I'll take that!

The Pittsburgh Steelers used its first round draft pick in 1987 on Purdue All-America Rod Woodson. The multi-dimensional athlete not only played at safety and cornerback for the Boilermakers but saw action as a punt and kickoff returner, running back, and wide receiver. In addition, Woodson was also a two-time All-America selection in track.

He did not come to terms with the Steelers until late October of his rookie year. At one point during the contract negotiations, he contemplated training in track for the upcoming 1988 Olympic Games. Fortunate for the Steelers, Woodson signed his contract and after a two-week roster exemption joined the team on the field. At first, he was used as a nickel back and on kickoff returns.

By his third NFL game, Woodson showed exactly why he was the 10th player, and first defensive back, selected in that year’s draft. Listed third on the depth chart in a game against the division rival Cincinnati Bengals played at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium on Nov. 22, Woodson was inserted into the secondary during the first half. In the final minute of the second quarter, he recorded his first career interception when he picked off a Boomer Esiason pass. More importantly for Pittsburgh, once Woodson had the ball in hands he raced 45 yards for a touchdown to put the Steelers ahead 13-3 en route to a 30-16 win that day.

There were many more of those types of plays to follow. Fast forward three teams and 17 years later, and Woodson retired as the NFL’s all-time leader with 12 interceptions returned for touchdowns. 

Woodson’s career Int. by Qtr.
1	2	3	4	Total:
16	16	17	22	71

It was as a member of the Baltimore Ravens in a game against Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 2, 2001 when Woodson surpassed the career total of 9 interceptions returned for a touchdown first established by Hall of Fame safety Ken Houston. In that game, Woodson thwarted a late Colts comeback when he intercepted Peyton Manning and returned the interception 47 yards for his record-setting 10th return for a TD that sealed Baltimore’s win.

In all, Woodson picked off 71 passes and today ranks third all-time in that category behind two other Hall of Famers Paul Krause and Emlen Tunnell. Woodson recorded 38 interceptions with the Steelers, three as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, 20 while playing in Baltimore and 10 more in his last two seasons with the Oakland Raiders.

Eight times during his Hall of Fame career he had multiple-interception games. Interestingly, the first two times he picked off a pair of passes in the same game came during a regular season opener against a future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback. Woodson intercepted the Houston Oilers’ Warren Moon twice in the 1992 opener. One season later, he started another season with two picks, this time against Steve Young of the 49ers.

The 11-time Pro Bowler registered a career-high three interceptions in the same game twice. The first time came in his only season in San Francisco. In a game against the New Orleans Saints he picked off Heath Shuler twice in the first quarter and Danny Wuerffel in the third quarter.

His other three-pick day came during his first year in Oakland. Not at all showing his age, Woodson had a spectacular year in 2002. He shared the NFL lead with 8 picks, three of which came against the Tennessee Titans in Week 4. He intercepted Steve McNair once each in the first, third, and fourth quarters. His first pick came on the game’s second play that began a Raiders’ rout. The second one he returned 82 yards for a touchdown and eclipsed Tunnell’s career interception return yardage mark.

On Nov. 11, 2002, Woodson scored his 12th and final touchdown on an interception. Saving the best for last, it was the longest return of his storied career. He intercepted the Denver Broncos’ Brian Griese at the two-yard-line and raced 98 yards to the opposite end zone.

Woodson added two more interceptions to his career total during his final season. His last interception came on Nov. 16, 2003 against the Minnesota Vikings’ Daunte Culpepper. Like most of the 70 interceptions that preceded this one, Woodson’s stole the ball during a crucial moment of the game. Late in the fourth quarter with the Vikings trailing 21-18 and backed up to their own four-yard-line, Culpepper attempted a pass on 3rd down-and-10 but Woodson stepped in front of it at the 24 and returned the ball 13 yards to the Vikings’ 11-yard-line. Four plays later, the Raiders scored to put the game out of reach.

