A Football Life Charles Woodson

The film crew is at the door. Great, let them in. Thank you, you're here to tell the story of my

football

life

and it's pretty unique when you're born with clubfoot and have to wear corrective shoes as a baby, like me. score seven touchdowns in a high school game i did if your name is mr.

football

in Ohio you don't go to Michigan I did it if you play defense in college you don't win a Heisman Trophy I partied a lot you don't study you fall asleep in meetings you don't end up being a Defensive Rookie the year I did it, yes you have to quit your old team, you don't really want to go to your new team, you don't want a defensive MVP award and a Super Bowl.

I don't want too many defensive backs to make nine Pro Bowls and nobody. He does it at 39 years old and he wears heels, what's up, guys? They all made it and just in time they can settle there, but first, that day, today is the best day, believe me, the lion is not supposed to be tamed, they only remember the window bottle in the second place that the maker because of that baby here we go Charles Woodson played in the NFL for 18 seasons he was a Heisman Trophy winner national champion rookie of the year NFL defensive MVP in a Super Bowl champion all set in one let's be one of mine there's a heartbeat a purpose a goal for one more game there is only one

charles

woodson

and his football

life

is like no other it was a career full of twists and turns that left lasting marks when I was going through it all As for the tattoos, I was thinking what I could get and what inside a few years it would be nice to have them, so I ended up getting a tattoo of a state of Ohio, this is where I'm from and then there's a little star here that represents Fremont Fremont.

He was so hidden in the northwest corner of Ohio that he barely fit. His public housing units were filled with struggling families. One of those children was Charles Woodson. He couldn't do anything. He had these braces on his feet. My feet were apparently growing inward. I think and they put these corrective shoes on me to make sure they straightened out. My mom said I'd go crazy watching my brother and sister, you know, run around the house. I'm like stuck there with this with these braces on my feet, you know, holding me up tight, Terry drugged it at home, you didn't like it, but after that you were like being the family pool toy for his sister Shannon and his brother Terry was tough, so he lived by the nickname his mother Georgia gave him.

I stabbed this dog and it was poochy poochy poochy for girls, he used to sing the song all the time and then I told him, I said, well, since you like Poochie so much, then it sounded so cute, it just suited him in that. time even longer than Poochie adored his mother his father left when Charles was because it was Georgia who was the hardworking head of the family you want to talk about toughness and where I got it from and why I am the way I am it's because of Georgia Woodson, my mother was a fighter and she did it with a smile on her face, sometimes yes, you cry, you know, sometimes you get angry and frustrated and you don't have to show everyone that you know you can.

Do it on your own, but then when you get out and come back to that corner, you'll be ready to go through high school. Woodson's feet were straight, the straps were off, the heels were on, so what do you think? Capri, there's a shot, I certainly thought. I had never been around an athlete like that before, I knew right away that he was something special every time he touched the ball, he could do things that, you know, you thought, holy crap. Woodson set school records for single-season and career rushing yards and once scored seven touchdowns in a game.

Football symbolically defeated the best football player in the state of Ohio in 1994, Mr. Charles, could you see me play football and basketball with them? They probably feel like I think I'm pretty good at it. I have a lion here, but it's just the eyes that say the lion is not supposed to be tamed. What does that mean? That means don't try to put me in a box because I'm not going. He wouldn't join Heisman-winning running backs like Archie Griffin and Eddie George in the mr. from Ohio State Ohio. football I would play cornerback for the Buckeyes' arch-nemesis, Michigan, yeah, I have people around me that know my hometown in the state and say wait a minute, not this guy, he's one of the best players in this state.

I got some criticism, but it just so happens that this is uh e pluribus unum, meaning that out of many, it was obvious to everyone from the first moment that he was on campus and that he was going to be a great player 11 games into his career. university. Charles Woodson was on his way to becoming the Big Ten. Freshman of the year in the season finale against Ohio State, he made it, they're undefeated now, this is an opportunity for them to go to the national championship game and our whole mentality, you know that week was not in our control, that performance that day. can't play better, he had his first interception in the third quarter, but that last play he made in the fourth quarter, Ohio State was looking for a chance to tie the game, of course we won the game, we surprised Ohio State when the game It was finished. on the line I would show it and that's what it was.

