Once upon a time…
It was October, 7th of 1976. Jimmy Carter had just defeated Gerald Ford for the seat in the Oval Office five days prior. Gone with the Wind had been broadcast on television for the first time and a last but not least an NFL star was brought into this world. Charles Woodson was born.
Thirty-nine years later he will be playing his final season in the NFL as a member of the Oakland Raiders. In fact, he is the oldest active safety in the league currently.
Oh the college years…
Woodson has had a very decorated career not only in the NFL, but in college as well as a member of the Michigan Wolverines. He led the team to a National Championship in 1997. That same season, he won the Heisman Trophy while playing on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball.
He is also the last player to win the Heisman Trophy who is not a quarterback or running back.
During his time at Michigan, he became the starting cornerback after just his second game as a freshman and played in 34 straight games. In addition to playing the defensive position, he returned punts and lined up as a wide-out as well.
In his first season with the team in 1995, he was selected as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and was named to the All-Big Ten First Team.
…Now we here!
His professional season began in 1998 when he was selected fourth overall by the Oakland Raiders. His first season saw him capture the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
In Woodson’s fourth season in the NFL, he was named to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl.
Charles was a member of the Raiders until 2006 when he was traded to the Green Bay Packers. He spent six seasons with them before reuniting with Oakland where he plays currently. During his time with the Packers he won a Super Bowl during the 2010 season despite breaking his collarbone in the Super Bowl itself on a pass deflection attempt.
HoF???
When looking at Woodson’s NFL career stat line, he is definitely Canton, Ohio bound once he retires come seasons end. So far in his career he has played 248 games. In those games, he has accumulated 65 interceptions, 966 yards, 11 touchdowns, 20 sacks, 27 forced fumbles, 13 fumble recoveries, 106 fumble return yards and two fumbles returned for touchdowns.
These numbers don’t lie when making a case that this man has had a fantastic NFL career. Myself as a fan of not only the game of football, but of the Michigan Wolverines and Green Bay Packers, but most importantly of Charles Woodson himself, it has been incredible to watch him grow and play year after year for the past nearly two decades.
Twilight to a phenomenal career
His final career game will be Sunday, January 3rd against the Kansas City Chiefs on the road. Hopefully he can go out on a high note. Definitely will be a tall task against a Chiefs team that has won nine in a row since starting the season 1-5.
Big shoes to fill…
This article so far has been about Woodson’s career, but the question is once Charles retires, what direction will the NFL go as far as ball hawking cornerbacks are concerned? Who will be the next Charles Woodson? Might that person already be in the league? There will have to be a changing of the guard and that change is already here with emerging Free Safeties like Tyrann Mathieu (22-PDefs, 5-Ints) and Kurt Coleman (16-PDefs, 7-Ints).
These are all questions that today’s defensive corners want to answer with their hard work and dedication. I know there are fans out there that don’t necessarily like him, myself included, but one could argue that Richard Sherman is the leading candidate for the number one cornerback in the NFL right now and especially once Woodson retires.
It’s so hard,
Johnny Heger-Flickr
to say goodbye…
Only time will tell when we find out who the torch is passed along to. None the less, it’s been fun watching such a class act play the game he loves for the past 18 years. Hats off to Charles on a fantastic career!
Ryan Cole is a Writer for Couch Rider Report. Follow us on Facebook or twitter
