With the fourth pick of the 1998 NFL Draft, the Oakland Raiders selected Charles Woodson, a cornerback from the University of Michigan. This was a moment all Raiders fans will never forget, and Woodson enjoyed a career that was matched by few.
It may surprise many to discover that things were not always as easy as Woodson made them appear to be.
College Standout
Coming out of college, Woodson was a national championship and Heisman Trophy winner. To this day, he remains the last Heisman honoree who was not a running back or quarterback.
For three years at Michigan, Woodson was their cornerback, wide receiver, and occasional punt returner – a triple threat for opponents.
Though Woodson’s college career was nothing short of incredible, he decided before entering his senior year that it was time to take on the bigger guys.
Drafted following his junior year, Woodson joined the Oakland Raiders as a rookie safety – and this is where the legend truly began. In his first season, Woodson was unstoppable, finishing the season by being named the Defensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press (AP) and the Pro Football Writers Association (PFWA) along with a Pro Bowl selection.
Starting all 16 games in his rookie season, Woodson became the first to do so since 1971, when defensive back Jack Tatum from Ohio State, accomplished the same feat for the same Raiders team. After his outstanding rookie year, Woodson became a fan favorite as his jersey flew off the shelves,
Over the years, Woodson’s career continued to take flight, and in a seven-year stretch with the Raiders, he never slowed down.
Four Pro Bowl selections followed (1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001), accompanied by his selections to the All-Pro first team twice (1999 and 2000), and an All-Pro second team nod in 2000.
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With all of his successes, no one ever expected anything would get in Woodson’s way. He was soaring to the top with numerous history-making statistics, along with taking the Oakland Raiders to a playing level that they had not attained since their AFC Championship run in 1990.
The Injury Bug
In 2002, Woodson suffered his first NFL injury – a dislocated shoulder. He was forced to miss eight games and sadly, it set off a three-year trend of painful injuries and subsequently, games lost to recovery time. However, Woodson was a fighter, and fought through one such injury to record an interception in Super Bowl XXXVII, a losing effort against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He continued to play through his discomfort from 2002–2005 documenting around 20 injuries. In his last two years of his first stretch with the Oakland Raiders, Woodson endured multiple game-ending injuries, most of them leg-related as hip pains, strains, and knee injuries sidelined him.
In week six of the 2005 season, Woodson even sustained a broken leg that ruled him out for the rest of that year.
A Fresh Start
For as much wear and tear as Woodson’s body endured over his first seven years in the league, he was determined not to end have his career end on an injury.
In 2006, Woodson returned to the league after a year of rest and rehabilitation, both of which paid off, and going into the preseason, he looked like a force to be reckoned with again.
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In April, Woodson found himself a new home at Lambeau Field. Picked up by the Green Bay Packers, Woodson contributed on special teams as their punt returner as well as playing defensive back.
Even after seven years in the league, Woodson still managed to play two very different positions on the field, displaying a special brand of dedication. Now on a new team, Woodson was seen as a veteran in the league, and he played like one. Not only was he healthy for most of his career with Green Bay (only missing three games between 2006 and 2011), but he had some of his most memorable moments with them as well.
In 2009, Woodson was back to his old ways, adding more stats to his resume. He made yet another appearance at the Pro Bowl, was selected to the All-Pro first team, named AP and NFC Defensive Player of the Year, and led the league in interceptions.
During his first three years with the Packers, Woodson improved on most of his stats from his first seven years in the league with the Raiders.
In that time with the Raiders, he had 17 interceptions, two touchdowns, and five sacks. On the other hand, he had 28 interceptions, eight touchdowns, and six sacks after just 4 seasons with the Packers. Needless to say, Green Bay picked a good one.
Perhaps the biggest moment of Woodson’s career was when he personally proved the President wrong during the 2010 postseason.
Don’t know the story? Well, President Barack Obama is a well-documented Chicago Bears fan, and there was nothing he wanted more than for the Bears to beat the Packers in the fight to the Super Bowl.
With the rivalry in mind, Green Bay and Woodson were not going to let that happen, and it was the Packers who advanced to the title game after defeating the Bears at Soldier Field in the NFC Championship.
The night before the Super Bowl, 33-year-old Woodson addressed the media in one of his most famous speeches.
“I’m going to do whatever it takes. Throwing my body around – it’s to win. That’s why I play this game. I play it to win – and for no other reason. That’s why this is so special this year, having the chance to win it all, because you know throwing your body around contributed to get you to this point.”
(Nickel, L. (2001). A Tough Body of Work for Woodson. Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
At the traditional White House ceremony for the Super Bowl champions, Woodson had the last laugh when he handed President Obama a framed ownership certificate for a share of Packers stock.
Woodson was re-signed for another three years following the Super Bowl victory, and in 2013, he left Lambeau Field and Green Bay behind, returning to his home with the Oakland Raiders for his final two seasons in the NFL.
In his final year with the Raiders, Woodson did what he had always dreamed of as he intercepted a pass from the one and only Peyton Manning.
It seems almost unbelievable that it took until week five of the 2015 season before Woodson finally managed to intercept a Manning pass. After all these years, the two players who were part of one of the closest and most controversial Heisman votes of all time came full circle. The wait must have been gnawing away at Woodson, because he went ahead and picked off a second pass later in the game.
After setting countless records, overcoming years of injuries, winning the big ring, returning to his home field, and leaving an indelible mark on the league, there is little doubt that when all is said and done, he will be remembered as one of the greatest NFL players of all time.
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On January 3, 2015, Charles Woodson was given a much-deserved roar of appreciation in Arrowhead Stadium, as his career ended on the same field where his NFL journey began 17 years prior.