I mean, it was a break in the game the next offseason. Woodson would become such a mold breaker that next year we were going to lose two of our best players to my knee tumor and my quicksilver haze and a conversation arose about me playing offense. I was like, yeah, I'd love to play offense, but I play on the outside, I play receiver, not running back, he had such an innate feel for playing defense. I knew if he had just had a little time and some reps on offense that he could contribute and what is that Avenue I was in heaven even in the ball game the ball was going to move and they can still stop Woodson's ability to impact a game seemed limitless, but a practice dispute with his head coach left him in danger of being benched until he received a phone call from the highest authority if you don't want to go to school by yourself and do it by yourself. you, I told him to do it for me and he said okay and that was the end.

I have been asked many times if it was difficult to train Charles, did you ever have any problems? And for the first time I will tell you that I did have a problem with him. I called his mother and she fixed it quickly. I never had it. Another problem: He wanted to win a championship and he really wanted to win it and if he had to get me more involved in the offense or whatever, sign me up, he thinks he can make all the plays and I'll be damned if he can. Woodson didn't make nearly all of the plays when he was a junior.

Woodson was a one-of-a-kind do-it-all dominant force on a Michigan team he started having. No, the regular season finale against Ohio State was no ordinary rivalry game. Woodson was the most organized. memorable performance of his college career when I get to the end zone, I actually tell the cameras to focus because I'm about to do the pose and my teammates jump on me so I couldn't get the posts right Desmond has to pose I have the rose after the game of course the emotions are running high they gave me two rolls and almost no spontaneous reaction I grab it I bite it just to confirm going to the Rose Bowl we knew that you know The cards were stacked against him for the Heisman, There's no way they would give it to a defensive player, you know, but that doesn't happen, of course, the favorite, you know, is Peyton Manning all year long, basically, it's like people gave.

We told you months ago. I remember thinking in the back of my mind to just do the right thing, like he's the best player in college football and Michigan's interior throws some. Put your head down. We told him, but it didn't happen like that. I didn't sink completely Randy, he nudges me at that moment as if he woke me up a little. I just won the Heisman Trophy, it wasn't about the guard numbers for me, the voters had said that this year they were going to vote for the best football player in the country, their number one goal and they were very vocal about it, they weren't individual awards, it was the national championship in Woodsen's final college game, his interception in the end zone helping Michigan win its first national championship in half a year. century for him to go out like that in the Rose Bowl we all wanted Charles to win and finally take care of that business.

I felt free to myself. It was like a weight off my shoulders. It's time to continue. next chapter with the fourth pick in the draft the Oakland Raiders have selected University of Michigan defensive back Charles Woodson there is a fine line between being confident and being cocky so I have a little bit of that sure it's okay I play football with me Charles Woodson had many moves but saved the best for the field. Woodson was the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1998. It was an honor he earned through instinct and raw talent, not through practice and studying.

You know, when he was with the Raiders, he was a cornerback. exclusively and I can remember him playing very well, but practice was a different story. Sometimes after practice, Woodson would get in the car with Charlie Garner and I would call Ray Rice and say, oh no, here goes, there were some days you watched. back and it would be, you know, head down, hat down, in the back, you know, kind of off season because Charles really isn't like whatever you know, look, I've got that guy , you have that guy, let's go, but you know at that moment that he doesn't.

