Quick – name an NFL player who was capable of single-handedly winning a game for his team. The first names that come into your mind will likely be quarterbacks, running backs, or maybe even receivers. While defensive players are equally important, it is rare when you can say that a defender – especially a cornerback – is capable of controlling of the outcome of a football game by himself. That is what made Rod Woodson such a special player. He was arguably the most gifted athlete in Steelers history, able to effectively cover the game’s best receivers, blitz the quarterback, cause turnovers, return kicks, and punish opponents with physical tackling. More importantly, he literally won his team games. Next weekend Woodson will almost definitely be selected to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He would become the first post-70’s era Steeler to earn that honor. Personally, this is a big deal for me as a fan. As I have stated many times on this site, I was too young to be able to watch the 1970’s players in their prime, so when I was growing up, Woodson was (and probably still is) my favorite Steeler of all-time. He will be well-deserving of this selection, and to honor him, I am presenting a special America Loves Countdowns® list to chronicle his greatest moments in a Steelers uniform.

vs Houston Oilers (1990)
The Steelers and Oilers were locked in a tight early season contest at Three Rivers Stadium. It had already been a wild game, one in which the struggling Steelers offense – led by offensive coordinator Joe Walton – had not been able to get into the endzone (the offense actually did not score a touchdown until week 5 that season!) and the defense had been weakened by the ejection of LB Greg Lloyd (who was tossed for jumping on an official’s foot). The Steelers held a slim lead late in the 4th quarter but knew that they needed to get some more points on the board. Fortunately, Woodson once again came thru in the clutch. He fielded a punt and raced 52 yards for a touchdown, giving the Steelers a two-score lead. He then helped the defense hold off Houston’s potent passing game, securing a big divisional victory.

vs Dallas Cowboys (1995)
In the 1995 season opener against Detroit, Woodson blew out his ACL trying to chase down Barry Sanders on the horrible Three Rivers turf. For most players, a torn ACL would not just end their season, but likely hamper their careers as well. But not for a super-human like Woodson. He worked hard all season to rehab, demanding that the Steelers not place him on injured reserve. When the Steelers faced the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX that January, Woodson was back in the lineup, becoming the first ever player to tear an ACL and play again in the same season. While he was not able to play or contribute much, his presence inspired the defense, who played a great game despite a losing cause. Woodson’s most memorable moment came when he tipped a pass away from WR Michael Irvin and pointed to his newly constructed knee, showing the flamboyant Irvin that he was still capable of keeping up with the best receivers in the league.

vs Baltimore Ravens (1996)
Woodson’s final season with the Steelers had a tumultuous beginning. In the opener at Jacksonville, the team lost all-pro LB Greg Lloyd for the season with a knee injury. To make matters worse, QB Jim Miller – who had won the starting job after a lengthy training camp battle with Mike Tomczack and Kordell Stewart – was pulled late in the game and benched the following week in favor of Tomczack. As the Steelers entered their week 2 game against the Baltimore Ravens – the first ever meeting between the two franchises – they desperately needed a spark to avoid an early season free-fall. Woodson was once again the player who provided that spark. On Baltimore’s first possession of the game, he stepped in front of a Vinny Testaverde pass and took it 43 yards the other direction for a touchdown. Later in the game, Woodson nabbed his second turnover on a fumble recovery. The Steelers would end up winning the game by a comfortable margin and starting a five-game winning streak en route to their third consecutive division title. Woodson was not the shutdown cornerback he once was by that point in his career, and he would later be forced to transition to safety with other teams, but he was still capable of making game-changing plays like the ones he made in this contest.

vs San Diego Chargers (1989)
The Steelers were 4-6 and had been shutout in two of their previous four games. Offense was still hard to come by when the Steelers faced the Chargers at home in week 11, and things didn’t appear to be getting any better. All the team could muster in the first half were two Gary Anderson field goals. Trailing 10-6 in the 3rd quarter, Woodson decided to provide the offense all by himself when he took a kickoff back 84 yards for a touchdown. It was key because the Chargers and QB Jim McMahon were dominating the time of possession (they had the ball for all but 4 plays during the 3rd quarter), and the kick return absolutely deflated them. The play not only helped propel the Steelers to a victory, but also got them back into the playoff hunt. They won 5 out of their final 6 games to qualify for the post-season for the first time in 5 years.

