“Rod Woodson is supposed to be one of the NFL’s best all-around players for the next ten years.” -Curt Gowdy, September, 1988, during the Steelers-Redskins game

Commentators love sweeping statements like these, but this shows that even legends like Curt Gowdy can fall far off target. “Off target” not because Woodson didn’t dominate, but because he dominated for far longer than a decade.

Rod Woodson has earned his spot at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio where he joins the select few who not only embodied excellence, but who were privileged enough and talented enough to make the game better because of their play.

NFL Hall of Famer picks off a pass as 1994 Steelers triumph over Browns in Cleveland; Photo Credit: eff Glidden/Associated Press

Rod Woodson’s NFL Records

Rod Woodson’s talent was so rare that Chuck Noll told his scouts not even to bother working him. The Steelers picked 10th in the 1987 NFL Draft, and Noll knew that Woodson would never fall that far. Woodson fell…

Woodson arrived at a team with an established legacy of defensive dominance. He did not merely live up to the Steeler’s legacy, Rod Woodson helped redefine it. Consider Woodson’s current NFL records:

• 11 Pro Bowls, a record for a defensive back
• Most interception return yardages (1,483)
• Most interceptions returned for touchdowns (12)
• The first player to earn Pro Bowl slots at kick returner, cornerback, and safety
• Tied for most fumble recoveries in a game (3)

In 1994, Rod Woodson was also only one of five NFL players to make the NFL’s 75th Anniversary Team.

Moments that Define a Play Maker and Game Changer

Nice numbers, but they never truly measure a player’s excellence. Greatness means stepping up with the game on the line. The truly great ones alter the course of games when the outcome remains in doubt. Rod Woodson did that time and time again as a Pittsburgh Steeler. Here are a few Hall of Fame Worthy games from:

• Rod Woodson returned his very first interception for a touchdown.
• He had Chuck Noll’s back during the dark days of 1988.
• Woodson helpe the 1989 Steelers spark special teams rallies and…
• …added the exclamation point to Chuck Noll’s final playoff victory in 1989.
• Woodson elped seal shaky victories in 1990 and 1993, and Rod Woodson shut down the great Jerry Rice in 1990.
• Woodson helped Bill Cowher draw first blood against his mentor Marty Schottenhimer in 1992,
• He and played a role in giving the Steelers exclusive ownership of the AFC Central in a game against Houston at mid-season.
• Woodson’s Career Game came against New Orleans in 1993,
• In 1994 Woodson provided Steelers Nation a stark moment of déjà vu at the Houston Astrodome
• Finally, he returned from an ACL injury in Super Bowl XXX
• And, in his final season as a Steeler he made Vinny Testaverde pay one last time

1987 Woodson’s 1st Interception, First TD vs. Cincinnati, (10/22/87)
Woodson got his first interception in his fourth game as a pro, and he made it count with a 45 yard return for a touchdown that put gave the Steelers a 13-3 lead heading into the half in a game they eventually won 30-16.

1988, Rallying for the Emperor vs. Denver, (10/23/88)
The Steelers were 1-7 and Terry Bradshaw had just called for Chuck Noll to step down. The Steelers vanquished the defending AFC Champion Broncos 39-21. Woodson did his part with 10 tackles, with a 29 yard interception return and 1 forced fumble.

1989, Special Teams Spark, vs. San Diego, (11/11/89)
San Diego had just gone up 10-6. It was only the third quarter, but with the league’s 28th ranked offense, the game looked to be slipping away. Rod Woodson sparked a comeback with a 84 yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

1989 AFC Wild Card game
An Exclamation Point to the Emperor’s Last Hurrah vs. Houston at the Astrodome, (12/31/89)
The 1989 Steelers were in the playoffs in hostile territory. Gary Anderson had just sent the game into over time, but the Oilers won the toss. Houston was advancing, and it looked as if Chuck Noll’s nemesis Jerry Glanville might get the better of The Emperor one more time.

Rod Woodson had other plans. Oilers running back Lorenzo White just began to get separation running to the outside when, out of nowhere, Woodson blasted him, forced a fumble, and returned it deep enough to set up Gary Anderson’s game winning field goal.

1990, Sealing the Game with Special Teams vs. Houston, (9/16/90)
Joe Walton inaugurated his first season as offensive coordinator by directing an effort that failed to score a touchdown during the entire first month. Yet the Steelers started 2-2. David Johnson had already returned an interception for a touchdown, and Woodson’s 52 yard fourth quarter punt return for a touchdown sealed the victory.

1990, Rod Woodson Shuts Down Jerry Rice vs. San Francisco, at Candlestick Park (10/25/90)
Steelers fans will always remember this as the game where Barry Foster stood there and watched a kick off return lay on the turf as it were a punt. But it was also the first match up between Rod Woodson and Jerry Rice. Pittsburgh lost the game 27-7, but Rod Woodson completely shut down Jerry Rice, keeping the NFL’s best ever receiver out of the end zone and holding him to 3 catches for 31 yards.

1992, Special Teams First Strike vs. Kansas City, at Arrowhead, (10/25/92)
After starting 3-0, the Steelers had dropped their next two. They’d rebounded with a win over the Bengals, but they still needed to validate contender status with a win over a legitimate AFC big boy. Woodson helped make it happen by scoring the game’s first points with a 80 yard punt return. The Steelers won 23-3, prompting Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola to declare that the Steelers could now be expected to contend with any NFL team at anytime.

