By John Turney 
After seven years as a semifinalist, former Dallas Cowboys' safety Darren Woodson finally took a step -- no, more like a leap -- toward Canton last year when he was a first-time finalist for the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame's Class of 2023. This year he's made his second straight Final 15.
He deserves to be there.
A key contributor to the Cowboys' three Super Bowl teams in the 1990s, Woodson was a four-time first-team All-Pro, a five-time Pro Bowler and such a complete player that Sports Illustrated in 1994 described him as "the most productive player on the best defense in the NFL."
The Cowboys led the league in total defense in 1992. The following year, they led it in fewest points allowed. In 1994, they led it in total defense again.
Woodson was one reason why.
He was unique for a defensive back of that era. At 6-feet-2 and 220 pounds, he possessed rare speed (sub-4.4 40-yard time) for a player that size. He was built like a small linebacker, had the straight-line speed of many cornerbacks and was a sure tackler.
In fact, he was always among the team leaders and retired as the Cowboys' all-time leading tackler.
Former Cowboys' defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt took full advantage of Woodson's size-speed combination, positioning him in several spots within Wannstedt's scheme. He played strong safety in base. He sometimes lined up over the slot receiver. He shifted to a linebacker spot in the Cowboys' nickel, with Bill Bates serving as the middle linebacker and Woodson glued to running backs in man-to-man coverage.
He wasn't the first NFL safety to play multiple roles in a secondary. Prior to him, players like the Steelers' Donnie Shell of the Steelers and the Rams' Nolan Cromwell served similar functions, but they were smaller -- perhaps 190 to 200 pounds or so. Woodson had 20-30 pounds on them.
"Darren Woodson, to me, was a beast," Hall-of-Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher once said. "My favorite player of all time."
Woodson was a precursor to safeties that are all over the league now. Hybrid types like Minkah Fitzpatrick, Derwin James or even Tyrann Mathieu. There are too many to count, really. But there is no doubt about his impact.
Woodson's style of play is the norm in today's NFL.
"Darren is the total package," Wannestedt's successor, Dave Camp, told Sports Illustrated in 1996. "He has a combination of size, speed, and lateral movement that is rare in a strong safety. In fact, he covers one-on-one so well he could be a corner. He is the kind of guy coaches like to build a team around."
About that same time Joel Buchbaum, Pro Football Weekly's professional football analyst, ranked Woodson as the NFL's top strong safety, and Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones concurred. He made Woodson the highest-paid safety in league history.
A linebacker in college, Woodson was shifted to defensive back after Dallas made him a second-round draft pick in 1992. Spending his rookie year as a nickelback and dominating on special teams (making All-Rookie), Woodson took over at strong safety in his second season and was a vital cog in defending the Cowboys' 1992 Super Bowl crown.
A couple of years later, he was part of a secondary that featured defending Defensive Player-of-the-Year Deion Sanders and Super Bowl MVP Larry Brown. But it was Woodson's contributions that were invaluable to the Cowboys' third Super Bowl victory in four years.
That secondary was a strength of the Dallas defense that from 1992-97 allowed the fewest points and the fewest yards in that span. It also allowed the fewest passing yards in the NFL, the second-fewest passing touchdowns and the fifth-lowest defensive passer rating.
Sanders is in the Hall, a first-ballot choice in 2011. So is pass rusher Charles Haley. But no other member of that Cowboys' defense has made it to Canton without a ticket.
Woodson is close.
Granted, it took him 15 years of eligibility to become a finalist, but that's not the point. His case was finally discussed by voters last year and it will be interesting to see what happens this year.
One issue Woodson may have is timing. There have been a lot of safeties voted in recently. Including senior committee nominees and Centennial Class selections, there have been 11 since 2017 inducted into the Hall of Fame—LeRoy Butler, Steve Atwater, John Lynch, Donnie Shell, Cliff Harris, Troy Polamalu, Ed Reed, Brian Dawkins, Johnny Robinson, Bobby Dillon and Kenny Easley.
Some voters may feel the safety backlog has been cleared and hesitate to support another so quickly. They shouldn't. Woodson's post-season honors compare favorably to some of the most notable inductees.
He was first-team All-Pro as many times as Butler, Polamalu, Harris, and Easley (four each) and more times than Shell (three times), Lynch, and Atwater (twice each). And he has more Super Bowl rings than all of them except Shell.
He does have fewer interceptions than any, but his total (23) is just one behind Atwater and three behind Lynch. So that shouldn't be an issue. What should be is this: Darren Woodson is on par with those 11 safeties.
Now it's up to voters to make Woodson's induction a Dirty Dozen.
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