Charles Cameron Woodson (born October 7, 1976) is an American former professional football player in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers. He spent his first 14 seasons at cornerback and his final four as a safety. Woodson played college football for the Michigan Wolverines, twice earning All-American honors. As a junior in 1997, he was a national champion and the first primarily defensive player in college football history to win the Heisman Trophy.
Selected fourth overall by the Raiders in the 1998 NFL draft, Woodson received Pro Bowl selections during his first four seasons and two first-team All-Pro honors. Woodson left the Raiders after eight seasons to join the Packers, where he played his next seven seasons. During his Packers tenure, Woodson was named Defensive Player of the Year in 2009 and won Super Bowl XLV, while extending his Pro Bowl selections to eight and his first-team All-Pro honors to four. He returned to the Raiders for his last three seasons, earning his ninth Pro Bowl selection in his final season.
One of the NFL's most decorated players, Woodson is tied with Rod Woodson (no relation) and Darren Sharper for the most defensive touchdowns, second in interceptions returned for touchdowns, and tied with Ken Riley for the fifth-most interceptions. He is also one of the few players to appear in a Pro Bowl during three different decades. Woodson was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2018 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021. He became a limited partner of the Cleveland Browns in 2025.
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Early life
Woodson was born in Fremont, Ohio. As a senior at Ross High School, Woodson was named Ohio's "Mr. Football". He finished his high school football career with the school's records for rushing yards (3,861) and scoring (466 points). In his senior season, he was a USA Today All-America selection and Parade High School All-American and recorded 2,028 yards and 230 points. All colleges recruited Woodson as a running back, while Michigan recruited him as a cornerback. In addition to playing football, Woodson also played basketball (point guard) and competed in track and field (relay sprinter and long jumper).
College career
Woodson attended the University of Michigan, where he played for coach Lloyd Carr's Wolverines teams from 1995 to 1997. He became the starter after the second game of his freshman season and played in 34 straight games. In addition to playing cornerback, he returned punts and occasionally played as a wide receiver.
Freshman season
In 1995, Woodson was selected as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, as well as being named to the All-Big Ten First-team by conference coaches, and the second-team by the media. He led the team with five interceptions and eight takeaways.
Sophomore season
In 1996, Woodson set a Wolverine record for pass breakups in a season, with 15. For his efforts, he was named the Chevrolet Defensive Player of the Year and an AP First-team All-American. He was also a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award and named to the All-Big Ten First-team by both the conference coaches and the media.
Junior season
In 1997, Woodson became the third Michigan player in program history to win the Heisman Trophy, joining Tom Harmon (1940) and Desmond Howard (1991). Woodson received 282 more voting points than runner-up Peyton Manning of Tennessee. He was the first full-time defensive player to win the prestigious award, with the only other modern defensive winner being two-way player Travis Hunter in 2024. Woodson led the Michigan Wolverines to an undefeated season and a share of the national championship in the same year. He also won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, as the best defensive college player, as well as winning the Chevrolet Defensive Player of the Year award for a second consecutive season. Woodson was named to the All-Big Ten first-team for a third consecutive season, and was recognized as a unanimous first-team All-American. He also won the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Big Ten Most Valuable Player and the Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year, amongst others.
Woodson finished his three-year collegiate career with 18 interceptions, currently second all-time in University of Michigan football history. Throughout college, Woodson was known for big plays, in big moments of games. As a freshman, he had two interceptions in a victory against the No. 2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. During his Heisman-winning junior year, he made an acrobatic one-handed sideline interception against the Michigan State Spartans. Woodson had two interceptions in the game. In a game against Ohio State, he returned a punt for a touchdown, made an interception in the endzone, and had a 37-yard reception on Michigan's only offensive touchdown scoring drive of the game. Woodson later stated that he tried to do Desmond Howard's famous "pose" after scoring the touchdown, but failed after his teammates mobbed him in the end zone. The win over the Buckeyes lifted Michigan to the Rose Bowl. Michigan played the Washington State Cougars in the Rose Bowl, where Woodson recorded another endzone interception, helping Michigan defeat the Cougars and win a share of the 1997 national championship.
Professional career
Oakland Raiders
Woodson declared his eligibility for the NFL draft following his junior season at Michigan and was selected as the fourth overall pick in the 1998 draft by the Oakland Raiders.
After the 1998 season, Woodson was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press. He started all sixteen games, becoming the first rookie Raider since 1971 to do so. Woodson had 64 tackles that season. He was also third in the league in interceptions (with five), returned one interception for a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals, and produced one forced fumble. Woodson was named to his first Pro Bowl.
