Green Bay Packers: 50 greatest players in franchise history

Greatest players in Green Bay Packers history: 9. Charles Woodson

Though not yet eligible, defensive back Charles Woodson will be a first ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer in 2021. He is not only the lone defense-first player to have won the Heisman Trophy, but he is one of the greatest players in two outstanding NFL organizations: the Packers and the Oakland Raiders. Woodson was drafted No. 4 overall out of Michigan in the 1998 NFL Draft.

His first four years in the league were outstanding with the Silver and Black. However, a mid-career swoon into his late 20s had Woodson about washed up when he arrived in Green Bay. Initially, Woodson didn’t want to play for the Packers in his free agency, preferring to play for a Floridian team. That being said, Woodson would not be a no-doubt hall of famer without his seven-year stint with The Pack.

Woodson made four of his nine career trips to the Pro Bowl in Packers uniform. He led the NFL in interceptions twice in 2009 and 2011. Woodson earned first team All-Pro honors in both of those seasons. In 2009, he would be named NFL Defensive Player of the Year. In the midst of his second prime with the Packers, Woodson would win his only Super Bowl to date as a member of the 2010 team.

Woodson returned to Oakland after the 2012 NFL season. He played three more years for the Silver and Black before retiring as a Pro Bowl safety at age 39. Woodson currently works for ESPN covering NFL games in studio. He is a member of the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 2000s. Sooner rather than later, Woodson will be a Pro Football Hall of Famer, a College Football Hall of Famer and honored by both the Packers and Raiders organizations.