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Rod Woodson’s 71 career interceptions:
Bold indicates interception was returned for TD
No.	Date	Team	Opp	Quarterback	Quarter	Distance
1	11/22/1987	PIT	CIN	Boomer Esiason	2	45t
2	9/18/1988	PIT	CIN	Boomer Esiason	1	29
3	10/23/1988	PIT	DEN	Gary Kubiak	2	29
4	11/6/1988	PIT	CIN	Boomer Esiason	4	18
5	11/27/1988	PIT	KC	Steve DeBerg	4	22
6	10/29/1989	PIT	KC	Steve DeBerg	4	0
7	11/5/1989	PIT	DEN	John Elway	2	0
8	12/24/1989	PIT	TB	Joe Ferguson	2	39
9	9/23/1990	PIT	RAI	Marcus Allen	2	1
10	10/21/1990	PIT	SF	Joe Montana	1	29
11	11/4/1990	PIT	ATL	Chris Miller	3	3
12	12/9/1990	PIT	NE	Tom Hodson	2	0
13	12/30/1990	PIT	HOU	Cody Carlson	4	34
14	9/8/1991	PIT	BUF	Jim Kelly	3	20
15	12/8/1991	PIT	HOU	Warren Moon	4	41
16	12/15/1991	PIT	CIN	Boomer Esiason	1	11
17	9/6/1992	PIT	HOU	Warren Moon	1	16
18	9/6/1992	PIT	HOU	Warren Moon	4	57
19	10/25/1992	PIT	KC	Dave Krieg	4	0
20	12/27/1992	PIT	CLE	Mike Tomczak	3	17
21	9/5/1993	PIT	SF	Steve Young	3	3
22	9/5/1993	PIT	SF	Steve Young	3	1
23	9/12/1993	PIT	RAM	Jim Everett	2	0
24	9/27/1993	PIT	ATL	Billy Joe Tolliver	3	17
25	9/27/1993	PIT	ATL	Billy Joe Tolliver	4	0
26	10/17/1993	PIT	NO	Wade Wilson	1	63t
27	10/17/1993	PIT	NO	Wade Wilson	1	0
28*	12/13/1993	PIT	MIA	Steve DeBerg	4	54
29	9/11/1994	PIT	CLE	Vinny Testaverde	3	20
30	10/23/1994	PIT	NYG	Dave Brown	4	25
31	11/14/1994	PIT	BUF	Jim Kelly	1	37t
32	12/4/1994	PIT	CIN	Jeff Blake	4	27t
33	9/1/1996	PIT	JAC	Mark Brunell	3	28
34	9/8/1996	PIT	BAL	Vinny Testaverde	1	43t
**	9/16/1996	PIT	BUF	Jim Kelly	0	14
35	11/3/1996	PIT	STL	Tony Banks	2	0
36	11/10/1996	PIT	CIN	Jeff Blake	2	8
37	11/10/1996	PIT	CIN	Jeff Blake	3	24
38	11/17/1996	PIT	JAC	Mark Brunell	4	4
39	9/14/1997	SF	NO	Heath Shuler	1	0
40	9/14/1997	SF	NO	Heath Shuler	1	41
41	9/14/1997	SF	NO	Danny Wuerffel	3	40
42	9/13/1998	BAL	NYJ	Glenn Foley	3	16
43	9/13/1998	BAL	NYJ	Glenn Foley	4	60t
44	10/11/1998	BAL	TEN	Steve McNair	4	2
45	10/25/1998	BAL	GB	Brett Favre	3	10
46	11/8/1998	BAL	OAK	Donald Hollas	1	18t
47	12/6/1998	BAL	TEN	Steve McNair	2	2
48	10/31/1999	BAL	BUF	Doug Flutie	3	5
49	11/7/1999	BAL	CLE	Ty Detmer	4	66t
50	11/21/1999	BAL	CIN	Jeff Blake	3	0
51	11/28/1999	BAL	JAC	Mark Brunell	3	2
52	12/5/1999	BAL	TEN	Steve McNair	4	47t
53	12/19/1999	BAL	NO	Billy Joe Tolliver	1	31
54	12/26/1999	BAL	CIN	Jeff Blake	2	44
55	9/24/2000	BAL	CIN	Scott Mitchell	2	2
56	10/1/2000	BAL	CLE	Tim Couch	1	0
57	10/8/2000	BAL	JAC	Mark Brunell	4	18
58	11/19/2000	BAL	DAL	Troy Aikman	2	0
59	10/7/2001	BAL	TEN	Mike Green	4	0
60	11/18/2001	BAL	CLE	Tim Couch	3	10
61	12/2/2001	BAL	IND	Peyton Manning	4	47t
62	9/29/2002	OAK	TEN	Steve McNair	1	18
63	9/29/2002	OAK	TEN	Steve McNair	3	82t
64	9/29/2002	OAK	TEN	Steve McNair	4	0
65	11/11/2002	OAK	DEN	Brian Griese	1	98t
66	12/2/2002	OAK	NYJ	Chad Pennington	4	0
67	12/8/2002	OAK	SD	Drew Brees	2	10
68	12/22/2002	OAK	DEN	Brian Griese	1	16
69	12/28/2002	OAK	KC	Trent Green	2	1
70	11/2/2003	OAK	DET	Joey Harrington	2	5
71	11/16/2003	OAK	MIN