In 1999, Woodson had his first career reception, a 19-yard catch, against the San Diego Chargers on November 14. On November 28, against the Kansas City Chiefs, he had a 15-yard interception return for a touchdown in the 37–34 loss. He finished the season with 61 total tackles and a fumble recovery to go along with the pick-six. Woodson was selected to his second Pro Bowl and was named All-Pro by the Associated Press.
In the 2000 season, Woodson started all sixteen games of the season but suffered a turf toe injury, which prevented him from practicing. He finished the year with a career-high 79 tackles, intercepted four passes, forced three fumbles, and recovered one fumble. He earned a third consecutive Pro Bowl nomination. He was named to the All-Pro team by Sports Illustrated, and second-team honors from the Associated Press.
In 2001, his fourth year in the NFL, Woodson started sixteen games. This was the fourth consecutive year Woodson played in every game of the season. Woodson finished with two sacks, one interception, one forced fumble, and one blocked field goal. Woodson returned punts for the first time in the NFL, returning four punts for 47 yards. On January 19, 2002, he participated in the Tuck Rule play against the New England Patriots in the postseason. He was named to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl. He made All-Pro teams of The Sporting News and College and Pro Football Newsweekly and the All-AFC squad of Football News.
In 2002, Woodson suffered his first major injury since his freshman year at Michigan, suffering from a shoulder injury which caused him to be inactive for eight games. The shoulder injury came in the first half of the second game of the season. Despite the injury Woodson played the remainder of the game and was able to force a fumble. After recovering from his shoulder injury, Woodson missed the last three games of the regular season, suffering from a cracked fibula bone in his right leg. Woodson started every Raider game in the 2003 NFL Playoffs, finishing with a start in Super Bowl XXXVII. In the Super Bowl, Woodson showed signs of his injury, but still recorded an interception in a losing effort against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Green Bay Packers
On April 26, 2006, Woodson and the Green Bay Packers reached a 7-year contract agreement that could be worth as much as $52.7 million with bonuses and incentives. He earned $10.5 million in the first year of the deal and $18 million over the first three years. He would have received a $3 million bonus if he was selected to the Pro Bowl in two of the first three years of the contract. Woodson has stated that at the time of the contract he "did not want to come to Green Bay" due to a perception that the city is less than cosmopolitan, but was forced to do so because the Packers were the only team to offer him a contract. The cornerback has since lauded the Packers organization, Mike McCarthy, and the people of Wisconsin for having faith in him, and has declared that "it was truly a blessing coming to Green Bay."
Free of any major injuries during the 2006 season, Woodson (tied with Walt Harris formerly of the San Francisco 49ers) led the National Football Conference with eight interceptions. At the time, that was the most interceptions Woodson had recorded in a single season. On October 22, he had a 23-yard interception return for a touchdown against the Miami Dolphins. Overall, he was tied for third in that statistic in the entire NFL. He was used as his team's starting punt returner for the first time in his NFL career, returning 41 punts for 363 yards.
On October 14, 2007, Woodson picked up a Santana Moss fumble and returned it 57 yards for a touchdown in a 17–14 victory over the Washington Redskins. He recorded an interception in the game, his first of the season. Woodson was named the NFC's Defensive Player of the Week for his performance versus the Redskins, which was the first time he had received that award. On November 4, Woodson had a 46-yard interception return for a touchdown with 59 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to seal a win over the Kansas City Chiefs. He finished the season with 63 total tackles, four interceptions, nine passes defensed, and two fumble recoveries.
On September 15, 2008, Woodson recorded two interceptions in a 48–25 victory over the Detroit Lions. He returned the second interception 41 yards for a touchdown. Woodson was named NFL Defensive Player of the Month for September in 2008. On December 16, 2008, Woodson was named to his fifth Pro Bowl, his first with the Packers. Overall, he finished the season with 62 total tackles, seven interceptions, two pick-sixes, 17 passes defensed, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.
Oakland Raiders (second stint)
On May 21, 2013, Woodson signed a one-year deal with the Oakland Raiders. He played in the preseason and started in week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts. On October 6, in a Week 5 game against the San Diego Chargers, Woodson tied the NFL record (with Darren Sharper and former teammate Rod Woodson) for most defensive touchdowns by scoring on a fumble recovery for his 13th defensive touchdown. He earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors for his game against the Chargers. By the end of the season, he had played in 1,067 of 1,074 possible defensive snaps for the team amassing 97 tackles (75 solo), two sacks, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, three pass defenses, one interception, and the aforementioned touchdown.
