Super Bowl champion Rod Woodson said the Ku Klux Klan tried to burn down his house when he was a kid.
Woodson, whose father was Black and mother was White, said he was 11 years old when he woke up in the middle of the night to flames emanating from the back of his house.
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“I woke up, it was like 2:00 in the morning. I look up and we only had a two-bedroom house. So my mom and dad bedroom was right here. Our bed, all three boys stayed in the other side of the other bedroom. I wake up, I look and I see this flickering, these lights outside of the back of our our window and I’m like, ‘What the heck?’” Woodson said during an appearance on OutKick’s “The Craig Carton Show.”
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Rod Woodson speaks onstage at the 22nd annual Harold and Carole Pump Foundation Gala at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Aug. 19, 2022. (Getty Images for Harold & Carole Pump Foundation)
“And I looked and our house is on fire, like right below our window.”
The Pro Football Hall of Famer said he ran to get his dad and notify him that the house was on fire. The family got out of the house, and the fire department conducted an investigation.
“We get a letter a week later from the KKK saying, ‘If you guys don’t get your mixed race butts out of this area, it’s going to happen again.’ And so, it was the KKK,” Woodson said.
The 61-year-old, who grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, said the Ku Klux Klan doused the house in gasoline, but dogs began barking, causing the attackers to flee before returning. The gasoline had partially dried by the time they returned, preventing the house from immediately going up in flames.
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Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Rod Woodson (26) looks on before a preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Three Rivers Stadium on Aug. 24, 1995 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
Woodson said they were “very blessed” that the gasoline had dried a little bit.
“We stayed in the same house, you know, for all my childhood until I got to high school and then we moved out a little bit further out,” Woodson said.
The 11-time Pro Bowler said that the Black Panthers also gave his family issues because they were half-White, saying there were letters and calls to the house.
“My dad used to just say, ‘You are who you are. You’re your best of both worlds. Everybody’s gonna ask you to choose, What are you? You black? Why? What are you? What are you?’” Woodson said.
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Baltimore Ravens safety Rod Woodson stands on the sidelines against the Oakland Raiders at Oakland Alameda Coliseum during the 2000-01 AFC Championship game on Jan. 14, 2001. (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
“And they still ask that question. What are you? What? I’m like, listen, I am who I am.”
Woodson played in the NFL for 18 seasons, spending 10 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, one with the San Francisco 49ers, four with the Baltimore Ravens and two with the then-Oakland Raiders.
In his illustrious career, Woodson played in 238 games, recording 1,158 tackles, 13.5 sacks and 71 interceptions. He returned 12 of those interceptions for touchdowns, an NFL record. He won the Super Bowl with the Ravens following the 2000 season.