vs Detroit Lions (1992)
The Lions may have been 2-7 when they came to Pittsburgh for a mid-season game with the Steelers, but they sure didn’t play like a 2-7 team. Detroit overcame a 10-0 deficit thanks in part to their star RB Barry Sanders, who scored a touchdown late in the 4th quarter which gave the Lions a 14-10 lead. On the other side of the ball, the Steelers offense was sputtering. Starting QB Neil O’Donnell had left the game with a pulled hamstring and backup Bubby Brister appeared to be in full “I don’t mop up” mode. The game appeared to be over when Detroit got the ball back with just over 3 minutes left in the game. Their worst case scenario was that they were going to punt and watch Brister haplessly go four and out to end the game. But Woodson made sure that wouldn’t happen. He blitzed Lions QB Erik Kramer and forced him to fumble the ball at his own three yard line, where it was recovered by Carnell Lake. That led to a short touchdown pass from Brister to Tim Jorden which won the game for the Steelers.

at Cincinnati Bengals (1987)
When the Steelers drafted Woodson in the first round of the 1987 draft, head coach Chuck Noll proclaimed, “I’m in love with him!” That love didn’t last too long when Woodson held out during training camp. While rookie holdouts are common in the NFL, this one turned serious in a hurry. Woodson went off to Europe to run track, and the holdout lasted until halfway thru the regular season. By the time he finally signed, many Steelers fans had written him off as a selfish jerk and yet another 1980′s first round bust for the Steelers. Woodson would soon prove his critics wrong. In one of his first games as a Steelers, his team held a slim 6-3 lead at Riverfront Stadium against a Bengals team who usually dominated them during that era. Woodson broke the game wide open with his first career interception, a 45 yard pic-six off of the arm of Boomer Esiason. The Steelers would go on to win the game, and more importantly, the Steelers Nation got their first glimpse of Woodson’s greatness.

at Houston Oilers (1989)
In the 1989 AFC Wild Card Game, the Steelers traveled to Houston to take on a heavily-favored Oilers team which had already beaten them twice during the regular season. Most people – including Houston head coach Jerry Glanville – thought the Steelers would succumb to the “just happy to be here” mentality, since they had not played a post-season game for five years when many of the current players (including Woodson) were not even there. However, the Steelers surprised everyone by battling Houston to a 23-23 tie at the end of regulation. In overtime, it appeared that the Oilers would finish off the upstart Steelers. After holding Pittsburgh to a three-and-out to start the period, the Oilers got great field position inside Steelers territory thanks to a sub-par Harry Newsome punt. On their first play of the drive, Houston handed off to RB Lorenzo White, who rumbled around the left side of the line. Woodson came up and hit White, knocking the ball loose, and then recovered the fumble as well. The turnover would set up Gary Anderson’s game-winning 51-yard field goal and give the Steelers an unlikely playoff victory. Best of all, the upset got Glanville fired.

vs New Orleans Saints (1993)
In late October of the 1993 season, the Saints were the best team in football. They were undefeated and their high-powered offense was averaging nearly 30 points per game. When New Orleans came to Three Rivers to face the Steelers, Pittsburgh knew they would need a big defensive effort to be able to stop them, and they got one from their best player. In the 1st quarter alone, Woodson intercepted two passes. He ran back the first interception 63 yards for a touchdown, and his second pic occurred deep in Saints territory and set up another score. Prior to the game, Saints QB Wade Wilson had not been picked off in his previous 107 pass attempts, but Woodson intercepted 2 of his first 4 passes that afternoon! Just like that, the Steelers were up 14-0 on the league’s lone unbeaten team, and they would cruise to a dominating 37-14 victory. Woodson would go on to be named NFL Defensive Player or the Year, an award which he practically clinched in this game alone.