I don't realize that we all can't just go. I got that guy that we're not good enough. You know, on our path or where we're trying to get to. Man. You're trying to get to the championship. Championship in three one two. three in 2001 the Raiders made the playoffs in frozen Foxborough the Raiders defeated Tom Brady they led by three with just over two minutes left in a trip to the AFC championship game, but the way it should have ended, yeah , I'm leaving the On the left side I see Brady try the bag getting ready to throw the ball, it's my chance, and he shook his former Michigan teammate, Dave, more or less, we thought the play was going to be reviewed Although very wild, he brings his prize, but that must not happen. the ball he hit, he pulled it, he was throwing the ball back, so the more time went by, the more everyone was on the sidelines, like I think we're about to get screwed, that's the worst decision in the history of all sports, all the air was left. outside the Oakland Raiders after that happened, we never recovered on a dark, freezing night, clearly not a fumble, the guy was going to throw the ball, he pumped it, he put it back on the ground and I didn't hit him, the ball It came off as unfunny, so you shouldn't totally agree at the time.

In fact, it was annulled, very good, I disagree. Tom owes me a debt, but you know? At any point, I've never talked about that play, so I imagine that maybe at some point maybe I'll just sit with him in a lonely bar somewhere just him and me and I just asked him point blank, just tell me if you could tell him to everyone what it was, what it was, I know what I would say next season. Woodson suffered a shoulder injury that sidelined him for two months and then broke it. The fibula caused him to miss the last three games of the regular season.

He returned for the playoffs with a steel plate in his leg despite the injury. Woodson had an interception in Super Bowl 37. It wasn't enough that we went out and we got sidetracked. On the field. and I felt so bad because that's my baby, that's my son. I said, if you put up with everything you asked for, you've done it, you want to get a ring in 2005. Woodson broke his leg and was out. In six weeks, some have seen that the former All-Pro is no longer elite with a long list of on-field injuries and off-field issues. DUI control.

Bad attitude. At times I was a bad teammate, not a team player. Absolutely false on the cross, it says forgive me, father. because I don't know what I'm doing, the concept behind it was: I don't think I did anything bad enough to warn me I was going to hell, so please forgive me if I did, but the NFL can be an unforgiving business in 2006. Woodsen finished. in Oakland his coronation of Cardinal mom I'm tired of all this, man, I think I'm thinking about retiring. I got this one pretty early and it says only God can judge me.

I think you know what that means. God works in mysterious ways. ways like when Woodsen's agent called with an unexpected offer from an unlikely team. I was like Green Bay. I didn't tell you to call Green Bay. Why are we talking about Green Bay retiring for the Packers? Those were his options in 2006. Woodson reluctantly signed with The first time I met him in Green Bay I thought I'd heard his nickname was Chuck and when I referred to him that, he turned to me and said, "Don't ever call me "Chuck. I was scared to death. Not really." I didn't want to be there, I had no idea how I got there and at that moment I didn't want to stay.

I think he was actually looking for a way out. He almost fulfilled his wish after a heatedargument with a coach at practice and I remember one of the coaches told me you can't do that and I lost it, take my name out of your mouth and I was directed to one of the coaches who was yelling at him, don't talk to me, I won't talk. you for the rest of the time I'm here I remember practice coach McCarthy came into my office and said well, George, I'm considering suspending you. I told him to give it a little time.

I said Charles is a Green Bay Packers through and through. he just hasn't realized it yet and we just talked about conflict and you know, sometimes conflict is good, you know, and you can grow from me. I was able to let you know, I guess there are people to undermine. that armor a little bit, you know, and let some people in, that's that man. I was able to relax and just go out and do my job in 2009. Woodsen was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, I still don't know what the key to him is. When you take away his balls, you look at him and you know what he has been able to do.

Casise surrenders his body to get the ball away, which is huge, it's really a difference in some games that can only tell you the number of times he, you know, forced a fumble on a ridiculous tackle, if you break the ball, it they will. Every time he was going to make a tackle he was going after the ball and what I discovered is that if I hit the ball hard enough and I can dislodge it a little bit, the runner will fall and that's it. It's a beautiful thing, it was like Charles was back in the big house in Michigan bringing it home, finally doing that Heisman pose and having fun with his old Wolverine teammates.

