Rod Woodson

Roderick Kevin "Rod" Woodson (born March 10, 1965) is a former American football defensive back who played in the National Football League for seventeen seasons. He had a 10-year stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers and was a key member of the Baltimore Ravens' Super Bowl XXXV championship season. He also played for the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders, wearing the jersey number 26 throughout his career. He holds the NFL records for career interception return yardage (1,483) and interception returns for touchdowns (12), and was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1993. His 71 career interceptions is the third-most in NFL history. He was an inductee of the Class of 2009 of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio on August 8, 2009.

From his retirement in 2003 to February 2011, Woodson worked as an analyst for the NFL Network on NFL Total Access and Thursday Night Football, and as a color-commentator for the Big Ten Network. He spent the 2011 season as the Raiders' cornerbacks coach.

Early years
Woodson was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was the youngest of three siblings, with whom he had close relationships. His father, the late James Woodson, was African-American, and his mother, Linda Jo, was Caucasian. Woodson attended R. Nelson Snider High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He played defensive back and a variety of offensive skill positions and was all-state his junior and senior seasons. In addition to football, he won both the high and low hurdles state championships in both his junior and senior seasons; and played varsity basketball his junior and senior seasons, making all-conference his senior year.

College career
Woodson accepted a full scholarship to play football at Purdue University, in part because of a desire to pursue a degree in electrical engineering. He played primarily as a defensive back and kick returner, but also saw time on offense as a running back and wide receiver. He was named an All-American defensive back in 1985 and 1986, and was a three time All-Big Ten first team selection. In his final collegiate game, Woodson gained over 150 combined rushing and receiving yards, in addition to making ten tackles and forcing a fumble, leading Purdue to a victory over arch-rival Indiana.

Woodson left Purdue with 13 individual records, tying the school record with eleven career interceptions. He currently is ranked in the top ten in career interceptions, solo tackles, total tackles, passes deflected, and kickoff return yardage as a Boilermaker.

In addition to his exploits on the gridiron, Woodson was also an accomplished track and field athlete at Purdue, and was twice awarded All-America honors. As of January 2009, he still holds the school records in both the 60 and 110 meter hurdles. He earned five Big Ten championships while at Purdue. In 1984, he qualified for the Olympic Trials in the 100 meter hurdles, but elected to continue his football career in the NFL after graduating from Purdue with a degree in criminal justice.

Woodson was inducted into the Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.

Pro football career
In 1987, Woodson was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers as the 10th overall draft pick. He returned punts and played defensive cornerback for Pittsburgh through the 1996 season. On November 22, 1987 he recorded his first career interception when he picked off a Boomer Esiason pass.

A banner that hung for years in Three Rivers Stadium stated: "Rod Is God". In 1995, Woodson became the first player to return from reconstructive knee surgery in the same season. He tore his ACL against the Detroit Lions trying to tackle Barry Sanders in the first game and returned to play in Super Bowl XXX between the Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys 19 weeks later. In that game, he broke up a pass intended for Michael Irvin, hopped up and pointed at his reconstructed knee.

In a game against the Houston Oilers, Woodson hit Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon on a cornerback blitz. The hit gave Moon a concussion and forced him to leave the game.

Woodson's career took a nomadic turn after free agency from Pittsburgh, after the Rooney family elected not to renew his contract over a pay dispute as well as the salary cap. (The team had a similar dispute with Franco Harris in 1984 and later with Alan Faneca in 2008.) Although he remained to raise his family in Pittsburgh and later made amends with the Rooneys, he hopped between three additional franchises, becoming one of the few modern cornerbacks to successfully make a transition to the safety position, following in the footsteps of Ronnie Lott. Woodson signed with the San Francisco 49ers for the 1997 season, the Baltimore Ravens for the years 1998 to 2001 (where he won Super Bowl XXXV), and the Oakland Raiders for 2002 and 2003 (where he appeared in his third Super Bowl). In the Raiders 2002 Super Bowl season, 37-year old Woodson led the NFL in interceptions (8) for the first time in his career. His last interception came on November 16, 2003 against the Minnesota Vikings’ Daunte Culpepper. Throughout his NFL playing career Woodson would fly home to suburban Pittsburgh on a weekly basis to be with his wife and five children. 

NFL records and accomplishments
Woodson is among the NFL's all time leaders in games played as a defensive back. In his 17 NFL seasons, Woodson recorded 71 interceptions, 1,483 interception return yards, 32 fumble recoveries (15 offensive and 17 defensive), 137 fumble return yards, 4,894 kickoff return yards, 2,362 punt return yards, and 17 touchdowns (12 interception returns, 1 fumble return, 2 kickoff returns, 2 punt returns). He holds the league record for interceptions returned for touchdowns with 12, and is tied with 11 other players for the record for most fumble recoveries in a single game (3). His 1,483 interception return yards are also an NFL record. His 32 fumble recoveries are a record amongst defensive players. His 71 interceptions rank third all time.

Woodson was named to the Pro Bowl eleven times, a record for a defensive back. He was also the first player to earn trips to the Pro Bowl at cornerback, safety and kick returner. He was named 1993's NFL Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press. He was also a 7-time All-Pro selection. Woodson finished second to Darrell Green in the 1988 NFL Fastest Man Contest.

In 1994, he was named to the NFL's 75th Anniversary Team, one of only five active players to be named to the team. The others were Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, Reggie White and Ronnie Lott. In 1999, he was ranked number 87 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. The College Football News also honored him as one of the 100 greatest players of the 20th century.

In 2007, he was ranked number 22 on USA Today list of the 25 best NFL players of the past 25 years.

On January 31, 2009, Woodson was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Woodson named his friend and business associate Tracy Foster as his presenter. Foster went to Indiana to play basketball for Bob Knight and runs Woodson’s car dealership in Pittsburgh.

Retirement
Woodson was released by the Oakland Raiders on July 27, 2004 after failing his team physical. His replacement at free safety for the Raiders was Stuart Schweigert, who broke Woodson's career interception record at Purdue.

Woodson now helps coach the defense at Valley Christian Senior High in Dublin, California along with former Raider John Parrella. He also is the head coach of the women's Varsity Basketball team. He lives in Pleasanton, California with his wife Nickie and their five children. His son Demitrius plays safety and wide receiver there as well as kick returner.

From 1994 until 2008 Woodson held an annual youth football camp and activities, the Rod Woodson Youth Week, on the grounds of his former high school. This week long camp featured current and former NFL players mentoring kids on football skills and the importance of education. There was a cheer camp, basketball game and concert. Woodson funded the majority of the week that also provided academic awards for camp goers and saw hundreds of kids throughout its existence. He is also a partner in Woodson Motorsports, a BMW motorcycle dealership and repair shop in Fort Wayne.

Woodson used to split his time between NFL Network studios in Los Angeles, his home in Pleasanton, and a cottage in Coldwater, Michigan. He was also part of the studio team for BBC Sport's NFL coverage in 2007, including Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLIII. In February 2011 he accepted the role as the defensive backs coach of the NFL's Oakland Raiders (his former team).

Coaching
The Raiders hired Woodson as their cornerbacks coach on February 14, 2011. He was not retained following the season.