In Week 14 of the 2014 season, Woodson earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors for his game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Woodson finished the 2014 season with 111 total tackles, four interceptions, eight passes defensed, one fumble recovery, and one sack. He was ranked 64th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2015.
On January 26, 2015, the Raiders announced via Twitter that they agreed to a contract for Woodson to return for the 2015 season. In the 2015 season, Woodson was moved to strong safety. After this switch, Woodson became one of the few players in NFL history to play at all three spots in the secondary. Prior to Week 5 against the Denver Broncos, Woodson said that he always wanted to intercept a pass from Peyton Manning, as he never accomplished that feat during his career. Woodson lived up to his word and picked off Manning two times. However, the Broncos won 16–10. Woodson was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month for October. On December 21, Woodson announced that he would retire at the end of the season. On January 3, 2016, he played in his final NFL game, a 23–17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. He finished his final season with 74 total tackles, five interceptions, nine passes defensed, one forced fumble, and four fumble recoveries. He was named to the Pro Bowl in his final season.
On February 12, 2016, it was announced that Woodson would be joining ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown, replacing Keyshawn Johnson for the upcoming season. He served in that capacity until 2018 when he moved to Fox Sports to cover college football as an analyst.
NFL career statistics
Career highlights
Awards and honors
NFL
Super Bowl champion (XLV)
NFL Defensive Player of the Year (2009)
NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year (1998)
4× First-team All-Pro (1999, 2001, 2009, 2011)
4× Second-team All-Pro (2000, 2008, 2010, 2015)
9× Pro Bowl (1998–2001, 2008–2011, 2015)
2× NFL interceptions leader (2009, 2011)
NFL 2000s All-Decade Team
PFWA All-Rookie Team (1998)
4× NFL Top 100 — 16th (2011), 36th (2012), 85th (2013), 64th (2015)
Art Rooney Award (2015)
Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame
College
NCAA national champion (1997)
Heisman Trophy (1997)
Walter Camp Award (1997)
Bronko Nagurski Trophy (1997)
Chuck Bednarik Award (1997)
Jim Thorpe Award (1997)
Jack Tatum Trophy (1997)
SN Player of the Year (1997)
Chic Harley Award (1997)
Records
NFL
Consecutive seasons with an interception returned for a touchdown: 6 (2006–2011)
Career defensive touchdowns: 13 (Tied with Rod Woodson and Darren Sharper)
Oakland Raiders career franchise records
Franchise career leader in forced fumbles: 18
Franchise career leader in defended passes/pass deflections: 84
Green Bay Packers career franchise records
Interceptions returned for a touchdown: 9
Defensive touchdowns: 10
Personal life
Woodson is an oenophile who developed his interest in wine while playing football for the first time in Oakland, near the Napa Valley. He partnered with former Robert Mondavi winemaker Rick Ruiz to develop a signature wine label, "Twentyfour by Charles Woodson". The company is based in Napa, California, and is a small boutique winery, producing fewer than one thousand cases per year of its two varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Although the wine bears his name and signature, Woodson was warned by the NFL not to be seen endorsing the wine himself because of the league's alcohol policy. Woodson was arrested twice: in 2000 for DUI, and in 2004 for public intoxication after refusing to get out of a woman's car.
Woodson is married to April (née Dixon) Woodson and they have two sons together, Charles Jr. and Chase. Charles Jr. followed his father and committed to play college football for the Michigan Wolverines.
On November 26, 2009, Woodson contributed $2 million to the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital for pediatric research. Woodson has his own charitable foundation to support the fight against breast cancer called the Charles Woodson Foundation. In October 2012, Woodson donated $100,000 to the Hurricane Sandy relief effort. During the Green Bay Packers' 2010 Super Bowl-winning season, Woodson publicly called out US President Barack Obama on his support for longtime Packers' rivals, the Chicago Bears. In a postgame locker room speech to his teammates, Woodson stated, "The President don't want to come watch us win the Super Bowl? Guess what? We'll go see him" (implying that Green Bay would win the Super Bowl and visit the White House as the winning team does each year). During the 2012 United States Presidential election campaign, Woodson publicly endorsed Obama at a political rally in Green Bay, stating "I believe in what he's trying to do."
On May 20, 2025, Woodson became a non-controlling limited partner of the Cleveland Browns.