Former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Rod Woodson had 12 career interceptions that he returned for touchdowns, the first of which came on the very first pick of his NFL career. In Week 11 of the 1987 season, Woodson took a Boomer Esiason interception 45 yards to the house to give the Steelers a 13-3 lead over the Cincinnati Bengals, a game Pittsburgh would go on to win, 30-16.
But after Woodson’s first career interception not everyone was happy. At the end of the play, Woodson taunted Cincinnati offensive lineman Joe Walter, prompting then-Steelers defensive line coach “Mean” Joe Greene to tell the rookie to knock it off.
“So I’m pointing as I’m going in, I’m holding up the football and I’m pointing, and I go to the sideline. Mean Joe Greene is our defensive line coach. Everybody’s patting me on the back and giving me high fives, and Mean Joe comes over and goes ‘Don’t ever do that again.’ I just look at him and go, ‘Yes sir.’ Because he’s mean. When Mean Joe, when he’d shut his door to his defensive line room, I heard objects being thrown against the wall,” Woodson said during a 2019 episode of Undeniable With Dan Patrick that was recently uploaded to YouTube.
You can see Woodson point at Walter in the clip below.
Obviously, Greene took offense to what he perceived as Woodson showing up his opponent, and Woodson quickly learned from arguably the greatest player in team history what being a Steeler is about. Woodson was already coming off a holdout over his contract after being drafted 10th overall by Pittsburgh, and the interception came in just his third game with the team. Greene taught him an early lesson about how the Steelers operated during his playing days and how they continued to operate under Chuck Noll.
Woodson would famously go on to represent the Steelers mentality when he returned from a torn ACL suffered in Week One of the 1995 season to play in the Super Bowl that year against the Dallas Cowboys. He was one of the team’s best defensive players in his 10 seasons in Pittsburgh, winning a Defensive Player of the Year award and making five All-Pro teams. He helped the team have success after its transition at head coach from Noll to Bill Cowher, and I’m sure Greene made him think twice before he ever thought about showboating a little bit, even if he deserved to.
Check out the full episode of Undeniable featuring Woodson below.
