FREMONT — Newly minted, first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer Charles Woodson’s roots are ingrained in the Toledo area.
At each step, beginning in northwest Ohio, Woodson was the most talented, most feared, and most respected player to set foot onto a field on Fridays and Saturdays. A prolific career at Fremont Ross carried Woodson to the University of Michigan, where he became a college football legend.
His journey began nearly 40 miles southeast of Toledo at the turn of the decade.
At the time, Ross High School only included grades 10 to 12, but the wait was worthwhile for longtime Ross coach Rex Radeloff.
Woodson’s brother, Terry Carter, also was a standout at Ross.
He landed at Miami of Ohio for college football but, before graduating from Ross in 1990, he created a path for Woodson to dominate.
Carter’s influence became a key benchmark.
“When I got that job [at Ross], we had some good players, but we became aware of Charles when Terry Carter was coming along that program,” Radeloff said. “Football wise, contact began in the seventh grade. When Terry was a sophomore, he was talking about his younger brother playing flag football. So all the coaches knew about Charles and considered him a pretty good athlete.
“All along, Terry always talked about Charles, and we knew Charles was going to be something special.”
Woodson rocketed to stardom among high school football players, creating highlight-reel play after highlight-reel play and having the statistics to show for it. He started on defense right as a sophomore and earned some offensive snaps. He honed his skills in the defensive backfield and became such a force that teams eventually stopped throwing his way.
Woodson earned more snaps at running back as a junior, but his offensive prowess took off as a senior.
He famously rushed for a Ross-record 335 yards and seven touchdowns on Oct. 21, 1994, against Great Lakes League rival Clay. Ross won the game, 72-0, and Woodson had five TDs by halftime.
By the end of that game, Woodson had 1,515 rushing yards in seven games.
“I got people [on] both sides talking about it,” Radeloff said. “I took Charles out in the middle of the third quarter. I finally took him out, and one of the coaches told me people were upset that Charles was pulled because he was close to breaking one of the records. I put him back in, and he got the record.”
One of Woodson’s most dominant performances was his final one at Fremont Ross. In the 1994 Division I state playoffs against Massillon Washington at Byers Field in Parma, he carried the ball 28 times for 231 yards, and he scored all four of the Little Giants’ touchdowns in the 35-28 loss. Woodson also had an estimated 20 tackles.
“It was a great day for him,” Radeloff recalled. “Packed house at Parma Padua, and it was the first playoff game of his senior year. He had a fabulous game. After the game, the Massillon coaches said that was the best player they’ve ever seen.”
Woodson was named Ohio’s Mr. Football following the 1994 season.
The choices to play at the next level were numerous, but Woodson always had one destination in mind.
“He wanted to go to Michigan, and he always did,” Radeloff said. “He had a lot of colleges looking at him, but he was always going to go there.”
The glimpse northwest Ohio received of the budding star turned into a full-fledged, national production once Woodson arrived at Michigan.
The star shined brighter and captivated a national audience for three seasons, culminating in a co-national championship for Michigan and a Heisman Trophy-winning season for Woodson in 1997.
“You look at the people that he impacted and his time at Fremont and the GLL, a lot of people in our region got to see him, but then he got to college and you realized how special he truly was,” said Jeremy Miller, who played for St. John’s Jesuit at the time Woodson was at Ross and later became a teammate of Woodson’s at Michigan in 1997. Miller is the current president of the Toledo chapter of the University of Michigan Alumni Club.
“He had that ability,” Miller said. “A lot of teams wouldn’t throw his way, because he was that locked in, and if you dare challenge him, he’ll make you pay for it.”
Woodson became the most dominant and versatile player in college football. He was as dynamic of a wide receiver as he was defensive back, and his play as a defensive back is still considered to this day among the best college football has ever seen.
He was the definition of a “ball hawk” as a defensive back, accumulating 16 interceptions in 34 career games.
He ran away with the Heisman Trophy, earning 433 first-place votes and a total of 1,815 points. He earned the award over Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning (281 first-place votes; 1,543 points), Washington State QB Ryan Leaf (70; 861), and Marshall wide receiver Randy Moss (17; 253).
He became the first — and still the only — primarily defensive player to win the award.
“He brought a swagger to the DBs at Michigan, and you could just tell,” Miller said. “All these guys wanted to be Woodson. They emulated him. James Whitley, DeWayne Patman — all had a great model to mold their game after.
“He was a quiet leader, too. Charles didn’t talk much, but when he did, people listened. He was like, ‘Screw it, let’s just win. If we win, we take care of everything else.’
“It was all about winning. Win the reps, win the practice. Everything you do, you just want to win.”
First Published February 7, 2021, 4:05 a.m.
