Purdue’s Rod Woodson Inducted Into SB Nation College Football Hall Of Fame

There was a Woodson among the two unanimous choices for defensive backs by our selection committee, but it might not be the Woodson you think -- instead, it’s Purdue’s Rod Woodson, who had his own great career about a decade before someone with the same last name won the Heisman Trophy. Woodson becomes the first defensive back inducted into the SB Nation College Football Hall of Fame.

And despite being overshadowed nowadays by that other Woodson, Rod was a great player in his own right. He notched 455 career tackles and 11 career interceptions; overall, he broke up 29 passes during his four seasons in the Big Ten. Woodson also averaged better than 20 yards per kickoff return in three of the four season he handled at least some of those duties for the Boilermakers. Hammer and Rails puts the case this way:

This is another player that should have been in the Hall years ago. An All-American in 1985 and 1986, Woodson is one of the most dynamic players ever in the collegiate game. He single-handedly beat Indiana in his last college game and was a First Round pick in the 1986 NFL draft at No. 10 overall.

Michigan fans shouldn’t get concerned yet -- that other Woodson guy will still be eligible in the fan vote starting Wednesday. But for now, the Woodson we choose for our Hall of Fame is the one that wore gold and black all the way to Canton.

For more on Boilermakers football, visit Purdue blog Hammer And Rails, plus Big Ten blog Off Tackle Empire.

The SB Nation College Football Hall of Fame is a summer project involving all of the network’s excellent college football blogs. Each community nominated five of its own for inclusion, with 10 of those nominees being inducted by our selection committee, which included reps from most FBS conferences. The inaugural class’ first 10 will be revealed Monday and Tuesday, while the remaining 10 will be chosen by public vote Wednesday and Thursday.