Best NFL Players of All Time: Rod Woodson. Ranking the Top Players in History. Place a bet on an NFL football game now.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Rod Woodson

Rod Woodson was unquestionably going to perform his job as soon as he stepped onto an NFL field.

However, Woodson worked multiple jobs. The first was to shut off opposing receivers. He could play physically at the line of scrimmage or use the trail technique to trick a quarterback into thinking the receiver was open before attempting the pass, allowing Woodson to intercept it. He could also play straight coverage, handle several moves, and track the receiver step by step.

Woodson did not stop there, however. He was an outstanding running back tackler and one of the best kick returners of his time. After a long career as an All-Pro cornerback, Woodson transitioned to safety and finished his career there. Woodson was not just one of the best cornerbacks in the game, but also one of its top safeties.

Woodson had 17 NFL seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers (1987-1996), San Francisco 49ers (1997), Baltimore Ravens (1998-2001), and Oakland Raiders (2002-2003), totaling 71 interceptions (third all-time), 1,483 interception return yards (first all-time), 2,362 punt return yards, and 17 non-offensive touchdowns.

He returned 12 interceptions (first all-time), one fumble, two punts, and two kickoffs to the end zone. Woodson, a member of the 1990s All-Decade Team, was named to the Pro Bowl 11 times (a defensive back record), and in 1994, after only seven years as an NFL cornerback, he was named to the NFL’s 75th Anniversary Team. The others were Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, Reggie White, and Ronnie Lott.

Woodson, the 10th overall pick in the 1987 NFL draft (from Purdue University), relished the fact that he grew up in an era when pass coverage was significantly more muscular than it is today. In the unlikely case that he got beaten for a few steps, Woodson was not afraid to put his hands on the receiver. “If they ran by you, you could push them and slow ’em up, so how could you ever get beat deep?” he was asking. “Wouldn’t it be fun? You may scare the receivers.”

However, as the years passed and defensive backs faced increasing limits, Woodson made every necessary adjustment and rarely lost a battle. He set the tone for the Steelers (and later the 49ers, Ravens, and Raiders), which his teammates noticed.

“It’s crazy,” stated Steelers cornerback D.J. Johnson in 1994. “You can’t touch the receiver, and they may do whatever they want to get it open. You have to rely on a strong pass rush and some liberal officials. Rod’s ability to perform what he does is quite remarkable. How can you protect a person that close, tip the ball, or make an interception on every play without getting a penalty? It simply requires tremendous athletic skill.”

After Woodson won back-to-back Pro Bowls in 1992 and 1993, opponents recognized his ability to make plays and began strategizing against him. They avoided throwing to his side of the field for fear that he might intercept the ball or create a turnover. Steelers head coach Bill Cowher altered Woodson’s job, transforming him into a hybrid cornerback/safety who could find the ball and make plays even when the receiver he was covering was not participating.

Cowher’s directions were not always specific. He just informed Woodson, in his trademark jaw-dropping style, that he needed to find the ball and make a play. “He kind of thrives on that and has taken his game to another level,” Cowher told me. “You have to try to get him around the football as much as possible.” If you leave him alone, they will be able to plan their escape. “We want him involved.”

Woodson stated that when he came into his own with the Steelers, it was a mix of his experience, athletic ability, and defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau’s coaching that transformed him into one of the best all-around defensive players the game has ever produced. “Coach LeBeau was such a stickler for technique,” Woodson explained. “He understood what we needed to do and excelled at instructing us. We did it the proper way. We followed our procedure and fulfilled all of our responsibilities. We kept on the receiver’s outside shoulder and did not freelance.

Woodson’s career would have been spectacular even if it had ended during the 1995 season, when an anterior-cruciate ligament injury sidelined him and jeopardized his playing days. He did not have the same quickness when he returned, but he went to free safety and became one of the finest at the position while playing for the 49ers, Ravens, and Raiders.

His most notable season in the second half of his career occurred in 2000, his third season with the Ravens. That season, Baltimore won the championship with the league’s greatest defense since the 1985 Bears. Middle linebacker Ray Lewis was in the prime of his career and clearly the unit’s finest player and captain, but he was one of the first to recognize how important Woodson was to the club as a free safety.

