This August, just after Charles Woodson is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he will be inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.
The thing is, though, most people don’t even see Woodson as a Packer. They see him as a Raider. And yet, there is no induction into the Raiders Hall of Fame. Why? Because there isn’t one. They don’t have a franchise Hall of Fame. That’s something that needs to change.
It may be tough to blame the team for not having had one years ago. While the Raiders were in Oakland, and they shared the old, dilapidated Coliseum with the A’s, there wasn’t really a good place for a franchise Hall of Fame. Now they have their new Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, along with a new facility. There’s no time like the present to build a Raiders Hall of Fame.
I’m not talking about retiring numbers, here. The Raiders have a strong stance on that, and they can’t really change it now, especially when more than one worthy player has worn the same number. If they had ever retired numbers, Woodson would not have been number 24 for the Raiders because Hall of Famer Willie Brown would have long since retired it.
I’m talking about a place, like the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where the greatest Raiders of all time can be honored as Raiders. Most notably those who continue to be snubbed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Wouldn’t you love to see the likes of Cliff Branch, Lester Hayes, and Jack Tatum be honored in such a Hall of Fame? All three of whom continue to be shamefully passed over for the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
Obviously, Woodson doesn’t fall into the category of those who have been held out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is getting in on his first ballot, as everyone knew he would. But just after he takes the stage in his gold jacket in Canton, he will take the stage in Green Bay to be honored for his time with the Packers. And only for his time with the Packers. Leaving out 11 of his 18 years in the NFL.
Don’t get me wrong, he deserves to be honored for his time with the Packers. His career reached its pinnacle there. He won a Super Bowl in Green Bay and was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year as a Packer.
Two years after he got his ring, Woodson returned to the team that drafted him to once again play for the Raider Nation that never stopped loving him. While the saying ‘Once a Raider, always a Raider’ may not always hold entirely true, it certainly did with Woodson.
Woodson was drafted by the Raiders in 1998. Won Defensive Rookie of the Year. Was twice an All-Pro and four times a Pro Bowler over the first eight years in Oakland.
He signed with the Packers at the age of 30 and after seven years in Green Bay, he returned to throw up the ‘O’ for three more years, this time at safety, never missing a game, and adding one more Pro Bowl to his resume at the age of 39. Then he walked off the field for the last time in a Raiders uniform.
This August Woodson will accept his induction into the Packers Hall of Fame. Just a few weeks after he and Tom Flores accept their induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It would be pretty cool if, in the not-too-distant future, they both accepted their induction into the Raiders Hall of Fame as well. They just have to build it first.
[vertical-gallery id=80797]
[lawrence-newsletter]