Wisconsin Hall opens doors to three
Charles Woodson wasn’t crazy about the idea of playing for the Green Bay Packers, so he couldn’t have imagined that someday he’d be inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame.
Someday arrived Saturday night, when Woodson joined fellow Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne and professional golfer Sherri Steinhauer in the Class of 2017. The 66th induction ceremony was held at the UWM Panther Arena.
“I’m honored to be here in Wisconsin, a place I never thought I’d be,” Woodson said in a news conference before the ceremony. “I ended up spending seven years here and winning a championship. One of the great joys of my life was having an opportunity to play for the Green Bay Packers.”
Woodson, 40, reluctantly signed with the Packers in 2006 after spending his first eight years in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders.
Other teams thought he was over the hill, but he led the NFC with eight interceptions his first year in Green Bay, was named NFL defensive player of the year in 2009 and helped the Packers win Super Bowl XLV.
Donald Driver, Woodson’s teammate in Green Bay and the emcee Saturday, said facing Woodson in practice every day made him a better receiver.
“This guy brought the best out of me,” Driver said. “I remember I used to hate playing against this guy when he was in Oakland. I looked at other defensive backs and said, ‘If I can beat Charles Woodson in practice, I’m going to kill you.’ ”
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, coach Mike McCarthy and team president Mark Murphy were among those who congratulated Woodson in a video.
“The talks you gave before and after games were so inspiring,” Rodgers said. “Miss you around here, buddy. Love you. So happy for you and your family.”
Dayne, 39, brought along four of the offensive linemen who blocked for him at the University of Wisconsin and was presented by tackle Chris McIntosh.
“I don’t know what to do. Should I run off? Should I talk?” said Dayne, who apologized for not being comfortable speaking in public. His speech lasted all of 3 minutes but it came from the heart.
He thanked former coach Barry Alvarez, who was not in attendance but congratulated Dayne in a video.
“I was a big running back and I think coach Alvarez was the only one who believed in me,” Dayne said.
It didn’t take long for him to convince everyone else. As a true freshman he rushed for more than 2,100 yards, including 246 in the Badgers’ victory over Utah in the Copper Bowl.
Dayne went on to rush for an NCAA Division I record 7,125 yards at Wisconsin including bowl games and was the most valuable player in the 1999 and 2000 Rose Bowl games. The New York Giants drafted him in the first round in 2000 and he played in the NFL for eight seasons.
Wisconsin officially retired his No. 33 jersey on Nov. 10, 2007.
Steinhauer, 54, grew up in Madison, was a standout junior and amateur, played at the University of Texas and went on to win eight tournaments on the LPGA Tour. She is considered to be the greatest female golfer in Wisconsin history.
Steinhauer, who graciously handled an interruption of several minutes when the microphone went out, said she was so painfully shy that she never raised her hand in class in grade school, middle school, high school or college.
“When I went to the golf course as a young girl, I realized how quiet you had to be to play the game,” she said, “and I knew I’d found my sport.”
She retired from the LPGA Tour in 2012 after a 26-year career. Among her eight victories were two major titles: the 1992 du Maurier Classic and the 2006 Women’s British Open. She also won the British Open in 1998 and ’99, before it became an LPGA major.
Bud Selig, the former owner of the Milwaukee Brewers and the Commissioner of Major League Baseball for more than two decades, was honored with the Hall’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Selig will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., on his 83rd birthday July 30.