Wolverines in the NFL: Charles Woodson is the last of a dying breed
On Sunday, former Michigan Wolverine and the program’s last Heisman Trophy winner, Charles Woodson, moved into the NFL’s top ten all-time recording his 62nd career interception when he picked off Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler.
This is an incredible milestone for the 39-year-old in his 18th NFL season, as his milestone may never be touched again.
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There are some records in the professional sports history books that will never be touched. Look at Wayne Gretzky’s 92 goals in the 1981-82 season — the league leader in the NHL last season had 53 goals. Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points in a single game — Kobe Bryant came up a whole 19 points short in what was a stunning 81-point performance in 2006, and
nobody
has scored more than 70 since then. There’s also Joe DiMaggio’s remarkable 56-game hitting streak from 1941 — only three MLB players (Pete Rose, 44, Paul Molitor, 39, and Jimmy Rollins, 38) have come within THREE WEEKS of breaking it and no average Joe has eclipsed the 50-game plateau in
’s infamous phone application
.
While Woodson’s 62 interceptions are still well short of the NFL’s all-time leader Paul Krause with 81 career interceptions, I think it’s safe to say that no defensive player will crack the top 10 in this particular category ever again.
Like the 300-game winner in baseball, interceptions in the NFL are a dying statistic. For starters, quarterbacks are flat out better than they were in the 60s, 70s and 80s. That, plus the fact that the league is built for scoring and the strict rules handcuffing defenders in the secondary lead to a drastic decrease in interceptions.
Woodson is a rare breed as most NFL players his age are kickers, backup quarterbacks and Peyton Manning. To be this late in his career and still playing at the level he is — six interceptions in his last two seasons — makes Woodson the exception as a defensive back and not the standard.
Oct 4, 2015; London, ENG; New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis (24) catches an interception during the second half of the game against the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Flynn-USA TODAY Sports
In today’s league, standout cornerbacks like Darrelle Revis (25 career interceptions) and Richard Sherman (24 career interceptions) are essentially avoided by most opposing quarterbacks, thus giving them even less of an opportunity to pick off passes on top of all the other previous factors working against them.
Revis is in his ninth NFL season at the age of 30 and is one of the best cover corners in the game, but even he averages just 2.8 interceptions per season. If Revis maintained that pace throughout his career, he wouldn’t reach Woodson’s career total for another 13 seasons! Revis is good, but I don’t see him playing until his 43rd birthday.
Sep 13, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman (25) defends against St. Louis Rams wide receiver Kenny Britt (18) during the second half at the Edward Jones Dome. The Rams defeated the Seahawks 34-31 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Sherman on the other hand, averages 4.8 interceptions per season but has a smaller sample size to work with, just five seasons into his career. At 27-years-old, he has posted back-to-back eight-interception seasons in 2012 and 2013 (rare) and hasn’t missed a game yet in his career (even more rare). So to think Sherman would continue at this pace is highly unlikely.
With interceptions trending down across the league over the last several years, I don’t think even some of the best in the league like Sherman and Revis have a chance at coming close to Woodson’s level, making him one legendary Wolverine still playing at a high level in the NFL.