Charles Woodson’s Hall Of Fame Career Down To The Final Two Games

The Oakland Raiders are 6-8 heading into the final two games. On Monday, safety Charles Woodson announced that these games would be his last in the NFL. Woodson has an amazing career.

Woodson played his college football for Michigan. In 1997, he was selected to go to New York as a Heisman finalist. The other finalists were Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf. Woodson won the Heisman Trophy, the only defensive player to win the award. That spring, the Oakland Raiders took him as the 4^th overall selection in the NFL Draft.

His first year he made an immediate impact playing in all 16 games. In those games he had 5 interceptions, the most he ever had in a Raider uniform. He would spend seven more years in Oakland with a total of 17 interceptions.

April 2006, he agreed to a seven-year contract with the Green Bay Packers.   Woodson would continue his excellent play. During the 2006 season he had eight interceptions. The best year for him was 2009 when he picked off the quarterback nine times. Woodson helped the Packers win the Super Bowl in 2011. The Green Bay Packers knocked off the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25. It would be his only Super Bowl ring. He would add 38 more interceptions. His contract was up in 2012. On May 22, 2013, Woodson agreed to come back to the Oakland Raiders for a one-year deal. He would stay in Oakland the next three seasons.

According to ESPN, Woodson said, “So many of [my] teammates throughout this year have talked to me about next year. Come back next year, I know you’re coming back next year, and I would love to, because it’s what I feel about the organization, where I feel like it’s headed. Where it’s going, it would be great to grow with this group of guys. Honestly, I think physically I could do it. My body has responded, but mentally it’s not there, not going to happen.”

Woodson is a Hall Of Fame Player and has nothing left to prove. His resume speaks for itself. Heading into these final two games of the season, he has a total of 65 interceptions, ranking him 5^th All-Time. Besides his ability to pick the football off from the quarterback, he was voted to the Pro Bowl 8 times, selected to the First Team All-Pro 4 times, and went to the Super Bowl twice while winning it once.

Woodson will be remembered as one of the best defensive backs in NFL history. Quarterbacks could never throw his way because he was a threat to pick the ball off. Woodson had the ability to go all the way for a touchdown when that occurred. He should be a first ballot Hall Of Famer in 2020.  That is the last accomplishment left for him.

What do you think of Woodson’s career?