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Charles Woodson may soon be saying “Canton on three!"
Along with former Packers safety LeRoy Butler, Woodson was named one of the 15 finalists for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021. This is Woodson’s first year of eligibility.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2021 will be announced in a different way this year thanks to COVID-19. The selection committee will meet virtually on January 19 to consider this year’s class though no word if that’s when the class will be announced or if the league will wait until the week of Super Bowl LV to make a formal announcement per tradition.
Woodson seems like a shoe-in to be another Packers first-ballot hall of famer. Woodson started and finished his career as a Raider but he spent seven of his 18 years in the league as a member of the Packers. While in Green Bay, he won defensive player of the year in 2009 and became the heart and soul of a defense that helped win Super Bowl XLV the following year.
His defining moment as a Packer however came in the locker room following Green Bay’s defeat of the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship in which he made his famous “White House on three!" speech after telling the team they’d go see then-President Obama since Obama - a Bears fan from Illinois - didn’t want to go see the Packers in the Super Bowl.
Despite spending more time in Oakland, Woodson truly hit the peak of his powers as a Packer. Aside from winning a ring, the only times he led the NFL interceptions were as a Packer and more than half of his 65 career interceptions (38) were in green and yellow.
2021 could truly be off to a special start for Packers fans as Woodson and Butler could be enshrined in Canton and the 2020 Packers are primed for a run at making the trip to Tampa Bay for the Super Bowl.