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The return of Charles Woodson and James Jones to Lambeau

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The return of Charles Woodson and James Jones to Lambeau 

Post#1 » by FAH1223 » Thu Aug 21, 2014 5:09 pm

Oh and CJ Wilson :lol:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/packers/status/501871716998471680[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/RAIDERS/status/501873508779950080[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/RAIDERS/status/501572598245756930[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/packers/status/502136711791771648[/tweet]
Tom Oates: Former Packers great Charles Woodson, now with the Raiders, is missed
GREEN BAY — If Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, the Green Bay Packers’ rookie safety, bumps into Packers legend Charles Woodson prior to Friday night’s exhibition game against the Oakland Raiders at Lambeau Field, his plan is to make the most of the opportunity.

“I’d walk up to him quick,” Clinton-Dix said, “and ask him everything he knows.”

Sorry, Ha Ha, but you won’t have enough time for that.

Woodson, who is winding down his NFL career with his original team after spending seven extremely productive seasons in the Packers secondary, was known for many things in Green Bay: Making big plays with his rare combination of intelligence, instincts, size and athleticism; studying film with a purpose and teaching young defensive backs to do the same; making memorable locker room speeches and teaming up with quarterback Aaron Rodgers to lead the Packers to an NFL title in 2010.

The polarizing return of estranged quarterback Brett Favre to Green Bay dominated the news all summer, but when the 37-year-old Woodson returns as a member of the Raiders on Friday, he should be remembered fondly as one of the four greatest Packers of the modern era. With 37 interceptions, nine defensive touchdowns and one Super Bowl victory in seven seasons, Woodson belongs on the franchise’s post-1992 Mount Rushmore along with Favre, Rodgers and defensive end Reggie White.

The Packers, who cut Woodson in February 2013 due to age, injury and salary-cap concerns, missed him last season. They still do — in more ways than one.

“Charles is one of my all-time favorite teammates,” Rodgers said. “Probably the most talented guy, most dominant player that I’ve played with during his stretch, from the time he got here until he left. I mean, he was so dominant in the secondary. I learned so much from him. I practiced with him when I was on the scout team pretty extensively and then getting to work with him in competitive drills in practice, to see him every day, to listen to what he said to the guys, to watch him as he expanded his leadership role, that was really fun to see. And then to become good friends with him was a blast.

“He was a guy that had my back through and through, and I always appreciated that about him. He’s a future Hall of Famer and I’m proud to be able to say I played with him, won a Super Bowl with him. He was a humongous part of that and I really miss his presence around here.”

Packers coach Mike McCarthy called Woodson an “outstanding football player” for the Packers but also remembers him for “the impact that he had on our football team. I thought he did an exceptional job, particularly with our younger players. It’s something that I always appreciate from the veterans. When you see guys like that come back in, it’s always good to see them and it’s great that they’re still playing.”

In Woodson’s absence, Rodgers has assumed many of the leadership responsibilities. But even Rodgers admits Woodson was better at speaking to the team than he is.

“He had an incredible ability ... of being able to command the room,” Rodgers said. “Charles had that presence when he walked into a room that there was something with the energy and the charisma that he has that he could really get everybody’s attention and guys cared about what he said — from the speech in the locker room in Chicago after we won (the NFC Championship Game), where he was talking about, ‘We’ll go see the president if he won’t see us,’ to him talking in 2011 as we started the season against New Orleans and challenging us to go undefeated. We started that season 13-0 and had a legit shot for a while there of running the table.

“He was a guy who people just respected so much for the way he carried himself and the way he played on the field. It’s hard to replace a guy like that.”

The Packers never did replace Woodson in 2013 and it cost them dearly. After spending his first six Packers seasons at cornerback, he moved to safety in 2012. Woodson wasn’t as dominant there as he had been outside and missed nine games due to injury, but the Packers never found a replacement for him and safety turned into the weak link on a porous defense.

McCarthy called the decision to cut Woodson “definitely one of the tougher ones” he and general manager Ted Thompson have had. Only they know if they regret it, but after Packers safeties recorded zero interceptions in 2013 and Woodson missed only seven downs all season in Oakland, it’s a safe bet they did.

One irony in Woodson’s return is the Packers might have finally replaced him. They moved do-it-all Micah Hyde from cornerback to safety and he’s managed to hold off Clinton-Dix, the first-round draft pick who is coming on strong after doing some impressive things in the two exhibition games.

So what does Clinton-Dix, who wears Woodson’s No. 21, expect Woodson to say should they meet?

“I expect him,” Clinton-Dix said, “to tell me to make sure I represent the number well and do the best I can.”

That sounds about right.


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Re: The return of Charles Woodson and James Jones to Lambeau 

Post#2 » by HKPackFan » Fri Aug 22, 2014 9:11 am

Greatest post Game Speech of all time:

http://www.packers.com/media-center/vid ... c79e31502e


I have seen it a hundred times, but still get goosebumps.

Love me some Charles Woodson. :hug: White House on THREE!!!
#FreeChuckDiesel

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