Charles Woodson was a Michigan Man before the Raiders selected the Heisman winner fourth overall in the 1998 NFL Draft.
Twenty-four years later and it appears his love for the Maize and Blue still reigns supreme over his love for the Silver and Black. Woodson appeared on 95.7 The Game’s “Steiny & Guru” Tuesday to discuss the 49ers-Rams NFC Championship and the futures of Jim Harbaugh and Tom Brady. You can listen to the full interview below:
There are plenty of Harbaugh-to-Raiders rumors, but Woodson wants the former 49ers coach to stay in Ann Arbor.
“For me, selfishly, I would like to see him stay there with the young guys there at Michigan,” Woodson told hosts Matt Steinmetz and Daryle “The Guru” Johnson. “For the Raiders, I just hope that they find the right guy to take this team further than the first round or the Wild Card or the playoffs.”
Woodson said he’s most concerned about the elite status of Michigan’s program, which finished ranked second in the final College Football Playoff polls but lost to Georgia in the semifinals this past season.
“Harbaugh’s gotten us to a good place,” Woodson said. “Even though those first seven years, all of the Michigan faithful, alumni – man, we wanted him to beat Ohio State and that didn’t happen. But then you look at his record as a coach, he’ll usually get you nine or 10 wins, which is good – but we just want you to beat Ohio State. And he finally got that done.
“Not only that, I think in terms of recruiting, our recruiting classes are good and only getting better. Just think he has that team in a good place right now, especially with the type of guys he has, and the assistant coaches coaching these young men. These guys played outstanding last year. I am so proud of them.”
Listen to sports talk now on Audacy and shop the latest NFL team gear
Brady is another famous Wolverine whose 2022 status is in the spotlight. The 43-year-old quarterback sounds like he is considering retirement after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were ousted by the Los Angeles Rams last week.
“Sometimes you go out on a high note, sometimes you go out on a low note,” Woodson said. “For him, he was one of the best quarterbacks in the league this year again. He’s at the top of almost every category. He won a Super Bowl last year and got out from under [Bill] Belichick and won it when people said he couldn’t win it without that system – he did that. If this is his last year, he still went out on top even though it’s not a Super Bowl, knowing that if he wanted to play again, he could. I think he’s entertaining it. I think this very well could be his last year.”
Speaking of the Rams, they’re getting set to host the 49ers for Sunday’s NFC Championship. There are plenty of red jerseys expected to be in attendance at SoFi Stadium.
“San Francisco comes in with the confidence, knowing that with this matchup, they’ve been the better of the teams,” Woodson said. “6-0 against those guys, they feel very confident that they can go into SoFi and get a win. Why? Because they’ve done it.”
Ultimately, Woodson thinks Los Angeles is going to win, though.
“I’m going to go with the Rams and the Chiefs,” Woodson said of his Super Bowl prediction.
Related
