Host Katie Hamilton Shaffer is joined by by football legend Charles Woodson and Chef Curtis Di Fede to discuss the responsible action of healthy eating for everyone seeking food for fitness. The live studio audience tickets supported the Charles Woodson Foundation.
ABOUT CHARLES WOODSON:
Charles Cameron Woodson is a former American football player. He played college football for Michigan, where he led the Wolverines to a share of the national championship in 1997. Woodson, a “two-way player” who played both offense and defense, won the Heisman Trophy in the same year. To date, he is the only primarily defensive player to win the Heisman, and he is the most recent player to win the Heisman who was not either a running back or quarterback. Woodson went on to accomplish a storied career professionally with one of the most decorated professional football resumes of all time, considered by many of his peers to be one of the greatest defensive players to have ever played.
Woodson was drafted by the Oakland Raiders fourth overall in the 1998 NFL Draft. In his first season with Oakland, Woodson was selected as the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press. He was named to the Pro Bowl and earned All-Pro recognition three consecutive times (1999–2001). In a 2002 AFC playoff match against the New England Patriots, Woodson seemed to have clinched the game by forcing a fumble by sacking quarterback (and former Michigan teammate) Tom Brady, but the ruling was overturned. Woodson later battled several nagging injuries in consecutive seasons in Oakland, leading to his departure after the 2005 NFL season via free agency.
On April 26, 2006, Woodson signed a seven-year, $52 million contract with the Green Bay Packers. He would later win Super Bowl XLV with the team over the Pittsburgh Steelers. In his first season in Green Bay, Woodson was the team’s punt returner and led the National Football Conference with eight interceptions, surpassing his previous career high of five, in his rookie year. In his second season in Green Bay, the injury problems returned and Woodson was forced to sit out two games. He was the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year for the 2009 NFL season. He returned to the Raiders in 2013, playing three more seasons and once more being voted to the Pro Bowl. Woodson is one of the few players in NFL history to play in a Pro Bowl in three different decades (1990s, 2000s, 2010s). He is currently tied for fifth on the all time interceptions list with 65 and is tied with Rod Woodson and Darren Sharper for most career defensive touchdowns with 13. He also is second all time in interceptions returned for touchdowns, with 11. After he retired in 2015, he signed with ESPN in 2016.
Charles is a true believer in extending compassion to others whenever possible. For this reason he established the Charles Woodson Foundation. The foundation offers the Charles C. Woodson scholarship which provides college funding to students of financial need who are entering a Kinesiology program. In honor of Charles’ mother, the Georgia A. Woodson Scholarship offers aid to students who were raised in single parent homes.
The Charles Woodson Foundation is also a benefactor of the CS Mott Children’s Hospital & Von Voightlander Women’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 2010, Mr. Woodson pledged $2 million to the hospital to help finance a new building and research fund. For more information on Mr. Woodson’s foundation and to join him in his efforts, please visit www.charleswoodsonfoundation.org.
ABOUT CURTIS DI FEDE:
Before opening his own space, Chef/proprietor Curtis Di Fede studied in London and Paris, and also worked with some of the world’s greatest chefs—including Heston Blumenthal and Thomas Keller. Curtis’ Southern Italian heritage and passion for classic Italian cuisine led him to open Oenotri in downtown Napa in 2010, which received numerous accolades including being called, “arguably the best new Italian restaurant in the United States” by Food & Wine Magazine. In 2013 Di Fede became one of only eleven individuals in America to be certified as a Master Olive Oil Taster by the Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Olio Di Oliva. After traveling the world teaching culinary classes and spending time in Japan, Curtis decided to bring a new dining niche to the downtown Napa scene. In 2016 Di Fede opened Miminashi, bringing Japanese izakaya-style cuisine to Napa Valley—earning high praise from the San Francisco Chronicle and a strong local and industry following. Curtis’ style is decidedly fresh and simple—showcasing beautiful local ingredients with Japanese style. Outside of the restaurant kitchen, Curtis loves spear fishing and free-diving, camping and being at the beach with his family.
