Cowboys legendary DB Darren Woodson: Coronavirus felt like 'a car crash'

Former Cowboys safety Darren Woodson opened about his struggle with the coronavirus, saying that his battle with COVID-19 felt like being in a "car crash."

Woodson says his family was quarantining safely, but his wife had to go to Houston for a business trip, which is a hotspot for the virus. His wife ended up contracting COVID-19 from her business partner, which caused him to get it as well.

"All of a sudden — five hours later after a negative test — I had chills, 102 degree temperature and had all the COVID symptoms," Woodson said. "It felt like I was in a car crash. My body was aching, sore back, legs, hard to get out of bed for a day. It affected me more mentally than physically — the first couple of days — I just didn't know when I was going to get back to myself."

Fortunately, Woodson was able to recover, but he wants to share his story as a warning to NFL players as they prepare for the upcoming season. The league is not planning on adopting a bubble format for the upcoming campaign, and Woodson says that for players to avoid pain similar to what he endured, they will need to follow league protocol as carefully as possible.

Players have until 4 p.m. EST on Aug. 6 to inform the league they are opting out for the upcoming season. Several NFL players have already announced they will opt out, including Patriots linebacker Dont'a Hightower and Chiefs running back Damien Williams.