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GREEN BAY, Wis. -- One month later, and Charles Woodson still can't understand why he isn't going to the Pro Bowl.
I can't, either, and maybe you'll join the club after watching Woodson make another appearance this Sunday for the Packers on a national stage. If you missed Woodson this season, don't miss him this weekend because you're looking at the best player not to go to Honolulu.
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| Pro Bowl voters haven't noticed, but Charles Woodson has been great. (US Presswire) |
That's Charles Woodson returning a Santana Moss fumble 57 yards for the winning touchdown in a 17-14 defeat of Washington in October. There he is returning an interception for six more in a November win over Kansas City.
And here he is again, knocking the next receiver in your frame off the line of scrimmage, effectively eliminating him from a play that might have gone his way.
"The one thing I can control," said Woodson, "is what I do on the field. I know what kind of player I am because I do it week in and week out. Now, whether other people notice that or not I can't do anything about that.
"What I can do something about is to go out there and fight for my team and help them win ballgames. And if you ask any of them, they appreciate what I do."
Fair enough. So I asked. And the first guy in the batter's box was teammate Al Harris, a Green Bay cornerback who is going to the Pro Bowl. Harris was voted in as a starter, and the way he had things figured out he and Woodson would make the trip together.
Only it didn't happen that way. Seattle's Marcus Trufant was voted in ahead of Woodson, with Terence Newman as the backup, and it's hard to second-guess Trufant's choice. He had a terrific season, making a lot of big tackles and interceptions.
But every time I saw Woodson he was disrupting opponents, either by deflecting passes, knocking down receivers or forcing quarterbacks to look in another direction.
"So you think he was a bit overlooked this season?" Harris was asked.
"A bit?" Harris said. "I think it was a lot. You know what I mean: I definitely think he should be making the trip (to Hawaii) ... I think he should've made the Pro Bowl last year. I really don’t know (what happened). In my eyes, 'Wood' is the man."
In short, Charles Woodson looked an awful lot like the cornerback who was a Pro Bowl regular and three-time All-Pro while playing for Oakland. When Woodson and the Raiders parted in 2006, I spoke to a pro personnel director about the best available free-agent cornerbacks, and the first guy he mentioned was Woodson.