9-Time Pro Bowler Charles Woodson on The Time He Almost Transferred Out of Michigan - 8/12/16

What about your

time

in Michigan? Where did you feel like you grew up when you were in Michigan? Was there a moment in

time

? Well, I guess there were a lot of moments, but you know we, you know me, you spoke for the last time. The night now I'm just telling you a story and you know, are you willing to tell that story here because I haven't heard this one before? Please go here. Well, there were 96 and it was the week before. Yeah, the Michigan Ohio State gang and you know. I came to practice, I wasn't feeling good, my back was a little tight and I told the coach, you know, my back doesn't feel good, he was all like, you know, don't worry, you know, and he gave me a little bit. some Advil or something, you know, take this, don't worry, you don't have to practice today.

I thought great, but no one conveyed that message to Coach Carr, so you know, I went out to practice and I went out, but I kept going. in everything I wore to school, you know, class that day and the coach said, where are the germs on your shoes? I was like, I mean, you know I'm not practicing, you know, go in there and put on the uniform like me. He goes and I put my uniform on and from that moment I already knew that the day was not going to go well at all, so you know we're at practice and he calls me a couple of times, Coach Carr, yeah, yeah, you know. he said you know you're not paying attention if you're going to be here practicing and you're not practicing you have to pay attention.

I say because you know it's me and the guys you know, we could be laughing. and joking or whatever, but we were watching the play, so he must have called me there probably a total of three times the last time he called me there and said, hey, if you're not going to pay attention, then I can leave and I'll I turned around. I walked off the field, walked into the locker room, put my clothes back on and walked to the dorm and said, man, I'm transferring. I'm leaving here, you're gone from Coach Carr and Michigan. I practice staying for weeks and I go, I go, I go, I walk back to the dorm thinking to myself, man, I'm out of here, man, I don't have any deal with this, you know, I mean, so I have to practice My You know a couple of my guys that we all visited Miami.

Hmm, you know, to the hurricanes and we, you know, they're talking, we're talking. I'm like, man, let's all go, man, let's all go to Miami. It was a game and like, come on, you're about to accept your challenge and you're moving as fast as the next day, my position, the coach's vans call me perfectly to the Schembechler room and it's like you listen, Coach Carr wants to talk to you , I need you to do it. Just go there and apologize and everything will be fine and you'll play a game on Saturday. I was like, yeah, that's cool, man, but I'm not apologizing like Charles.

I'm telling you, he just go and apologize, my boy walked there. to Coach Carr's office. I know he asked me a question: How do you think he justified leaving the field? and I was like, yeah, I got it, no, I don't think you have to make an example of me. It was like you know what you're not going to play this week and I got up I said oh I walked back to the advanced buffers office he said he's okay, what did he say? I said well, I'm not playing this week, coach, go Here just apologize, you know what answers the phone, I don't know what he's doing, I know who he's calling, call Miss Woodson.

I told this guy to come down and apologize, and that's all he had to do. Here you talk to him. and your mom is on it so my mom is on the phone and you know this is 96 there is no me I also know luckily she caught my mom at home at that time and some talked to my mom and she asked her: what is the problem? I know my coach wants me to go there, go there and apologize. I'm like he's not apologizing to me. She's like Charles. She said. I understand. I know. I know you.

Are you angry. Are you angry. She said. If you are not. I'm going to apologize for yourself, I didn't do it for me, no boy, and your whole guilt trip is nice, come on man, so I said, okay, I get up, come down, bring it to mom, I did it for myself. man, apologize to the coach, he said, well, you. I know how well Charles played this week and I don't know how you did against Ohio State, we won, I mean, yeah, and you were good with Coach Carr after that fine, after that guy, you know, we met later, the next year. and you know he just looked at me one day we ran into each other in the hallway so you know what son you're growing up with and I was all he said and you turned the corner from there that was it man and then we won. a championship that Rich Eisen will show next year weekdays at noon Eastern Time to the audience