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Woodson, Butler Selected Hall of Fame Finalists

Charles Woodson is in his first year of eligibility while LeRoy Butler is a finalist for the second consecutive year.
Bill Huber|
Woodson, Butler Selected Hall of Fame Finalists
Woodson, Butler Selected Hall of Fame Finalists

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Two Green Bay Packers legends who were driving forces on Super Bowl championship teams, LeRoy Butler and Charles Woodson, are among 15 modern-era finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021, the Hall of Fame announced on Tuesday.

The news was not a surprise but Butler said he was excited, nonetheless.

Woodson, Jared Allen, Calvin Johnson are Peyton Manning are in their first year of eligibility. Butler is a finalist for the second consecutive year. Clay Matthews Jr., the father of former Packers star Clay Matthews III, is a first-time finalist in his 20th year of eligibility.

When the Hall of Fame selection committee gathers the day before the Super Bowl, Woodson seems like a slam-dunk, first-ballot selection. He was the fourth pick of the 1998 draft by the Oakland Raiders after winning the Heisman Trophy at Michigan. He spent eight seasons in Oakland before signing a free-agent contract with the Packers in 2006. A player known at the time as much for his negative attitude as his talent, Woodson turned in seven dominant seasons for the Packers to cement his status as a future Hall of Famer.

“The decision was really made for me, to be honest,” Woodson said upon being selected for the Packers Hall of Fame in 2019. “There wasn’t a whole lot of suitors out there for me as a free agent. The Green Bay Packers came with a package, and to quote the movie, they showed me the money. They really wanted me there and showed that they wanted me there. So, that was the initial decision-making process I went through with me going to Green Bay.

“Then once I got there, it was kind of rough at the beginning, because I really didn’t quite want to be there, and I just couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that I didn’t have anybody who wanted me on their team, and I was really sour about that, so it kind of dictated the way I interacted with a lot of people around there, really standoffish, got into some verbal arguments and things like that. When I look back on it, I kind of feel like it was my way of trying to get out of the situation. But I’m really glad I didn’t get out of it because it turned out the way it turned out. I finally got comfortable being there, and once I started playing and started making plays, everything kind of took care of itself from there.”

Woodson intercepted 38 passes and broke up 115 with the Packers and was the heartbeat of the 2010 team that won the Super Bowl. He was selected to four consecutive Pro Bowls from 2008 through 2011 – including NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2009 – and led the league in interceptions in 2009 and 2011. He set franchise records for the most touchdowns on interceptions (nine) and the most defensive touchdowns (10).

Woodson ranks fifth all-time with 65 interceptions and picked off at least one pass in each of his 18 seasons, one year shy of Darrell Green’s NFL record. A member of the NFL’s all-2000s team, he’s tied for the NFL record with 13 defensive touchdowns. In 2014, he became first player in NFL history with 50 career interceptions and 20 sacks. Woodson and Marcus Allen are the only players to win the Heisman Trophy, Associated Press Rookie of the Year, Associated Press Player of the Year and a Super Bowl title in his career. Woodson figures to join Allen with the phrase “Hall of Famer” tacked onto that list of accolades.

The Packers probably wouldn’t have won the Super Bowl without Woodson. Would Woodson be Hall of Fame-bound without the Packers?

“I think so, because if I wasn’t in Green Bay, I would’ve been somewhere else,” Woodson said. “I would’ve made my mark somewhere else. But it just so happened that during that transition from Oakland I was able to make my stop in Green Bay and go there and do some great things. In that respect, it doesn’t happen without Green Bay, but my career was going to continue somewhere, I don’t know where it would’ve been, but I would’ve made that mark somewhere else.”

Last year was Butler’s 14th year of Hall of Fame eligibility but the first time he moved to the finalist round. He is the only offensive or defensive player on the all-1990s team not in the Hall of Fame.

Butler, a second-round pick in 1990, played 12 seasons for the Packers. A four-time All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowler, he recorded 38 interceptions and 20.5 sacks during his career to become the first defensive back in NFL history with 20-plus interceptions and 20-plus sacks. Now, seven defensive backs have had 20/20 careers; Butler ranks third in that group in interceptions. He had at least two interceptions in eight consecutive seasons, including six in 1993 and five more in 1996, when the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI.

Safety long had been a neglected position in the Hall of Fame but the selectors are starting to make headway. Five safeties have earned induction over the last four years, with Troy Polamalu and Steve Atwater in 2020, Ed Reed in 2019, Brian Dawkins in 2018 and Kenny Easley in 2017.

Before last year, Butler and Atwater were the only all-1990s players on offense or defense not in the Hall of Fame.

“Every minute that went by that I didn’t get a phone call, I was like, ‘Great,’” Butler said last year. “I just never really worry about a lot of things that I can’t control. I felt good about my case being heard. That made me feel great. That’s all I really wanted was to have somebody hear it. Hopefully, it sparks some interest and we’ll see what happens.”

The 2021 Modern-Era finalists

Jared Allen, Defensive End – 2004-07 Kansas City Chiefs, 2008-2013 Minnesota Vikings, 2014-15 Chicago Bears, 2015 Carolina Panthers

Ronde Barber, Cornerback/Safety – 1997-2012 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tony Boselli, Tackle – 1995-2001 Jacksonville Jaguars, 2002 Houston Texans (injured reserve)

LeRoy Butler, Safety – 1990-2001 Green Bay Packers

Alan Faneca, Guard – 1998-2007 Pittsburgh Steelers, 2008-09 New York Jets, 2010 Arizona Cardinals

Torry Holt, Wide Receiver – 1999-2008 St. Louis Rams, 2009 Jacksonville Jaguars

Calvin Johnson, Wide Receiver – 2007-2015 Detroit Lions

John Lynch, Safety – 1993-2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2004-07 Denver Broncos

Peyton Manning, Quarterback – 1998-2011 Indianapolis Colts, 2012-15 Denver Broncos

Clay Matthews Jr., Linebacker – 1978-1993 Cleveland Browns, 1994-96 Atlanta Falcons

Sam Mills, Linebacker – 1986-1994 New Orleans Saints, 1995-97 Carolina Panthers

Richard Seymour, Defensive End/Defensive Tackle – 2001-08 New England Patriots, 2009-2012 Oakland Raiders

Zach Thomas, Linebacker – 1996-2007 Miami Dolphins, 2008 Dallas Cowboys

Reggie Wayne, Wide Receiver – 2001-2014 Indianapolis Colts

Charles Woodson, Cornerback/Safety – 1998-2005, 2013-15 Oakland Raiders, 2006-2012 Green Bay Packers

While Allen, Johnson, Manning and Woodson are finalists as first-year-eligible players, Barber and Matthews are first-time finalists.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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