Rod Woodson: Steelers, the breakup and his date in Canton

[PSU_dropout43]

[url="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09179/980468-66.stm#ixzz0JhP5RtS8&D"]http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09179/98 ... JhP5RtS8&D[/url]

Rod Woodson: The Steelers, the breakup and his date in Canton
by Ed Bouchette

On occasion, a player comes along who does not belong in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a player so dominant in his sport that he deserves a higher honor.

A player such as Rod Woodson.

Who says? How about these guys:

"Without a doubt,'' Bill Cowher said, "he'll go down as one of the greatest players to ever play the game.''

"If you tell me Rod Woodson is your top defensive back of all time," said Dick LeBeau, "you will get no argument from me because he certainly merits that."

"He was a player you get once in a long time," said Dan Rooney.

And more ...

"He, in my opinion, might be the greatest athlete that Chuck Noll ever drafted," said Mel Blount. "And that's saying a lot when you think of all the Hall of Famers. This guy was special."

"He was one of those rare top draft picks who probably even exceeded what people thought he would be," said Tom Donahoe.

And, from Tony Dungy on coaching Woodson his first two seasons with the Steelers: "You could see the specialness. We felt he'd be a multi-year Pro Bowler. You could see that from the first day."

Woodson, who will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Aug. 8, ranks among the best defensive backs in NFL history -- if not the best -- by testimony, by performance and by gaudy statistics.

...

read more.

[url="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09179/980468-66.stm#ixzz0JhOvvvLq&D"]http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09179/98 ... JhOvvvLq&D[/url]

[Flasteel]

Re: Rod Woodson: Steelers, the breakup and his date in Canton

Nice. Thanks for posting the article PSU.

My favorite quote:
Instead, he took the stand to thank the many coaches who helped school him, those such as Noll, Dungy, John Fox, Rod Rust, LeBeau, Marvin Lewis, Brian Billick and Jim Mora.

"I was taught extremely well by some of best coaches in NFL history right there in Pittsburgh," said Woodson, 44. "Without them, I don't think I'd be in the Hall of Fame. I was naturally gifted, but how many times do you see naturally gifted guys who don't do anything?"

Are you listening Burghsteel?

[stlrz d]

Re: Rod Woodson: Steelers, the breakup and his date in Canton

Nice. Thanks for posting the article PSU.

My favorite quote:
Instead, he took the stand to thank the many coaches who helped school him, those such as Noll, Dungy, John Fox, Rod Rust, LeBeau, Marvin Lewis, Brian Billick and Jim Mora.

"I was taught extremely well by some of best coaches in NFL history right there in Pittsburgh," said Woodson, 44. "Without them, I don't think I'd be in the Hall of Fame. I was naturally gifted, but how many times do you see naturally gifted guys who don't do anything?"

Are you listening Burghsteel?

I thought it was odd, after what Cowher did for him in the XXX season, that Cowher's name didn't appear on that list.

Still makes me kind of sad that he played for 7 seasons with those other teams after playing 10 with us. He was ours and should have stayed ours.

[SanAntonioSteelerFan]

Re: Rod Woodson: Steelers, the breakup and his date in Canton

Dumb question, he is going in as a Steeler, right?

[BURGH86STEEL]

Re: Rod Woodson: Steelers, the breakup and his date in Canton

Dumb question, he is going in as a Steeler, right?

Players don't go into the hall as members of teams.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: Rod Woodson: Steelers, the breakup and his date in Canton

Dumb question, he is going in as a Steeler, right?

Players don't go into the hall as members of teams.

I don't know if stlrz d would have the strength to mention that again. At this point, I think some folks may just be purposefully baiting him with that question whenever the topic of the HoF comes up.

[proudpittsburgher]

Re: Rod Woodson: Steelers, the breakup and his date in Canton

Dumb question, he is going in as a Steeler, right?

Players don't go into the hall as members of teams.

I believe you are right. That being said . . . while he may tow the line a little on NFL Network to be respectful, he is and will always be a Pittsburgh Steeler.

[stlrz d]

Re: Rod Woodson: Steelers, the breakup and his date in Canton

Dumb question, he is going in as a Steeler, right?

Players don't go into the hall as members of teams.

I don't know if stlrz d would have the strength to mention that again. At this point, I think some folks may just be purposefully baiting him with that question whenever the topic of the HoF comes up.

:P

Actually, if folks clicked on the link and read the whole story (which contains a lot of info, including a quote by Noll saying he was "In love with" Woodson) they would have seen this:

The Pro Football Hall of Fame does not make a member declare which team he will represent upon induction, but Woodson's heart remains with the Steelers.

"Sometime we have to separate the business and the game," Woodson said, "and sometimes that's hard. Sweat equity. Sometimes, for players, it's more difficult than the team might think it is."

[Djfan]

Re: Rod Woodson: Steelers, the breakup and his date in Canton

I am still upset with some unknown person in the front office for letting him leave.

It's just wrong.

[Acero]

Re: Rod Woodson: Steelers, the breakup and his date in Canton

I am still upset with some unknown person in the front office for letting him leave.

It's just wrong.

That would be one Tom Donahoe. Far from unknown.

[fezziwig]

Re: Rod Woodson: Steelers, the breakup and his date in Canton

Rooney said the only time Dohahoe and Cowher agreed was allowing Woodson to leave. Rooney pushed for Woodson to stay and wanted him to stay but, he allowed the final outcome to be on Cowhers and Donahoes.

I seen and heard Rooney telling this in an interview.

[True Fan]

Re: Rod Woodson: Steelers, the breakup and his date in Canton

yup, and we were too cheap to keep him

[stlrz d]

Re: Rod Woodson: Steelers, the breakup and his date in Canton

yup, and we were too cheap to keep him

It wasn't quite that simple. They wanted him to move to safety and take safety money.

Rod didn't want to do either.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: Rod Woodson: Steelers, the breakup and his date in Canton

yup, and we were too cheap to keep him

That was an odd time in the season or two after SBXXX. They gambled by re-signing one of their veteran studs in Greg Lloyd, who already had a couple of knee surgeries under his belt, allowing the up-and-coming Chad Brown to test free agency. That backfired when Lloyd tore his patella tendon shortly thereafter and then suffered a serious infection that nearly killed him (while Brown made a couple of Pro Bowl appearances in Seattle). Even though Lloyd was my favorite Steeler, even I have to admit that going with the veteran with a significant injury history over the promising youngster was a mistake.

Woodson, like Lloyd, was a veteran stud with an injury history (with the relatively recent ACL tear as well as a shoulder issue) only this time they did not re-sign him like they did with Lloyd. They guessed wrong with Lloyd when they did re-sign him and they guessed wrong with Woodson when they did re-sign him. Both were great players and you it would be difficult to fault the team if decided to sign Woodson and not Lloyd or Lloyd and not Woodson. Perhaps they figured that an elite pass rush could compensate for a merely adequate secondary, while an elite secondary will still get beat without a quality pass rush, so they took the risk by investing in the guy who can put the QB on his back over the guy in coverage who would likely would have had to switch positions from corner to safety. They could not have possibly known at the time that Woodson would play 7 more seasons of elite ball while Lloyd would only play 2 more seasons as a shadow of his former self.

[ghettoscott]

Re: Rod Woodson: Steelers, the breakup and his date in Canton

Dumb question, he is going in as a Steeler, right?

I am sure he will SASF!!!