The National Football League announced Saturday (Feb. 6) that former Michigan great Charles Woodson has been selected for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Woodson is the 11th Wolverine to be named to the Hall of Fame, which breaks a tie with Ohio State for the most inductees to receive professional football's greatest individual honor in the Big Ten and the third-most all-time.
The NFL announced the 2021 Hall of Fame class during the NFL Honors Show on the eve of Super Bowl LV between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This year's class includes Alan Faneca (Pittsburgh Steelers), Calvin Johnson (Detroit Lions), John Lynch (Tampa Bay Buccaneers/Denver Broncos), Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts/Denver Broncos), Drew Pearson (Dallas Cowboys), Charles Woodson (Oakland Raiders/Green Bay Packers), head coach Tom Flores (Oakland Raiders/Seattle Seahawks) and contributor Bill Nunn (Pittsburgh Steelers).
Woodson is regarded as one of greatest football players to ever don a uniform, college or professional. With his induction to Canton, Woodson becomes only the 10th Heisman Trophy winner to earn induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and is the first since the Raiders' Tim Brown was inducted in 2015. The eight other Heisman winners to earn enshrinement are Barry Sanders, Marcus Allen, Tony Dorsett, Earl Campbell, Doak Walker, Paul Hornung, Roger Staubach and O.J. Simpson.
Woodson was drafted by the Oakland Raiders with the fourth overall pick of the 1998 NFL Draft. In his first season with the Raiders, Woodson was selected as the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press. He played eight seasons with the Raiders (1998-95), earning Pro Bowl honors four straight seasons (1998-2001) as well as first-team All-Pro honors twice (1999, 2001) and second-team honors once (2000). He also helped the Raiders reach Super Bowl XXXVII, where they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2002 championship game.
After battling nagging injuries for a few seasons, Woodson signed as a free agent with the Green Bay Packers in 2006. He went on to play seven seasons with the Packers (2006-12), helping lead the franchise to a world championship over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV at the conclusion of the 2010 season. Woodson continued to rack up individual accolades during his time in Green Bay, winning the 2009 NFL Defensive Player of the Year award, earning Pro Bowl honors four times (2008-11) and All-Pro accolades four times (first-team honors in 2009 and 2011, and second-team accolades in 2008 and 2010). He also led the NFL in interceptions twice, collecting the league's top marks in 2009 and 2011.
He returned to his original team, the Oakland Raiders, for the final three seasons (2013-15) of his illustrious 18-year professional career. Woodson was named to the Pro Bowl and earned second-team All-Pro honors in his final season in the league (2015). His selection to the Pro Bowl in that season made Woodson one of the few players selected to the game in three different decades (1990s, 2000s and 2010s).
Woodson played in two Super Bowls, won one Lombardi trophy, and reached the playoffs eight times during his career. He was selected to nine Pro Bowls and earned All-Pro honors eight times (four times as a first-team honoree and four times as a second-team selection). He was the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1998 and the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2009. Woodson was named to the NFL's 2000s All-Decade Team. In addition, he was recipient of the NFL's Art Rooney Award in 2015 for his outstanding sportsmanship on the field.
He started 251 of his 254 career games, amassing 1,105 tackles, 20 sacks, 22 forced fumbles, 65 interceptions and 155 passes defended. He also scored 13 defensive touchdowns during his career. Woodson's 65 picks are currently tied for fifth all-time on the NFL's interceptions list, and his 13 career defensive scores are tied for the most in NFL history with Rod Woodson and Darren Sharper. His 11 career interceptions returned for touchdowns are second all-time.
With Woodson's induction, Michigan also has become the fourth university to have a former player inducted into the hall of fame three consecutive years. The others are Ohio State, Notre Dame and Miami (Fla.).
Following are the individuals with ties to the University of Michigan enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (alphabetical order with year of induction): George Allen (2002), Dan Dierdorf (1996), Len Ford (1976), Benny Friedman (2005), Bill Hewitt (1971), Elroy Hirsch (1968), Steve Hutchinson (2020), Ty Law (2019), Tom Mack (1999), Ralph Wilson Jr. (2009) and Woodson (2021).
The 2020 and 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement week ceremonies will take place in Canton, Ohio, Thursday through Saturday, Aug. 5-9.
Charles Woodson Bullets
Oakland Raiders (1998-2005, 2013-15); Green Bay Packers (2006-12)
- Super Bowl XLV Champion
- Two-time Super Bowl Participant
- 9x Pro Bowl Participant
- 8x All-Pro Selection (4x first team, 4x second team)
- 2009 NFL Defensive Player of the Year
- 1998 NFL Rookie of the Year
- 2x NFL Interception Leader
- NFL 2000s All-Decade Team
- 4th Overall Pick of the 1998 NFL Draft
