Dallas Cowboys’ Darren Woodson again falls short of Hall of Fame: ‘I feel like it’s failure’
The wait for Darren Woodson continues.
After 17 years of waiting to hear his name called as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Woodson will have to wait even longer after not being named to the 2025 Hall of Fame class on Thursday night. Despite being a finalist multiple times, his day in Canton, Ohio will have to wait.
“There’s a lesson in this,” Woodson said. “I had plenty of times when I was playing to take it out of the writers’ hands and control the narrative as far as my play. Not only that, but having conversations with my position coaches to play one position instead of three positions. I didn’t control the narrative.”
“I got to deal with it. It is what it is. It sucks. I wish I could walk in and grab that gold jacket. It’s painful, it really is. You got to get back on the plane. People say it’s not failure, but it is. It’s not in my control, but I feel like it’s failure.”
His son, who is eight years old, has been anxiously anticipating the day his dad gets the phone call that he is in the Hall of Fame. For Woodson, that is the hardest part about not getting in.
“The hardest thing is my family,” he said. “[But] my son needs to see his dad fail. That’s life. I’m going through it and my family is going through it as well.”
Woodson will have three more years to get in as a member of the modern era committee. After that, the much more difficult process of getting in as a member of the seniors committee will begin. While his patience continues to be tested, he is battling his own competitive spirit to remain diligent in pursuing his final football dream.
“It’s always testing me,” he said. “At my core, I’m more competitive than anyone else. It’s being patient, understanding that there are other people that are on that list who have had to be patient as well.”
Despite not getting in once again, life will move on for Woodson as he will return to his businesses that run out of The Star in Frisco on Friday. He will work with his team and continue his successful post-career life. But deep inside, he knows that he has unfinished business left in the NFL.
“Tomorrow I’m going to wake up, and I’m going to be working,” he said. “I’ll probably be on a teams call and I’ll be doing what I do at my businesses. It’s not going to stop me. The birds are going to chirp tomorrow.”
This story was originally published February 6, 2025 at 9:08 PM.
