Charles Woodson is stepping up his game at Fox Sports. Andrew Marchand reported the Fox college football analyst is adding a new role on “Fox NFL Kickoff” to his duties at the network.
Woodson is joining the show in a full-time capacity after being a part of the college football pregame show over the past two seasons. Woodson’s hall of fame career didn’t immediately breed success in the sports media industry.
The former All-Pro cornerback was let go at ESPN three years into his tenure. Since then, Woodson’s been announced as a member of the 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame class and has grown into a key piece at Fox.
The fourth overall pick of the 1998 NFL Draft, Woodson stepped into the Oakland Raiders’ starting lineup on day one. Playing in all 16 games, he intercepted five passes and forced two fumbles to earn the AP Rookie of the Year Award, the first of many honors during his 18-year career.
Woodson played 254 regular-season games with the Raiders and Green Bay Packers, totaling 65 interceptions, fifth-best in league history.
He retired with 65 interceptions, 1,220 tackles, and 20 sacks. Woodson is bringing quite the NFL resumé with him to the new role at Fox.
“Fox NFL Kickoff” isn’t shedding any talent with this move. Woodson joins a cast including host Charissa Thompson, Michael Vick, Dave Wannstedt, Tony Gonzalez, and Colin Cowherd. The more people added into a studio show, the worse it usually gets, so Marchand presented the idea of tinkering with the format to work Woodson in smoothly.
The New York Post media insider acknowledged that Tony Gonzalez already makes regular appearances on “Fox NFL Sunday,” the network’s main pregame show. Gonzalez could be a leading candidate to take over for Terry Bradshaw or Jimmy Johnson when either of the two legends eventually steps away from the show.