at Houston Oilers (1992)
In Bill Cowher’s first game as head coach of the Steelers, he instantly became a legend when he successfully attempted a fake punt which sparked a 14-point comeback against rival Houston in the Astrodome. But few people remember that, despite the gutsy call, the Steelers still trailed the Oilers 24-19 in the second half and were losing their momentum. Houston’s powerful run-and-shoot offense was driving and had a 1st down at the Pittsburgh 43 yard line. That’s when Woodson stepped in. On a 1st down blitz, he jumped over running back Lorenzo White and knocked down a Warren Moon pass. On 3rd and 2, he hurdled an offensive lineman, ran completely across the field and tackled White from behind for no gain, forcing a subsequent 4th down incompletion by Moon. But Woodson was far from finished. Halfway thru the 4th quarter, he picked off Moon in the endzone on what would have been yet another game-clinching drive for Houston and returned it 57 yards to set the Steelers up for the go-ahead score. Woodson finish the game with 2 interceptions, 3 deflected passes, 7 tackles, and 2 drive-killing stops when his team needed them the most. Oh, by the way, Woodson wasn’t even supposed to be playing. He had a knee injury that had been slowing him down all week. Imagine what he would have done had he been healthy!

vs Buffalo Bills (1994)
To celebrate its 75th anniversary, the league named an all-time team composed of the greatest players ever to don an NFL uniform. All the past greats were there along with five players who were active at the time – Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, Reggie White, Ronnie Lott, and Woodson. It was a huge honor to be called one of the best players in the history of the league, and Woodson knew that the bar had been raised on his expectations. As usual, he did not disappoint. He helped lead the Steelers “Blitzburgh” defense to a record-setting season, and in a Monday night game against the Bills in week 11, he showed a national TV audience exactly why he deserved his spot on the all-time team. In the 1st half, Woodson jumped a Jim Kelly pass and returned it 37 yards for a Steelers touchdown. In the 2nd half, the Bills mounted a comeback and trailed by only 6 points when Woodson struck again. He nailed Kelly on a blitz and forced him to fumble in the endzone, where Gerald Williams fell on the ball to give the Steelers a 23-10 lead which would end up being the final score. On a night where the Steelers offense never sniffed the endzone and the defense had to deal with the four-time defending AFC champions, Rod Woodson single-handedly accounted for the team’s only touchdowns. That is why he was so feared. That is why he is one of the greatest defenders EVER. And that is why he will now be a Hall of Famer.

Honorable Mentions:

• vs Houston Oilers (1994): A battle of field goals seemed destined to end in a tie. In overtime, both teams exchange five punts before the Oilers took over at their own 12 yard line in the final minutes of the extra period. Oilers RB Gary Brown ran up the middle for a nice gain, but Woodson came up and drilled him. Brown fumbled the ball, Pittsburgh recovered, and Gary Anderson booted the 40-yarder to win it.
• at Kansas City Chiefs (1992): The surprising Steelers needed a win to keep pace with first-place Houston in the AFC Central race as they headed into a tough Sunday night game at Arrowhead Stadium. Woodson provided the spark for victory. He returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown, intercepted QB Dave Krieg, and helped the defense keep Kansas City out of the endzone in a convincing 27-3 win.
• at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1989): In a Christmas Eve game that the Steelers had to win in order to make the playoffs, Woodson made sure right off the bat that his team would get the job done. He returned the opening kickoff 72 yards, which set up a touchdown. He then returned an interception 39 yards to set up a field goal, and the Steelers never looked back.
• at Miami Dolphins (1993): The achilles heel of the 1993 Steelers was awful special teams, and it was on full display in this Monday Night Football matchup with the 9-3 Dolphins. In the 4th quarter, they gave up a long punt return touchdown to O.J. McDuffie (Penn State sucks) which got Miami back in the game, then they missed what should have been a game-icing field goal. Fortunately Woodson was there to bail them out. After making a big play earlier in the game, he picked off a pass in the final seconds to preserve the victory.
• vs Houston Oilers (1992): In the 1992 rematch which would decide the AFC Central race, Woodson delivered the biggest hit of his career, knocking Warren Moon out of the game. Here is how Moon himself described the play in an excerpt he wrote for a sports magazine that year: “On Nov. 1, Pittsburgh Steeler cornerback Rod Woodson came right up under my chin with his helmet, splitting my chin open and driving my head back into the rock-hard Three Rivers Stadium AstroTurf…. Normally I’d be able to break my fall with my arms, but he pinned my arms at my side and drove me into the turf. Actually I don’t remember anything that happened to me in the first 15 minutes after his helmet struck my chin.”