Woodson’s 77 tackles, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, and four interceptions provided Baltimore’s sack-oriented, hard-charging defense the assurance that if the pass rushers couldn’t get to the quarterback, Woodson would make the play in the secondary.

He would play three more seasons, making one more All-Pro team in 2002, before calling it a career. He was a dominant player at the start, middle, and end. Before and after knee surgery. One of a kind.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Rod Woodson Stats

Regular Season

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	Int	Yds	TD	Lng	PD	FF	Fmb	FR	Yds	TD	Sk	Comb	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sfty	AV
1987	22	PIT	DB	26	8	0	1	45	1	45			3	2	0	0	0	20						0
1988	23	PIT	RCB	26	16	16	4	98	0	29		1	3	3	2	0	0.5	88						6
1989	24	PIT	RCB	26	15	14	3	39	0	39		4	3	4	1	0	0	80						18
1990	25	PIT	RCB	26	16	16	5	67	0	34		1	3	3	0	0	0	66						20
1991	26	PIT	RCB	26	15	15	3	72	0	41		1	3	3	15	0	1	71						9
1992	27	PIT	LCB	26	16	16	4	90	0	57		4	2	1	9	0	6	100						19
1993	28	PIT	LCB	26	16	16	8	138	1	63		2	2	1	0	0	2	95						16
1994	29	PIT	LCB	26	15	15	4	109	2	37		3	2	1	0	0	3	83	67	16				20
1995	30	PIT	DB	26	1	1			0			0					0	1	0	1				0
199	31	PIT	LCB	26	16	16	6	121	1	43		0	1	3	42	1	1	67	57	10				12
1997	32	SFO	LCB	26	14	14	3	81	0	41		1	0	1	0	0	0	48	43	5				5
1998	33	BAL	LCB	26	16	16	6	108	2	60		0	0	0	0	0	0	88	76	12				7
1999	34	BAL	FS	26	16	16	7	195	2	66	18	0	1	2	0	0	0	65	53	12	3			12
2000	35	BAL	FS	26	16	16	4	20	0	18	10	2	0	3	4	0	0	77	67	10	3			17
2001	36	BAL	FS	26	16	16	3	57	1	47	12	1	0	1	0	0	0	76	56	20	3			11
2002	37	OAK	FS	26	16	16	8	225	2	98	16	0	0	3	64	0	0	82	70	12	0			16
2003	38	OAK	FS	26	10	10	2	18	0	13	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	51	41	10	1			4
Career					238	229	71	1483	12	98	59	20	23	32	137	1	13.5	1158	530	108	10			192
10 yrs		PIT			134	125	38	779	5	63		16	22	21	69	1	13.5	671	124	27				120
4 yrs		BAL			64	64	20	380	5	66	40	3	1	6	4	0	0	306	252	54	9			47
2 yrs		OAK			26	26	10	243	2	98	19	0	0	4	64	0	0	133	111	22	1			20

Playoffs

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	G	GS	Int	Yds	TD	Lng	PD	FF	Fmb	FR	Yds	TD	Sk	Comb	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sfty
1989	24	PIT	RCB	2	2			0			0					0
1992	27	PIT	LCB	1	1			0			0	1	0	0	0	0
1993	28	PIT	LCB	1	1			0			0	0	0	0	0	0
1994	29	PIT	LCB	2	2	1	6	0	6	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	8	7	1
1995	30	PIT	DB	1	0							0	0	0	0	0
1996	31	PIT	LCB	2	2			0			0	0	0	0	0	0	11	11	0
1997	32	SFO	LCB	2	2			0			0	0	0	0	0	0	5	5	0
2000	35	BAL	FS,S,SS	4	4			0			0	0	0	0	0	0	25	18	7	0
2001	36	BAL	FS	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	8	4	0
2002	37	OAK	FS	3	3	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	22	18	4	0
Career				20	19	1	6	0	6	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	83	67	16	0
6 yrs		PIT		9	8	1	6	0	6	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	19	18	1
2 yrs		BAL		6	6	0	0	0	0	1					0	0	37	26	11	0
1 yr		OAK		3	3	0	0	0	0	2					0	0	22	18	4	0
1 yr		SFO		2	2			0							0	0	5	5	0

 

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