With just over a week until the NFL draft, former Kentucky quarterback Andre Woodson made a stop in Ashland and took time to speak with some of the fans that have backed him during his college career.

“When you get a chance to interact with people like this, they show such passion about the sport they love,” Woodson said. “Kentucky football’s come a long way and they’re showing how much they support us and how much they’ve been behind us.”

Woodson signed autographs in the lobby of Ashland’s James A. Anderson Gymnasium Tuesday evening with a crowd of around 300 people showing up.

It was the second of Woodson’s stops in the city. Earlier in the day he spoke with a sixth-grade class at Oakview Elementary.

“A lot of kids in parts of Kentucky don’t see a lot of athletes,” Andre Woodson said. “They watch them on TV and they become their role models, so I think it’s really good to send a positive image to them.”

Woodson, who has been traveling across the state for similar sessions over the past three weeks, said he enjoys speaking with children because they really listen to what he has to say.

Eight-year-old Tanner Duncan of Grayson was just one of the UK fans that came out to talk to Woodson. Duncan had seen Woodson in action several times last season.

“We go to Kentucky football games in Lexington and we got to see him face LSU,” Duncan said. “We saw all the games except two and it’s been a really good experience for me.”

Duncan attends Prichard Elementary, where he’s a member of the football team.

While Woodson was in town to help motivate the students and the fans, it’s been the fans who have helped keep Woodson’s spirits up as he looks toward the upcoming NFL draft.

“When you’re going through tough times like I am right now with the critics beating up on me, it’s really great to get back to the community and hear from these people and how much they love and care about football at UK,” he said.

[More at www.dailyindependent.com]