Charles Woodson defends Michigan amid Big Ten sign-stealing scandal: 'Everybody's hands are dirty'

Michigan‘s current sign-stealing investigation has been the talk of the town in college football, as the public awaits the Big Ten’s decision regarding punishment for the Wolverines following the program’s 10-page response letter to the conference’s notice of discipline.

But one of the underlying storylines of the investigation involves potential sign stealing from other Big Ten schools against the Wolverines, with Michigan bringing forth documents to the Big Ten and the NCAA that they feel show Big Ten teams working collaboratively in giving Purdue the Wolverines’ signals ahead of their 2022 Big Ten Championship matchup.

This is the area of the investigation that Michigan football legend Charles Woodson focused on when he joined the ‘Pat McAfee Show’ on Thursday.

“The thing is everything that I hear on every outlet is that everybody steals, but it seems like when it comes to Michigan they’re saying oh Michigan is stealing-stealing, you know what I mean?” Woodson asked.

Michigan believes the information they brought forth reveals that Ohio State, Purdue, and Rutgers worked together and communicated Michigan’s signals to Purdue before their title game, with Ohio State providing the Boilermakers with Michigan’s offensive signals and Rutgers their defensive signals.

“The team is a great thing this year, but in terms of me saying that everyone is coming on saying that every team steals, you get these Big Ten coaches together, they have a Zoom call, and the focus in Michigan and what they’ve done wrong,” Woodson said. “It’s almost as if everyone’s got together and said hey, the Michigan Wolverines they were in the bank, they held the guns, they had the ski mask. Hey, we were just the drivers, we were outside. So we didn’t terrorize anybody, we didn’t put the gun to anybody’s head, we were just the getaway car. No no no man, everybody’s going to jail.”

Woodson is referring to the Big Ten conference call where coaches urged the league to take action on Michigan’s sign-stealing allegations. But even if Michigan’s allegations of other Big Ten teams are true, they don’t compare in severity to what the Wolverines are being investigated for, as they could face severe punishment for the advanced scouting at opponent’s games involving recording technology.

“It don’t matter what part you played in it, if you’re stealing, you’re stealing. And so that means if we’re gonna have some type of sanctions put on Harbaugh, than there’s got to be sanctions on other coaches as well. Does Harbaugh get more because he was more a part of the plot? Maybe so. But everybody’s hands are dirty in this situation,” Woodson concluded.

Potential punishment for the Wolverines and their sign-stealing will likely continue taking precedence over the rest of the Big Ten’s schools, but will be interesting to see if other programs down the line could face consequences eventually as well.