1992, Steelers Own the AFC Central vs. the Houston Oilers, (11/1/92)
Woodson had helped Pittsburgh shock the NFL by going down to Houston and defeating the Oilers in the season opener. At mid-season they battled for AFC Central supremacy. As the Steelers were mounting their come back, Woodson nailed Warren Moon on a cornerback blitz, knocking him out of the game. The Steelers held on to win. NFL Films spied Woodson walking off the field, declaring to jubilant fans “We own the division baby!”

1993, Woodson’s Career Game vs. the New Orleans Saints, (10/17/93)
Rod Woodson intercepted Wade Wilson’s first pass and returned it 63 yards for a touchdown. For an encore, showing incredible concentration, Woodson picked off Wilson’s second pass on a sideline pattern. The New Orleans Saints did not get a first down until the 4th quarter as the Steelers thumped them 37 to 14. ESPN’s Tom Jackson reflected on Woodson’s performance this way “that is a career, in one game.”

1993, A Pick in Time, vs. Miami at Joe Robbie Stadium, (12/13/93)
The Steelers struggled to maintain consistency during the second half of the 1993 season, and this game gives you the perfect snap shot. Pittsburgh had built up a 21-6 lead in the fourth quarter, only to watch the Dolphins bring the score back to 21-20. The Steelers failed to run out the clock, giving Steve DeBerg one last chance to rally the team. Woodson intercepted DeBerg’s pass and returned it 54 yards as time expired. As Dan Dierdorff said, “Right now Bill Cowher is very glad that Rod Woodson is a Pittsburgh Steeler.”

1994, Déjà Vu All Over Again vs. Houston at the Astrodome, (11/6/94)
The Steelers and Oilers traded field goals all afternoon. Al Del Greco tied the game late in the fourth quarter, and overtime began with Houston getting the ball. The Oilers were threatening to get into field goal range when Rod Woodson forced Gary Brown to fumble, and set up Gary Anderson’s 40 yard game winner.

Super Bowl XXX
Becoming the First Player to Return from an ACL Injury in a Season, vs. Dallas, at Sun Devil Stadium, (1/28/96)
In the season opener against Detroit, Barry Sanders made a cut, and Rod Woodson planted to pivot and pursue. As Woodson says today, “My foot went in one direction, my knee the other.” A torn ACL cost Woodson the season, but Bill Cowher refused to put him on IR.

In Super Bowl XXX, Woodson became the first player ever to return from an ACL injury in a single season, but no one knew how he’d play. Shortly before kick off NBC Steeler-hater Chris Collinsworth derided Woodson’s feat, claiming that Cowboy coaches had told him “he’s slow, he’s tentative, we don’t expect him to make an impact.”

Tell that to Michael Irvin. Woodson shadowed Irvin on several occasions, and on one occasion knocked the ball out of Irvin’s hands and then got in his face.

1996, Tormenting Vinny on last time vs. Baltimore (9/6/96)
The Steeler’s first game against their two-be rivals also mark’s the last entry on our list. We’ll discuss the irony of that later, but for now consider that the Steelers had opened the week earlier with a 29-9 loss a Jacksonville. They’d began the game with 8 linebackers active and, in addition to losing Greg Lloyd for the season, the linebacker corps was so decimated that Monday after coaches were discussing the possibly of moving to a 3-4.

On the game’s second snap Vinny Testaverde thought he would get cute and test Woodson. Yeah, Right. Rod Woodson punished him by intercepting the pass and returning it 43 yards for a touchdown.

Honor Bittersweet for Steelers Nation

Woodson is the first Steeler from outside of the first Super Bowl Era to enter the Hall of Fame. Although the Hall of Fame is an individual honor, the move is also significant for the Steelers. As one of Steel Curtain Rising’s readers pointed out, the 1987 draft and Woodson’s arrival signaled the resurgence which continues until this day.

But Rod Woodson did not finish his career as a Steeler. He played for the San Francisco 49ers, won a Super Bowl with the Ravens, and lost another with the Oakland Raiders.

Steelers fans like to say, “well, yeah, but it was as a Steeler that Rod made a name for himself.” True. But Woodson added considerably to his reputation elsewhere. In addition to winning a Super Bowl, Woodson netted just under half of his interceptions, and returned more than half of those interceptions for touchdowns wearing another uniform.

To one degree or another, Woodson’s story is merely a sign of the times. Of the few players blessed with longevity, even fewer play their entire career with one team.

The One that [Shouldn’t Have] Gotten Away

Roster turnover is a reality of the modern NFL, and the Steelers have generally managed it well.
But this is one case that Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney wishes he’d handled differently. Woodson left the Steelers in 1996, but less than a year later Rooney was already having buyers remorse, as reported by Steelers.com.

“When Franco Harris went to Seattle, that was the most difficult,” Dan Rooney told The New York Times in 1997. “But this thing with Rod is right up there. I really wish he was finishing his career with us for a lot of reasons. It hurts.”

Woodson Comes Home Again

Like Franco Harris, Rod Woodson and the Steelers made amends, with Woodson returning to Heinz Field to serve as an honorary game captain for the Steelers in the AFC Championship game. Woodson, while rightly proud of his accomplishments elsewhere, has even said that if forced to choose, he would opt to enter Canton as a Steeler.

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