He did the same damn thing to me that he did to Stanley Jackson and Ryan Leaf. He provoked me, you know, and he was there in position and then he came under and picked it up. The worst part was that there was only me between him and the end zone, so he ran next to me and I have the angle, but there's no way I'm going to catch him and look him in the face, man, and everything What he does is smile at me, you know, I was like that, he's the quintessence of Charles, you know, he just smiles as he passes me for a touchdown, the man who at first didn't want to be in Green Bay became the undisputed leader of the Packers Oh mix it up while we were going to the Super Bowl he was the speaker every week and had some greats the Packers were a wild card team and had to win three playoff games on the road to get to the Super Bowl the last stop was Chicago home of the favorite team of President Obama, he says if the Bears go to the Super Bowl and he would go to the Super Bowl, but if the Bears don't go to the Super Bowl he doesn't want to participate, so we go to Chicago and win the NFC championship, so I walk in and I'm trying to figure out what to say.

I got it, the president doesn't want to come see him. to the Super Bowl I'll go see it nice extremely slanted bow challenge I remember thinking about the first time I was at the Superbowl playing with that plate on my leg. I'm just thinking to myself that this is the best I've ever felt in my life. before halftime, Woodson broke his collarbone, his Super Bowl was over, oh man, he was paying instant pay; It was difficult for me to be on the sidelines and not be able to contribute physically. Wonderful of him, everyone always talks about the halftime speech, what did he do? you say cry like I've never cried before, hearing from them it was difficult just seeing the emotion on their face and again I'm not talking about sadness and I'm necessarily talking about passion and when he starts talking everyone listens and I think we all get even more inspired listening to him and Fortunately we made it.

I'm glad he was on our team walking up to you, hugging him and kissing him on the cheek. I said you did it. If you have I guess I have to give a special welcome to Charles Woodson. Where's Woodson? Charles said if the president doesn't want to come see us at the Super Bowl, then we'll go with him. Charles, you are a man of your word. and now I have learned something that every NFL quarterback already knows very well, don't mess with Charles, what is it, of course, I have the Lombardi and the little body says my rightful place in history, now I can sit legitimately where I'm supposed to be. in the story because I want it all in the NFL this is a Libra sign it's actually a glyph this speaks true to me and I guess I just need a reminder to always be true to myself you know, at the age of 35 Charles Woodson once again led the NFL in interceptions, but shortly after his time in Green Bay came to an end, you can never say never, that happened to me twice, I guess, because I would have told you in 2006 that I would never play for Green Bay and I believed.

In Green Bay I never would have thought in a million years that he would return to Oakland. People have been there at the facility since early that morning chanting my name, you know, with signs and my old Oakland jersey and I was like holy. The cow has to be kidding. I wish everyone in the world could feel what someone like me feels at that particular moment. If they could feel like that for an hour, it would work. I'm going out to Oakland. I'm 37 years old. This is about family. It's about love and it's about fighting, going out and winning, you learn from them and you just watch their every move because he's great so he's inspirational and seeing a guy like Charles Woodson you can't believe he was and held to that true self. those guys I was a grandfather, I was always an uncle, you know, of course, big brother, it was always one of those terms that let me know every minute of the day that I was the old man in a room, the old man never missed another beginning.

In his career, Woodson scored 13 defensive touchdowns, tying him for the most in NFL history. The things he was able to do on the field were spectacular. It was fun to see. He didn't have to use as much energy as he would have to use a person. I say this because he could already anticipate what was going to happen and most of the time he would tell us what was happening. The only defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy once again created a one-member club. The female blitz that Charles Woodson must have. I've been drinking from the fountain of youth before this game 26 now it's 50 20 he says Wow, but I'm not done yet, how did you get up in the air like that?

At 39, he was the final membership requirement for Woodsen's exclusive club, sixty. -five interceptions and twenty sacks 2015 will be my last season playing in the NFL. It has been a pleasure for me to come back and play here for the second time. You welcomed me with open arms as if I had never left. I only want. You know how much that means to me missing my family or my two kids, that's great, now these Pro Bowlers look like one last game in their 2015-2016 season, they go to the locker room and have the box open. Pick him up, throw him back with that tissue paper, it was like he was the last man, so they had to get it right for me, still to come.

