Charles Woodson says Tom Brady “Owes him everything”

Dec 22, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders safety Charles Woodson (24) reacts after a penalty call during the second half against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Charles Woodson is outspoken to put it lightly, which has earned him a spot on the NFL Network’s panels this Sunday as the league’s network airs its hours upon hours of Conference Championship coverage.

Naturally with Tom Brady playing in Sunday’s first game, against Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos in a much hyped game between two of the league’s biggest names, Deion Sanders brought up the infamous “Tuck Rule.”

In the 2001 playoffs Woodson forced a fumble on Brady in the fourth quarter with the Raiders up 13-10, it appeared to be another career defining moment for the Heisman trophy winner out of Michigan who at the time was just becoming the surefire Hall of Famer that he is today.

Instead as we all know, the officials overturned the call citing the now defunct “Tuck Rule” after originally ruling it a fumble, Adam Vinatieri tied the game in the snow and the Patriots went on to win the Super Bowl after beating the Raiders in overtime.

While the next season the Raiders completed their mission of getting to the Super Bowl before losing an equally painful game to Tampa Bay and their former coach in Jon Gruden, and Woodson having won a championship in Green Bay may have potentially healed the wounds of that call the now current Raider was blunt on the topic while on air.

With Brady now one of the game’s greats, Woodson is claiming some of the responsibility for his fellow Wolverines alum’s successful NFL career that was skyrocketed from that famous moment.

"“Let’s just get this out of the way,” he began. “If they make the correct call — which they did at first, then they overturned it — this (10)-game playoff streak that Tom Brady has? It never happened. Tom Brady owes me his house. I’m the reason why he’s married to who he’s married to. I’m a reason for a lot of that. Everything. Because they overturned that call.”“Tom. C’mon now. ‘Fess up. It was a fumble. It’s still a fumble.”"

Woodson was likely joking around partially, but like most Raiders fans he still feels slighted by the call on that day. If anything it reminds us how hard it will be for Raider Nation to stomach this afternoon’s Broncos-Patriots matchup with so much hate reserved for both teams thanks to that famous moment.