Texans' Woody Marks draft pick has the craziest Toy Story Halloween nickname origin

Billy Heyen

Texans' Woody Marks draft pick has the craziest Toy Story Halloween nickname origin image

The Houston Texans picked Woody Marks in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft on Saturday.

That's not his given name.

Marks' legal name is Jo'quavious.

But he goes by Woody for an amazing reason.

When he was growing up, Marks loved Toy Story. And for seven consecutive seasons, Marks dressed up as Woody from Toy Story for Halloween.

That's incredible. 

Marks is also a darn good running back.

He spent four college seasons at Mississippi State, never fully breaking out.

But then he went to USC for 2024, where he was a star.

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Marks ran 198 times for 1,133 yards and nine TDs in the 2024 season. He also caught 47 passes for 321 yards.

He's actually a receiving star, having caught 60 passes in his first season at Mississippi State and then a remarkable 83 catches in his second season there.

The Texans are prioritizing offense in the draft.

They already picked wide receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, both out of Iowa State.

Marks likely can slot in behind Joe Mixon on the RB depth chart for Houston, which also still has Dameon Pierce.

But nothing Marks does will be better than his name. He'll have to break out the Woody costume for his first Halloween in the NFL, too.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle