Charles Woodson
Inducted: 2020
Cornerback/Safety: 2006-12
Height: 6-1; Weight: 210
College: Michigan, 1995-97
Honors:
Inducted Pro Football Hall of Fame: 2021
NFL All-Decade Team: 2000s
Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year: 2009
Associated Press All-Pro Team (chosen since 1940): 2009, '11
Pro Bowl Selection (played from 1950-2022): 2008, '09, '10, '11
Charles Woodson started his NFL career as a can't-miss prospect with the Oakland Raiders, but it took a rebirth in Green Bay eight years later to seal his destiny as a Pro Football Hall of Famer.
It was in Green Bay, where Woodson won a Super Bowl, earned Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year honors, made four more Pro Bowls and picked off 38 of his 65 career interceptions.
It also was with the Packers that Woodson was free to fully exploit his rare talents by lining up as a roving, off-the-ball defender and not just a back-to-the-ball, cover corner.
Following the Packers' 2010 Super Bowl season, secondary coach Joe Whitt Jr. noted how Woodson had been used as a spy against Philadelphia's electrifying running quarterback Michael Vick; assigned to cover receivers as different as Detroit's towering speedster Calvin Johnson and New England's undersized and shifty Wes Welker; and fill gaps against bigger, explosive backs in the running game.
"What other cornerback can do that?" asked Whitt. "There's only one. Calling Charles a cornerback is limiting because he's a different breed."
As the first predominantly defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy, but one who also was a big-play threat on punt and kickoff returns and in spot duty as a receiver, Woodson was the fourth overall choice in the 1998 NFL Draft after leaving Michigan following his junior year.
In his first pro season, Woodson was named the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, shared the Raiders' team lead with five interceptions and was selected to the Pro Bowl. By the end of his fourth season, he was a four-time Pro Bowl choice, had earned AP All-Pro honors once along with being second-team another year, and had intercepted 11 passes.
At the same time, the Raiders after not making the playoffs for six straight years – their longest drought since their start as an underfinanced charter member of the American Football League in 1960 – had reaped rewards from his impact, compiling a 22-10 record over the 2000 and 2001 seasons and scoring a postseason victory in each. Then in 2002, they finished 11-5 and lost in the Super Bowl.
However, over the second half of his first stint with the Raiders, Woodson was shut out of individual honors. Mostly, he was hamstrung by injuries. Although he was still considered one of the top cornerbacks in the league when the Raiders won the AFC title in 2002, he missed eight games with shoulder and leg injuries before returning for their three playoff games.
By the time Woodson became a free agent following the 2005 season, his career was clearly at a crossroads. In all, he had missed 22 games over his final four seasons in Oakland, while his interceptions dwindled from 11 over his first four to six over the next four.
Then came Woodson's seven years in Green Bay.
The transition didn't start well. Having received lukewarm interest from only one other NFL team, Tampa Bay, during his nearly two months on the free agent market, Woodson reluctantly signed with the Packers. "I didn't want to come here, really, is what it boils down to," Woodson later admitted. "But Green Bay was the only team that came knocking."
In essence, then general manager Ted Thompson had to outbid only a limited number of suitors and the money talked. But almost immediately after training camp started in late July, a less-than-thrilled Woodson found himself at loggerheads with coach Mike McCarthy, occasionally resulting in animated discussions on the field immediately after practice.
"A lot of those talks after practice weren't necessarily good talks," McCarthy later admitted. "But we talked through them; we met a couple times in private and tried to talk through things."
Just as defensive end Reggie White, the most impactful of the Packers' previous free agents, had a breakout performance against Denver in the fifth game in 1993, his first season with the team, Woodson had his against Miami in the sixth game in 2006.
In a 34-24 victory over the Dolphins, Woodson scored on a game-turning, 23-yard interception return in the first minute of the second half, registered his first sack of the season and forced a fumble.
At season's end, Woodson had eight interceptions, tied for the most in the NFC, and 12 turnover plays, the most by a Packer since safety LeRoy Butler in 1993.
Six years into his seven-year stay in Green Bay, Woodson had twice been named AP All-Pro and was a second-team choice in two other seasons. He had twice led the NFL in interceptions, sharing the honor with others, and broke the Packers' record for most defensive touchdowns with 10. He also forced 15 fumbles and registered 11½ sacks.
What made some of those numbers possible was when in 2009 first-year defensive coordinator Dom Capers essentially turned Woodson into a one-man, undercover spy – someone who could line up almost anywhere in any package and on any given play. Thereafter, Woodson was stationed as a corner, a safety, in the slot, as a linebacker and even somewhere along the line of scrimmage.
Basically, he lined up wherever he could raise havoc and wound up becoming a defensive playmaker like few others in the history of the NFL.
"Charles dominated in a way I never saw anybody dominate before," quarterback Aaron Rodgers said following Woodson's retirement. "The 2009 season, one of the greatest seasons I've ever seen, what he did on defense, impacting the game, I've never seen a player impact the game that way."
"I would definitely, in my opinion, categorize him as a generational player," echoed McCarthy.
What's more, Woodson emerged as a team leader as evidenced by his inspirational locker-room speech following the Packers' 2010 NFC Championship Game victory in Chicago that served as a springboard to winning Super Bowl XLV.
"He's been our leader," defensive tackle Ryan Pickett said of Woodson. "His messages have been on point. He has been more of a vocal leader. He is normally quiet, but he's been speaking out. Just letting everybody know, man, this is hard, this is rare."
"He was a great leader for us at a time when we needed that type of leadership, and he took us to a special place," added Rodgers.
When the Packers released Woodson after the 2012 season, he returned to the Raiders and played three more years. In all, he played 18 seasons in the NFL. With Green Bay, Woodson played in and started 100 games. He also played in 10 more in the postseason and started nine.
Born Oct. 7, 1976, in Fremont, Ohio. Given name Charles C. Woodson.
