Charles Woodson
When the Green Bay Packers elected not to resign Charles Woodson, the future Hall-of-Famer returned to Oakland to play with his first team, the Raiders.
Woodson had some of his most productive days with the Packers, but that doesn’t take away from his time with the Raiders. Woodson announced Monday that he will retire following his 18th NFL season, which means he started and will finish as a Raider.
Woodson said he realized late last month that he couldn’t play another season and wanted to announce his decision to Raider Nation before playing his final home game on Thursday night against San Diego.
Woodson ranks fifth all-time with 65 interceptions and tied for first with Rod Woodson and Darren Sharper with 13 defensive touchdowns.
He won the Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 1998, the AP Defensive Player of the Year in 2009 and is a three-time, first-team All Pro selection.
Woodson is still playing at a high level at the age of 39 and has five interceptions and three fumble recoveries on the season to prove it. He ranks second in the NFL this season with eight takeaways.
Tough is his middle name. Woodson has had to deal with injuries throughout his career, but he’s figured ways to play with the injuries instead of missing time because of them. He has played the second-most games (252) of any defensive back in NFL history.
No doubt, it’ll be an emotional time for Woodson on Christmas Eve night when he plays for the final time at the Oakland Coliseum. The Raiders could be moving after the season, so it might be the final game the Raiders play at that venue.
Woodson said, “Coming back here and playing for the second time we were able to rekindle something that we had years ago. It was really fun coming back here and playing. It will be a pretty emotional day.”
AUDIO: Woodson announces his retirement :13
AUDIO: Woodson says it is great to be able to finish strong :23
AUDIO: Woodson on playing his final home game Thursday night :21