Charles is such a wonderful role model, he is a great human being, very understood and expected, so I am just going through life. You understand man, the more you have, the more people expect of you and that's something I try to live with as far as trying to do my part, we were trying to brainstorm what we call it and all the days I went out to practice, everyone would do it. I said hello 824 and I thought to myself, that's the obvious one, we've had this name all along, you drink great wine, it takes time, it takes patience, it takes breeding and that's what it took me to get to the point where The one I'm in life, former Michigan Wolverine Charles Woodson had a big day against the Lions, seven tackles, two interceptions, but he actually did his best work off the field with a two million dollar donation to Mott Children's Hospital and to the U of M Women's Hospital, which opens.

In the fall of 2012 I was in the hospital several times. We went there walking through the hospital seeing all these children. You don't have the ability to just be kids struggling and you know I felt like I was. I am in a position to raise awareness, be a voice and do everything I can to help, so in 2003 we contacted him and asked if he would help us be part of the effort to raise money for Children's Hospital. I didn't blink an eye and he helped us raise $75 million for this building. It wouldn't have happened. There was not a single person who devoted more time and effort to defending Mott Hospital than Charles.

It's going up nine stories and around 2008, when The building was taking shape and we were able to walk through the building and see the structure and look out over the campus. He told me: I want to do more and I want to be a role model, and that's how we ended up sitting in my office signing your donation agreement. It's a really extraordinary legacy that you've built. It started as an athlete. It started with this facility and now it's all about programs and people and to push the needle for devastating diseases and children. He is really a great man.

It's surprising how many people there are. Doing this just to find a cure for my illness and it makes me so happy. Faith was born with these rare diseases that only a couple of people knew about very early on during some very difficult periods when she was undergoing massive surgical procedures. very painful surgical procedures Charles, what are you doing here? She's getting so tall, you know, it's one of those things that, for some reason, she and I clicked, you know, and it was like she instantly became one of my best friends, it was fun. It was great meeting you for the first time and that we have been friends every time we do fundraising events.

One of the first things Charles always asks for is that her faith be there because he really has a deep relationship with her. He has been through a series of medically and surgically horrific experiences. I mean, what kind of friend wants to cure your illness? We have a you know, nice one, there is no special relationship, you are like a bright light in a dark hallway, I don't think that was the case. I don't come here to cry thank you thank you I really don't see him as famous I see him as my friend and I love him because he is my friend, that's very important, it means a lot to me, you know, it means a lot to me.

I Charles is a wonderful role model. We have all kinds of Michigan alumni from a sports standpoint. From an academic point of view. Civic engagement. I don't think any of them were held in higher regard than Charles Woodson. This is my oldest son. This is Charles. jr. This is a line I got from Superman. I don't think that's exactly the way he says it, but he says his son becomes the father, the father becomes his son and my other son, that's his foot and he was born first, the appointment for him. You have to walk a mile in my shoes, but tell your own story, make your own story, haunt my children, they will always be compared to me in some way, so they will have to use it.

I mean, there's no way around it, but at the same time they. They can still do their own thing, you know, make their own way, don't worry about the people who talk about me all the time, ignore that, do your thing, this is an Egyptian ankh, it's about eternal life, I can live forever , it's about what I do in In this life I want people to talk about me for years, they come. I think the way I'd like people to remember me is that I want them to see a guy who did it his way, maybe it wasn't always the right way, but it was his. away whatever he did he tried to learn from it I just want everyone to understand something is bigger than me he has always been bigger than me when I look at the game of football it has given me almost everything I have in life whether meeting my wife, you know, having my kids, where I live, where I've gone, I guess the only thing that's really unique is that I'm me and I've done a lot of things that no one else has done.

Hey guys, thanks for coming, it's fun, why? no Greetings, it is good wine