ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Oakland Raiders safety Charles Woodson didn't rule out playing the 2016 season, when the perennial Pro Bowler would be 40 years old.
"I guess I'm already there, pretty much," Woodson said in a conference call with Detroit reporters Wednesday. "Could I see myself going another year? Uhh, I guess I could. I mean, it's right there. It's not like it's five years away so it's right there. So yeah, I could see it.
"Will that happen? I'm not quite sure about that."
The 39-year-old Woodson is having a renaissance season with the Raiders and is tied for the NFL lead in interceptions with five. For him to be playing at 40, he would have to make it until at least the middle of the 2016 season because his birthday is Oct. 7.
The 1997 Heisman Trophy winner and a first-round pick out of Michigan, Woodson has played the majority of his career with the Raiders and Packers. He has been to the Pro Bowl eight times, a first-team All-Pro three times, led the NFL in interceptions twice and was part of Green Bay's Super Bowl championship team in the 2010 season.
He said he never pictured playing 18 seasons, that there was never an exact number he put on how many years he would want to play and that he is playing at this point "is even remarkable to me."
So what's the secret to his success at age 39? He jokingly pointed to Cabernet grapes -- Woodson also owns TwentyFour Wines, a winery in Napa Valley that is about to open a tasting room south of downtown Napa, California.
"It's all in the grapes, man," Woodson said. "That's what I keep telling everybody. It's in the grapes."