Michigan alum Charles Woodson says it hurts to see Wolverines struggle
Charles Woodson won a Heisman Trophy and national championship when he played for Michigan more than a decade ago.
The fact the current crop of Wolverines are nowhere close to earning similar accolades and mired in a four-game Big Ten losing streak doesn’t sit well with one of the football program's most well-known alumns.
Former Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson chats with a fellow alum while waiting to tee off at a golf outing held at the University of Michigan Golf Course this past spring.
Lon Horwedel | The Ann Arbor News
“I’m not excited about losing,” Woodson said Tuesday, while visiting Ann Arbor. “They started out on fire and looked good for a short period, but it’s hard to watch the place you love and played … to see the team struggling like that is hard. It’s hard."
Woodson, who currently plays for the Green Bay Packers, said the Wolverines’ record is often a topic of conversation in the locker room - and a sore spot for him.
“I’m getting flack from a guy who went to Cincinnati,” Woodson said of his Green Bay understudy, rookie Brandon Underwood. “I never thought there’d be a day in my life I was taking flack from a guy from Cincinnati.”
Comments
uminks
Wed, Nov 4, 2009 : 9:45 p.m.
Why doesn't Woodson get out there and help recruit some defensive 5 star athletes. Let see, after GB loses during the first round of the play offs he will have January and February to help out on recruiting!
Do Better
Wed, Nov 4, 2009 : 8:40 p.m.
David have ever looked michigan record in 95 and 96
djuninho
Wed, Nov 4, 2009 : 4:22 p.m.
@ dzuck: Well duh, not every 5-star recruit is gonna turn into Charles Woodson, who was a once-in-a-lifetime talent... To say that RR hasn't benefited from Warren is ludicrous. If we didn't have him our defense would be atrocious... The '97 defense was a product of Lloyd's recruiting as DC under Moeller and as head coach... And don't forget RR inherited 8 starters on defense last year and promptly went 3-9... That was basically the same defense that harassed Tim Tebow in the '08 Capital One Bowl... If RR had retained Ron English and the defensive assistants UM would not be having the problems they are having now... RR is reaping the rewards of that horrible decision... glad I could clarify that for you
David Briegel
Wed, Nov 4, 2009 : 12:43 p.m.
Mich only good one out of three years? What you smokin'? That National Championship team was phenomenal! Glenn Steele, Irons, Ray, Griese, Jones. I've never seen a better group pull together and hang together. Incredible play after incredible play! A joy to watch. It was "Great to be a Michigan Wolverine"! I never understood why Lloyd abandoned that style of play in the succeeding years. Why they didn't play like the last game against Fla ALL the time! Too comfortable? Woodson was as good as we've ever seen. Backed up his cockiness! The interception as MSU was virtually impossible! I will never forget him or that team!
djuninho
Wed, Nov 4, 2009 : 10:12 a.m.
@ dzuck: Do some research before you speak... Lloyd was the DC during Moeller's tenure, and therefore played a major role in recruiting Woodson to play CB at Michigan... It just so happened that Lloyd became head coach before Woodson's freshman season... And Lloyd did recruit Donovan Warren, a 5-star DB out of HS, who's been starting for three years at CB now...
A2D2
Tue, Nov 3, 2009 : 11:41 p.m.
I don't see a problem here - - - - when anyone asks me about the football program, I just cut them off and remind them that,. "Michgan's a basketball school....". It seems to work.........
Furious in MI
Tue, Nov 3, 2009 : 10:11 p.m.
boy, it really hurts to remember the days of Woodson and compare them to now. Those guys knew how to play together and win together. Now all we have is distant memories of a once-great program. I just get that feeling that OSU will hang #6 on us this year, and it won't even be close.
Do Better
Tue, Nov 3, 2009 : 9:05 p.m.
michigan was only good for one year out of three years he was there
Jaxon5
Tue, Nov 3, 2009 : 8:55 p.m.
A win against Purdue has the potential to turn this thing around. Fumbles might end. Tackles might be made. Passes might be completed (to the offense, not defense). With a win against Purdue, a win at Wisconsin is possible. With a win at Wisconsin, a win against OSU is possible. It all starts with Purdue.
HailToASquared
Tue, Nov 3, 2009 : 8:47 p.m.
Charles Woodson is a Michigan legend! Anybody talks bad about him and I'll fight u!
icegoalie
Tue, Nov 3, 2009 : 6:54 p.m.
Gee I thought Woodson would take great pleasure in seeing the football program struggle...just like the rest of us Alumni and fans do. This is just shocking stuff!!
chosen1
Tue, Nov 3, 2009 : 6:44 p.m.
Charles if you're in town selling wine, please have some mercy on your fans and fellow alums and just give us some to drown our misery in.