Charles Woodson knew it was time to retire (Audio)
By John Buhler
Charles Woodson spoke on The SiriusXM Blitz about what is going through his mind as he is about to play his final NFL game of his Hall of Fame career.
Safety Charles Woodson announced earlier last week that he intends to retire from the National Football League at the end of the season. He made his announcement ahead of the Oakland Raiders’ final home game of 2015 against the AFC West rival San Diego Chargers.
With the Raiders at 7-8 entering Week 17, although an improved record over the year before, Oakland will miss the AFC Playoffs for the 13th straight season. Woodson took some time to speak on The Sirius XM Blitz about his final NFL game in Week 17, another rivalry game at Arrowhead Stadium against the 10-5 playoff bound Kansas City Chiefs.
Woodson explained to host Jake Gibbs, ‘why now?’, “Something just clicked in my mind and let me know that this was the time. This was going to be the last year I was going to be able to do it and do it with full mental and physical conviction. So if you don’t have both of them working for you at the same time, it’s hard to go out there and do it the way you really want to do it.”
Woodson plans on “savoring every single second” he’s out on the field. He went on to say that he will take great pride in putting on the Silver and Black on last time, “putting [his] socks the way [he wants] them to be…It’s going to be the final time I’m going to be able to critique myself from a uniform standpoint.”
This is surely going to be an emotional game for Woodson and his family, as his 18-year NFL career will come to a close in Kansas City on Sunday. To play at a Pro Bowl level even at age 39 in a professional defense backfield is a testament to how special of a player the 1997 Heisman Trophy winner was when he stepped on the gridiron.