Written By: Matthew Conciatori
Edited By: Slavko Glumicic
On Saturday February 7th during the annual NFL Honours, the 44-year-old man, Charles Woodson, earned the honour of election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021 in his first year of eligibility. Other notable names who were inducted into the Hall of Fame (HoF) are Peyton Manning, Calvin Johnson, John Lynch and Alan Faneca.
This comes to no surprise; Woodson has proved over multiple occasions during his 18 years of football with the Oakland Raiders (11 years) and Green Bay Packers (7 years) why he deserves to be inducted. Coming into the league in 1998, Woodson had already demonstrated potency during college football.
During Woodson’s three years at the University of Michigan, he started all three years for the Wolverines and received the Heisman award in his final year becoming the only defensive player to ever win the award in college football history.
Woodson became the third player in Michigan history to win the award, therefore he skipped his fourth and final year to take his talents to the NFL. He was then drafted 4th overall by the Oakland Raiders. Only one other notable name in terms of success was drafted ahead of Charles, it was Peyton Manning.
There is no doubt when reading some of Woodson’s NFL career statistics, that he deserves the privilege of being in the NFL HOF.
Woodson has multiple seasons where he was acclaimed as one of the top defenders to go against in the league. In his rookie season, Woodson earned Defensive Rookie of the year as he had an impressive five interceptions with a stellar 64 tackles. In 2001, it was Charles’s first time making First-Team All Pro as he later on finished with a career total of 4x All Pro. His best season on paper looks to be in 2009 with the Green Bay Packers as Charles Woodson had a notable nine interceptions with a valuable 74 tackles.
In 2011, Charles, yet again, made First-Team All Pro with a Pro Bowl appearance although this season, he finished as a Super Bowl Champion with the Packers. During Super Bowl XLV, Woodson made multiple clutch plays for his team, but ended up injuring his left collarbone and not returning to the game.
At halftime, Woodson attempted to spout the team although was too emotional to do so. Packers teammate, Desmond Bishop, stated “That’s all he could get out, he was all choked up, and there was just something about it that motivated all of us.” After the game, Woodson on live television expressed the emotions he was feeling during halftime, “I just asked the guys to understand how much I wanted it.”
Going to Week 16 of the 2015 NFL Season, Woodson announced to his team and media that he would be playing his final NFL game and retire. It came to no shock that after a spectacular 18 season career, Woodson would go down as a great to ever play the game of football.
Charles Woodson was always foreseen as a Hall of Fame athlete that belonged in Canton, Ohio. Woodson now is officially a part of the HoF as his career resume has continued to impress fans across the league.
- 9x Pro Bowl
- 4x All-Pro
- 1x Super Bowl Champion
- Hall of Fame All-2000s Team
- 1998 AP Def. Rookie of the Year
- 2009 AP Def. Player of the Year
- 65 Interceptions, 183 pass breakups, 1,105 tackles and 13 defensive touchdowns (All-time record)
After Charles was surprised by the famous CEO of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, Carl David Baker, Charles shared the moment with his family stating, “We’re in the Hall, Man. I just – Unbelievable.” It is one of the very few moments in football where we see athletes truly have their hard work and dedication pay off and reach a final climax point.
Congratulations Charles, well deserved!
Matthew Conciatori
2nd Year Honours Political Science
References
- Charles Woodson has broken collarbone. (2011, February 07). Retrieved February 07, 2021, from https://www.espn.com/nfl/playoffs/2010/news/story?id=6096580
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