From rivals to contemporaries to two of the best defensive backs the NFL has ever seen, Charles Woodson responds to Champ Bailey over some of his comments made on the Super Bowl Champion. 

The former Michigan Wolverine recently appeared on an episode of the Richard Sherman podcast.

The former Heisman Trophy Winner, Woodson, called it a “Humbling Experience” when his counterpart, Champ Bailey, referred to him as the GOAT of the defensive backs position. 

“Charles Woodson is the best DB to ever play the game. When you talk top to bottom, what it takes tackling, taking the ball away, man to man. He did all that at a high clip,” Champ Bailey said on the Richard Sherman Podcast. 

Woodson remains the only primarily defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy in college football history. In 18 NFL seasons, the defensive back played 254 games and recorded 1,220 total tackles (997 solo) and 65 interceptions. 

Woodson started his football career as a running back, and most schools offered him to be a running back, while only the Michigan Wolverines and Lloyd Carr offered him to be a defensive back. 

For the Fremont, Ohio, native, going to Ann Arbor would have raised a lot of eyebrows, but Woodson idolized his elder brother, who was a fan of the winged helmet and Michigan. Hence, Woodson picked the Wolverines to play college football. 

“I think about playing in the NFL, the only thing I wanted to do was win a Super Bowl. Everything else was just me going out and trying to leave everything I had out there on the field,” Woodson further added. 

The cornerback did see his dream come true in the 2010 NFL season when Woodson played for the Green Bay Packers.

Under head coach Mike McCarthy, the Green Bay Packers went on to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. 

Woodson was officially inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021, and as the saying goes, 'game recognizes game,' Woodson also praised Champ Bailey. 

"I’m watching Champ," says Charles Woodson

Champ Bailey played for 15 seasons in the NFL and still holds the all-time career record for passes defended at 203.

Bailey joined the league in 1999, a year after Woodson came in, and the Raiders legend revealed what it was like back then.

“Me and Champ are really contemporaries, we was at this thing at the same time and just as much as he may have been watching me. I’m on the other sideline, I’m watching Champ.” Woodson further added on the Richard Sherman Podcast. 

Bailey got close to a Super Bowl but did not win one with the Denver Broncos. He finished his career as a 12-time Pro Bowler and led the NFL in interceptions in 2006. 

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Written by

Samvruth Raj

Edited by

Shubhi Rathore