Charles Woodson

Charles Cameron Woodson is a former American football player. He played college football for Michigan, where he led the Wolverines to a national championship in 1997. Woodson, a "two-way player" who played both offense and defense, won the Heisman Trophy in the same year. To date, he is the last player to win the Heisman who was not a running back or quarterback. Woodson played the majority of his career at cornerback, but switched to safety later in his career.

Woodson was drafted by the Raiders fourth overall in the 1998 NFL Draft. In his first season with Oakland, Woodson was selected as the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press. He was named to the Pro Bowl and earned All-Pro recognition three consecutive times (1999–2001). In a 2002 AFC playoff match against the New England Patriots, Woodson seemed to have clinched the game by forcing a fumble by sacking quarterback (and former Michigan teammate) Tom Brady, but the ruling was controversially overturned. Woodson later battled several nagging injuries in consecutive seasons in Oakland, leading to his departure after the 2005 NFL season via free agency.

On April 26, 2006, Woodson signed a seven-year, $52 million contract with the Green Bay Packers who he would later win Super Bowl XLV with over the Pittsburgh Steelers. In his first season in Green Bay, Woodson was the team's punt returner and led the National Football Conference with eight interceptions, surpassing his previous career high of five, in his rookie year. In his second season in Green Bay, the injury problems returned and Woodson was forced to sit out two games. He was the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year for the 2009 NFL season. Woodson is one of the few players in NFL history to play in a Pro Bowl in three different decades (1990s, 2000s, 2010s). He is currently sixth on the all time interceptions list with 65, and is tied with Rod Woodson and Darren Sharper for most career defensive touchdowns with 13. He also is second all time in interceptions returned for touchdowns, with 11.

After Woodson retired in 2015, he signed with ESPN in 2016. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021.