‘VIVA’ Las Vegas As Rod Woodson Shares Advice With Students

By Jacob Ray
Pro Football Hall of Fame

Las Vegas is the home to many interesting sights and events, and this past week it was the home to something special to the football world: the NFL Draft.

It’s an event every football fan looks forward to, especially if the season prior did not go as planned. A place where dreams come true, careers begin and teams can turn around their franchise. And this year, it was being celebrated in a place known for life-changing moments.

The NFL world descended on Sin City as players with names like Trayvon Walker, Aiden Hutchinson, “Sauce” Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave and a slew of others called to start their NFL journey. While every news outlet you could think of celebrated the “future” of the NFL, the Pro Football Hall of Fame was in town to celebrate the “past,” with the final Heart of a Hall of Famer program connected by Extreme Networks for the 2021-2022 school year – a program for students to learn important life values like Commitment, Integrity, Courage, Respect and Honesty.

The Hall’s Youth & Education team took its Heart of a Hall of Famer program connected by Extreme Networks for their own “life-changing” event in Las Vegas to Mojave High School, and they did it with a Raiders Legend, a player who came out of the University of Purdue as a 3-way star (yes, you read that right – offense, defense and special teams), who through places like Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Baltimore found his way to the then-Oakland Raiders. None other than Hall of Famer Rod Woodson.

Woodson, the 10th overall pick in the 1987 NFL Draft by the Steelers, was a modern-day “triple-threat.” While he didn’t continue his offensive success in the NFL, Woodson excelled on the defensive side of the ball. In his career, he totaled 71 interceptions – good for third all-time in NFL history. He is second in interceptions return yardage, trailing only fellow Hall of Famer Ed Reed, with 1,483 yards. His successes in the defensive backfield earned him enshrinement to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009.

In front of a group of student-athlete leaders at Mojave and hundreds of students tuning in virtually, Woodson spoke on what it meant to him to be a part of the historical Raiders organization.

“The great thing about being with the Raiders is that it is an iconic team. When you say, ‘Silver and Black,’ you’re only talking about one team ... When you say Silver and Black, everyone in the world knows you are talking about the Raiders!” he told the students.

Woodson spoke highly on his time as member of the Raiders and how important it was to embrace the City of Las Vegas – and to be embraced by it.

Knowing that the main participants of this program were high school students, Woodson talked about how he was able to overcome distractions in high school with a unique and powerful analogy.

“Everybody has an analogy of being a tiger or a lion, right? My analogy has always been the lone wolf. Your strongest path is normally built when you do it alone. And you never see a wolf in a circus, but you do see a lion and tiger in the circus, so they can be tamed! So, that was my mentality throughout my whole life.”

Woodson said that even though it might be tough to do something like this as a high school student, it is the right move to set up your best future.

The program wouldn’t have been complete if the NFL Draft wasn’t a topic of conversation! Instead of predictions of who would go when, Woodson shared what he would say to the draft prospects if he was able to speak to them before hearing their name called.

“It would be two pieces of advice. First, learn the game. The game is played more mental than physical ... Secondly, don’t be afraid to say ‘no.’ But you will see a lot of different people come their way and they are going to ask for the money and you’ve got to be willing to say no to them.”

Woodson stated this might be tough, as everyone wants to take care of their family, but it can be a character-builder and set up those individuals for life down the road.

The Heart of a Hall of Famer connected by Extreme Networks is a program for students to learn what it takes to be a Hall of Famer both on and off the field. This message can make a football player a Hall of Famer, can make a student a valedictorian or a member of an organization a CEO.

Woodson’s final piece of advice to students in high school: Enjoy it!

You know the saying: “Viva, Las Vegas.” It can be applied to this program.

V.I.V.A – Very Important Values Attained – by each student who tuned in.