Charles Woodson has been in the NFL a long time.
When he first came into the league with Oakland in 1998, quarterbacks such as Dan Marino, John Elway, Troy Aikman, Steve Young and Randall Cunningham were still playing.
Movies such as “The Parent Trap” and “The Big Lebowski” were drawing good crowds and the launch of Facebook was still six years away.
Yet here is Woodson, at age 39, still playing in the NFL. He’s had to move from cornerback to safety in recent years, but that’s about the only concession to age made by the former Heisman Trophy winner from Michigan.
As the Raiders continue in organized team activities (OTAs) this week, Woodson is preparing for his 18th season and his third in his second life as a Raider (following seven seasons in Green Bay).
Remarkably, Woodson remains not only one of the best players on the Raiders, but his peers continue to believe he’s among the best in the NFL. In the NFL Network’s annual ranking of players in a Top 100 in the league (as voted by NFL players), Woodson this week was ranked No. 64.
After missing the rankings in 2014, Woodson returned after a stellar season in which he started all 16 games, had four interceptions, was in on 101 tackles and had a sack.
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As Raiders teammate Marcel Reece told the network, Woodson’s career has been so good, so long that the Pro Football Hall of Fame should already be fitting him for the gold coat they give to inductees.
Woodson decided to play another year, signing a new contract with the Raiders after the 2014 season, saying he still has game left.
“You never get football out of your system and I certainly don’t have it out of mine,” he said in a radio interview. “You have to sit down and think about the pros and cons. Right now, my biggest con was not playing football anymore. To me, the pros were there.”
New head coach Jack Del Rio certainly appreciates the veteran safety. Upon taking over the team, he said Woodson remains a “premium player,” and he wants to be smart in making sure he and defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. make use of his talents.
“We’ll try to make sure we take advantage of the things he can do,” Del Rio told reporters. “He’s got terrific instinct. He’s always been an active, playmaking kind of guy. We just want to make sure that we’re doing things that take advantage of some of those skills.”
