Wednesday, February 18, 2004
F2F: Gabrielle Union & Charles Woodson
Miki Turner Page 3 staff
HOLLYWOOD -- She is one of the busiest young actresses in Hollywood. He's a Pro Bowl cornerback for the Oakland Raiders. They're both young, successful and terribly good looking.
The connection, however, between Gabrielle Union ("Bring it On," "Deliver Us From Eva," "Bad Boys II") and Charles Woodson goes a lot deeper. Woodson played college ball at Michigan with Union's husband, former NFL fullback Chris Howard, and is part of the Howard's inner circle of friends.
So, when Page 3 caught up with Union and Woodson recently at an NBA All-Star party, the actress and the athlete agreed to dig a little deeper and find out a little more about each other.
It was very enlightening!
Gabrielle Union was the first African-American actress to play a love interest on "Friends."
Union: What do you want to ask me, Charles?
Woodson: Hmm, you're married now, right? You're married to one of my homeboys, one I went to school with. How did you do it?
Union: How did I do it? How did I wrangle him?
Woodson: How did you make it happen? I've got to know. America needs to know!
Union: It had a little something to do with Kevin Hardy of the Cincinnati Bengals. He's the one who got us together.
Woodson: I understand that part, but I'm talking about you.
Union: When they say dudes "want a freak in the bedroom and a lady on the street ..."
Woodson: That's real.
Union: I support that. But had I slept with him right away, I wouldn't have had a husband. I would have had a fling -- but I didn't, and now I have a husband.
Woodson: Wow. See, for all the ladies who didn't believe that was true, look over here!
Union: About that waiting thing, Charles ... does that work for you?
Charles Woodson won the 1997 Heisman Trophy as he led Michigan to a share of the national title.
Woodson: I don't like to wait for nothing! I want it right here, right now, straight up.
Union: So, do you want a freak in the bedroom or on the street?
Woodson: I want a freak in public. I want a freak in the bedroom. I want a freak right now, if you have one. Where's she at? ... And what about you -- what do you want?
Union: You know what, when you marry someone named "Freaky C," and at your wedding, they say it's so hard to say goodbye to "a player" instead of saying it's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday ... suddenly you know what the hell is going on!
Woodson: We sent him off reluctantly. We didn't want to do it, but what can you say. It's Gabrielle.
Union: It keeps me on my toes.
Woodson: What advice would you give me?
Union: Aside from don't date any more of my friends ...
Woodson: Hey, hold up! What's up with that?
Union: No, I'm just kidding. You're a good guy, Charles. You just need to continue to be yourself. You're one of my husband's friends who is actually honest. You know exactly what you're getting with you. My advice to young men out there, especially young ballers, is be honest. That's the best way to go, because no one can come back on you and say you didn't tell me something. Charles is a good guy, he loves his mother and he's going to make somebody a good husband one day.
Woodson: You know I really try to give everybody the benefit of the doubt. So, if I meet a girl, I'm not looking at her like that. But time will tell. I'm a pretty good judge of character in that sense, so I give it a minute. Some of them disguise it pretty well, though. Next thing you know they have their hand in your pocket, and you don't know what hit you.
Union: You've got a good crew, too. We're a little protective of you and the other members of the Michigan Mafia (players from 1997 national championship team). We make sure they've got good girls around them.
Woodson: This might make your husband mad a little bit, but everyone wants to know: When a guy gets together with a girl in a film and they kiss ... who's the best kisser out of all the guys you've kissed in a film?
Union: You know what ...
Woodson: Be careful, be careful.
Union: Nobody compares to my husband. You know once you've had a member of the Michigan Mafia, you're ruined for life!
Woodson: Good answer!
Miki Turner is a day and night laborer in L.A. She can be reached at dmiki@aol.com.
