Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
‘Lion’ Woodson was never tamed
Cornerback had a nose for INTs, eyes on end zone
Charles Woodson ended his illustrious football career when he was 39 years old in a pair of custom gold cleats designed by Jordan Brand for him to wear in the 2016 Pro Bowl.
It was the culmination of his remarkable journey that began in Ohio as a youngster with braces on his feet designed to correct a clubfoot condition that had them growing inward.
Woodson will almost certainly return to his home state in 2021 to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first season of eligibility after going to nine Pro Bowls and earning eight first- or second-team All-Pro nods.
The fact the star cornerback holds such a lofty place in league history is all the more remarkable considering he contemplated retirement in 2006 after his first run in Oakland ended under the shadow of injuries and some off-field question marks.
He soon realized he was far from finished and made the league come to the same conclusion.
Woodson made four straight Pro Bowls with the Packers in a renaissance that saw him win a Defensive Player of the Year award in 2009 and a Super Bowl title after the 2010 season.
But it was with the Raiders where Woodson both started and ended a storied career that saw him tied for fifth in NFL history with 65 interceptions and tied for the most defensive touchdowns ever with 13, including 11 on interceptions.
Woodson is the only player in NFL history with as many as 65 interceptions and 20 career sacks.
It was a postseason sack he didn’t get credit for which may be his most notable career play, however.
Woodson forced what he thought was a game-clinching fumble by former college teammate Tom Brady in a 2002 playoff contest, but it was overturned on replay and went down in NFL history as the “Tuck Rule” game.
“That’s the worst call in the history of all sports,” he said on an NFL Network documentary about his career. “All of the air was let out of the Oakland Raiders. After that, we never recovered.”
The Raiders lost that game to the Patriots in overtime and made the Super Bowl the following season, but Woodson played with a metal plate in his leg and the Raiders were blown out.
He still managed an interception in the 48-21 loss to the Buccaneers.
The next three seasons were filled with disappointment for the team and Woodson, who battled a series of injuries, was arrested on alcohol-related charges for a second time in his career and saw his aloofness at meetings questioned more and more by the coaches.
After the seven-year run in Green Bay, he returned to Oakland a hero and found a fountain of youth over three stellar years that spanned his late 30s after having made the switch to safety in his final season with the Packers.
His last year in the NFL saw Woodson finally accomplish one of the only remaining goals he had yet to achieve as he finally intercepted Peyton Manning. In fact, he did it twice. The two had been linked since college when Manning went No. 1 in the 1998 NFL draft, three spots ahead of Woodson.
But it was Woodson who stole the show in college football that season, beating Manning in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1997 when Woodson was at Michigan and Manning at Tennessee.
Woodson, who had spurned so many who wanted him to stay home and play for Ohio State, became a legend with the archrival
Wolverines.
“A lion ain’t supposed to be tamed,” he has often said, even getting the phrase tattooed on his arm. “Don’t try to put me in a box because I ain’t going.”
That junior season, which saw him become the only primarily defensive player to win the Heisman, was one of the most impressive in college history.
He led Michigan to a national title, winning the Walter Camp Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award and Jim Thorpe Award as he dominated on defense and became a game-breaker on offense and special teams.
Woodson, now 43, was named to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
He has spent time as a broadcaster in his retirement, though his biggest impact has been through his charitable work.
The Charles Woodson Clinical Research Fund at the University of Michigan provides money for research to advance the treatment of illnesses that affect children.