With twenty-five seconds left in the first half, Bronco’s quarterback Peyton Manning stood at the Oakland nine yard line. Manning stood in the shotgun next to running back, CJ Anderson, and he had three wide receivers in the bunch formation to his left. He snapped the ball, but the Raiders brought pressure, blitzing six men, including feared pass rusher, Khalil Mack. As the Raider rush collapsed the pocket, Manning desperately heaved the ball towards tight end, Owen Daniels in the endzone. However, instead of reaching Daniels for a Denver touchdown, the ball was snatched out of the air by legendary defensive back, Charles Woodson. Eighteen years after beating Manning for the Heisman trophy, and four days after turning thirty-nine, Woodson finally picked off Peyton Manning. Even though Woodson intercepted another Manning pass in the third quarter, the Raiders would go on to lose the game. Despite not coming away with the win, the interceptions put a neat little bow on a Hall of Fame career.
There’s no question that the man they call C-Wood will be a first ballot Hall of Famer, but just how good was he? In the prestigious history of the National Football League, thousands of men have played defensive back. Some have been good, some have been bad, and some, like Woodson, have been great. When the former Michigan Wolverine is enshrined in Canton, Ohio in 2021, he’ll join the likes of Ronnie Lott, Deion Sanders, and the current defensive backs coach of the Raiders, Rod Woodson. Among these legends, where will Charles Woodson fit in?
Charles Woodson’s Legacy
Whether it be in the NFL or at the collegiate level, there isn’t an accolade that Charles Woodson hasn’t earned. In 1997, as a junior at Michigan, Woodson won the Chic Harley, Chuck Bednarik, and Walter Camp Awards, as well as the Bronko Nagurski, Jack Tatum, and Heisman Trophies. In winning the Heisman, Woodson joined Leon Hart as the only full-time defensive players to win the award in its illustrious history. That year, Woodson and the Wolverines defeated the Washington State Cougars in the National Championship. In a game that would decide by five points, Woodson had the lone interception.
As the recent run of Alabama rushers proves, winning the Heisman doesn’t guarantee a successful NFL career. Of the last five collegiate players to win the award, two of them, Baylor’s Robert Griffin III and Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel are no longer on the teams that drafted them. Fortunately, Woodson didn’t miss a step when he was drafted fourth overall by the Raiders in 1998, winning the AP’s Defensive Rookie of the Year award and making the Pro Bowl in his first season. Woodson would be invited to eight more Pro Bowls in his career, including his last season in 2015. Beyond that, Woodson’s nine interceptions and four forced fumbles in 2009 were good enough to earn him the Defensive Player of the Year award. He led the league in interceptions twice, and would be named an All-Pro eight times, also including his final season.
When it comes to Woodson’s statistics, he’s in a class of his own. In eighteen seasons, Woodson complied sixty-five interceptions, twenty sacks, and scored thirteen defensive touchdowns, tied for the most all time. Not only is Woodson the only player in league history with fifty interceptions and at least twenty sacks, Woodson is the only player in league history to have recorded fifty interceptions and at least twenty sacks. Only Night Train Lane, Rod Woodson, Emlen Tunnell, and Paul Krause have more career interceptions than Woodson, and none of them had to play in the flag-happy passing era. During an era where the quarterbacks are being protected more than ever, Woodson dominated. Despite being thirty-nine years old, Pro Football Focus tweeted that Charles Woodson had the top pass-coverage grade of all NFL safeties.
Whether it was as a cornerback or a safety, Woodson was universally respected by teammates and foes alike from his first day in the league to his last. From the Tuck Rule to the Thursday Night Miracle, Woodson has definitely made his impact on the history of the Raiders, Green Bay Packers, and the NFL. While he wasn’t ever able to bring the Raiders a Lombardi Trophy like he did for the Packers, Woodson will always have a very special place in the hearts and minds of the Raider Nation. And soon, he’ll have a similar place in Canton.
