Sun Belt. We have that chemistry, it is weird when you talk about, but it is something that is there.”
The duo finally got to get on the field together against UAB a couple of weeks ago. With the pair playing linebacker together, the level of intensity picked up for the Trojans until the start of the second half when number 48 [Woods] was no where to be found on the field or the sideline.
“When we came out I was jogging on the field to get lined up,” Lee said. “Usually I have a slow jog when I go out and he comes sprinting by me every time. This time I was looking around, and I was noticing he wasn't there and I didn't see him any where. I had to motion for Donnell [Golden] to come out to take his place. UAB started driving down the field, and I just started thinking about if they scored he wasn't going to hear the end of it.”
But Woods had other ideas as he came sprinting out of the locker room all the way down the sideline. When he got to the sideline, UAB was inside the 10-yard line.
“I was just hoping they weren't going to score,” Lee said. “But they got deep inside on us and all of a sudden it was like this ray of sunshine. And here comes Bear out onto the field and we held them to a field goal. That, in itself, shows you what he means to this defense.”
THE END OF AN ERA IS NEAR
Although the two don't want to talk about it, the end of an era is near. They are both well aware of how many more games they have left together, but it still brings a humorous moment upon both of them.
“When we are done we want a statue out front,” both said jokingly, in unison. “They can build the statue and put that the Killer B's were here.”
Although they can find humor in it all, they are well aware their college careers are coming to an end.
“When you think about it, we just have nine days left,” Woods said. “If you count the days we have left in football days, that is not a lot. I want to remembered as the Killer B's, as well as the whole defense. I remember coming in having big shoes to fill, I said I wanted us to be remembered as one of the best linebacker duos in the country.”
The two can do what very few have done in their careers if they can find a way to win the Sun Belt Conference for the fourth time. Not many teams have been able to dominate a conference the way the Trojans have the last three years in the Sun Belt Conference.
Although their time is near the end at Troy, the two will continue to share their relationship and feed off of each other on the field. But they will also remember each other off the field when they share the laughs and remember the past.
“It would be an honor to be remembered with a guy like Bear Woods,” Lee said. “I try not to even think about it being our last year together, it kind of scares me to tell you the truth. I really don't even want to think about it.”
