Charles Woodson ready for emotional Hall of Fame ceremony

Former Raider Charles Woodson’s enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Sunday will mark the culmination of an entire life of hard work.

It won’t mark the end of his celebration of the achievement.

“It’s a great moment and something you get to celebrate forever,” he said on a video conference call. “It’s not like you go in just for that night and it’s over. I get to say it on Monday, Tuesday, the next week, the following year. I’m a Hall of Famer. I get to celebrate that for eternity.”

Woodson will be inducted in a class that includes Peyton Manning, John Lynch and Calvin Johnson, among others. He is slated to give the final speech of the evening on a stage that will also see former Raiders coach Tom Flores enshrined in Canton, Ohio.

The nine-time Pro Bowler and 2009 NFL Defensive Player of the Year is prepared for his moment.

“I’m not nervous at all,” he said. “I’m ready. This is something pretty special. Looking forward to sharing this with my family and all the fans that are going to be in attendance. I run through my (acceptance) speech in my mind every day, I know the direction, so I know where I’m going and who I’m talking about. I’ll just get up there and let it flow like I always do.”

The tears are sure to follow. Woodson, 44, told himself he wouldn’t cry when the moment came for Hall of Fame executive director C. David Baker to knock on his door and formally give him the news he would be inducted.

That plan didn’t work out.

“You kind of talk to yourself before those moments come and say you’re going to keep it together and you’re not going to cry,” he said. “But when the moment is real, it’s real. There’s no turning back. He comes up to you and it kind of hits you. When I turned around and saw my two boys, my wife and my mom, in your mind you immediately start running back all the time spent at your craft and what it takes to get to that moment. And in the moment, they’re saying what you’ve done means something. That was incredible.”

Woodson said all he really wants to be known for is being a player who gave every ounce of effort every single time he stepped on the field.

His true legacy is far more glorious.

After winning a historic Heisman Trophy as primarily a defensive player at Michigan, he was a first-round pick of the Raiders in 1998 and earned Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. Woodson was an elite cornerback for most of his eight seasons in Oakland, but found few suitors when he entered free agency after an injury-plagued 2005 season.

He ended up in Green Bay and experienced a career resurgence, making four straight Pro Bowls from 2008 to 2011 and winning a Super Bowl with the Packers. He was named Defensive Player of the Year in 2009.

Woodson moved to safety in his final season in Green Bay and returned to the Raiders to play the position for his final three years.

He prided himself on being able to go to any team and play any position while still having an impact.

“I always considered myself like seasoning salt,” he said. “You can put it on anything and make it better.”

Woodson, who tied for the NFL record with 13 defensive touchdowns and was the first player in history with 60 interceptions and 20 sacks, certainly made his teams better and had a significant impact on many teammates.

Some of his greatest memories as a player are of old-school Raiders schooling him in the ways of the organization.

“(Willie Brown) made sure you understood what it meant to be a Raider,” Woodson said. “He would say there are 31 teams in the NFL and then the Raiders. That’s the mentality you picked up when you got there.”

That’s what made it so special when Woodson returned to the organization at the end of his career and got to fill the role of mentor.

“Now I was able to show what it was to be a Raider to the guys who were there at that point in time,” he said. “I cherish those last couple years.”

That has to be a better memory than making the tackle on Tom Brady that is now remembered for the implementation of the “Tuck Rule.”

Woodson’s place in Raider history and NFL history is more than secure. It becomes official on Sunday.

“What an unbelievable experience it’s going to be (Sunday) night and then for a lifetime to say I’m a Hall of Famer in a game you used to sit down and watch as a kid. … It don’t get no better than that.”

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.