Heatherthepackgirl
Cheesehead
By GARY D'AMATO
[email protected]
Posted: Jan. 16, 2008
Green Bay - Charles Woodson wasn't going to lie. He never really wanted to play for the Green Bay Packers. Nothing against the city or the organization, but he didn't think he'd fit in.
Wearing a Packers uniform wasn't really in Charles Woodson's plans when he was a free agency.
As a free agent in 2006, the four-time Pro Bowl cornerback hoped to sign with Jacksonville or Tampa Bay. He'd probably have been happy going to any of another half-dozen teams.
But Green Bay? The city wasn't big enough, the lights weren't bright enough and the team, coming off a 4-12 record in 2005 and starting over under a new coach named Mike McCarthy, wasn't good enough.
"I came here and played before (with the Oakland Raiders), but all the talk you hear from people that played in Green Bay, it's like, 'You don't want to play there,' " Woodson said Wednesday. "Coming from Oakland, this is day and night. And every account I can remember of someone talking about Green Bay, this was not my type of place."
Asked about his concerns, Woodson said, "It was everything - organization, nightlife, the whole thing. You know, just being in Green Bay. The talk is always this is no place for a black man and that's just how it was."
Woodson, who had played eight seasons for the Raiders, reluctantly signed with the Packers after there were no other suitors for a cornerback coming off a second broken leg and thought to be in decline. He wasn't a happy training camper in '06 and got off to a shaky start with McCarthy.
But funny how things work out.
Woodson not only came to appreciate Green Bay and the Packers organization, but has revived his career and has teamed with Al Harris to form one of the top cornerback tandems in the NFL. Best of all, he is one victory away from playing in Super Bowl XLII.
"I'm playing with a great bunch of guys," he said. "I'm just excited to be able to play with a defense like this. . . . I'm just having a lot of fun."
Woodson, 31, has fought through toe and knee injuries to start 14 games for the NFC North champions, who take a 14-3 record into the NFC Championship Game against the New York Giants on Sunday.
During the regular season he had 64 tackles and four interceptions and averaged 8.1 yards on 33 punt returns. He also scored two defensive touchdowns, on a 57-yard fumble return against the Washington Redskins and a 46-yard interception return against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Woodson's season is all the more remarkable considering many around the league thought his days as an elite cornerback were over after he suffered a series of knee and leg injuries in Oakland.
As a free agent in the spring of '06, Woodson instructed his agent to contact Tampa Bay and Jacksonville.
"Every time I talked to my agent, when I'm asking him about all these other teams, he's saying, 'Well, they haven't said anything, but Green Bay called again, so what do you want to do?' " Woodson recalled. "It was almost like this was where I had to play. . . . At that point, it was Green Bay or bust."
Early on, some of Woodson's new teammates thought he was aloof and had a hard time connecting with him. Woodson said he saw talent in Green Bay, but "we were just a bunch of individuals on the team."
He also got off on the wrong foot with McCarthy and had many post-practice conversations with the coach in which they hashed out their differences.
"A lot of those talks after practices weren't necessarily good talks," he said. "We met a couple times in private and tried to talk through things. I had to get some fines and that sort of thing."
The Packers soon discovered, however, that while Woodson frequently seemed to be battling one injury or another, he always showed up on Sundays and played with a fierce competitiveness. His pressing style fit Green Bay's aggressive man-to-man scheme. Maybe he had lost a step over the years, but opposing receivers seldom separated from him.
McCarthy allowed Woodson to miss practices to rest and rehabilitate his injuries (he's been bothered by turf toe this year) and the strategy has paid off.
"I think he understands that, for me, during the week, no matter what's going on - whether I'm hurt, whether it's turf toe, whether it's my knee or any other situation that's going on in my life or with the team - on Sunday, I'm coming to play," Woodson said. "I think he understands that.
"You have to have your rules, of course, but some people you just have to deal with differently, and not only does the coach have to understand that, but players have to understand that as well. A young guy's not going to be treated like a 10-year veteran, and he's not supposed to.
"And once everybody can buy in, then the sky's the limit."
Over the last two years, Woodson also has discovered that his perceptions of Green Bay were wrong. He's probably not going to make it his home after he retires, but he likes the city and the environment.
"I've been out and a lot of what I heard about, it just hasn't happened," he said. "My experience being here, the two years I've been here, it's not been like people told me it would be. I've been able to go out in restaurants and sit down and eat in peace and it's been great.
"So my story of Green Bay and the people (here) would be a little different than what was told to me."
[email protected]
Posted: Jan. 16, 2008
Green Bay - Charles Woodson wasn't going to lie. He never really wanted to play for the Green Bay Packers. Nothing against the city or the organization, but he didn't think he'd fit in.
Wearing a Packers uniform wasn't really in Charles Woodson's plans when he was a free agency.
As a free agent in 2006, the four-time Pro Bowl cornerback hoped to sign with Jacksonville or Tampa Bay. He'd probably have been happy going to any of another half-dozen teams.
But Green Bay? The city wasn't big enough, the lights weren't bright enough and the team, coming off a 4-12 record in 2005 and starting over under a new coach named Mike McCarthy, wasn't good enough.
"I came here and played before (with the Oakland Raiders), but all the talk you hear from people that played in Green Bay, it's like, 'You don't want to play there,' " Woodson said Wednesday. "Coming from Oakland, this is day and night. And every account I can remember of someone talking about Green Bay, this was not my type of place."
Asked about his concerns, Woodson said, "It was everything - organization, nightlife, the whole thing. You know, just being in Green Bay. The talk is always this is no place for a black man and that's just how it was."
Woodson, who had played eight seasons for the Raiders, reluctantly signed with the Packers after there were no other suitors for a cornerback coming off a second broken leg and thought to be in decline. He wasn't a happy training camper in '06 and got off to a shaky start with McCarthy.
But funny how things work out.
Woodson not only came to appreciate Green Bay and the Packers organization, but has revived his career and has teamed with Al Harris to form one of the top cornerback tandems in the NFL. Best of all, he is one victory away from playing in Super Bowl XLII.
"I'm playing with a great bunch of guys," he said. "I'm just excited to be able to play with a defense like this. . . . I'm just having a lot of fun."
Woodson, 31, has fought through toe and knee injuries to start 14 games for the NFC North champions, who take a 14-3 record into the NFC Championship Game against the New York Giants on Sunday.
During the regular season he had 64 tackles and four interceptions and averaged 8.1 yards on 33 punt returns. He also scored two defensive touchdowns, on a 57-yard fumble return against the Washington Redskins and a 46-yard interception return against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Woodson's season is all the more remarkable considering many around the league thought his days as an elite cornerback were over after he suffered a series of knee and leg injuries in Oakland.
As a free agent in the spring of '06, Woodson instructed his agent to contact Tampa Bay and Jacksonville.
"Every time I talked to my agent, when I'm asking him about all these other teams, he's saying, 'Well, they haven't said anything, but Green Bay called again, so what do you want to do?' " Woodson recalled. "It was almost like this was where I had to play. . . . At that point, it was Green Bay or bust."
Early on, some of Woodson's new teammates thought he was aloof and had a hard time connecting with him. Woodson said he saw talent in Green Bay, but "we were just a bunch of individuals on the team."
He also got off on the wrong foot with McCarthy and had many post-practice conversations with the coach in which they hashed out their differences.
"A lot of those talks after practices weren't necessarily good talks," he said. "We met a couple times in private and tried to talk through things. I had to get some fines and that sort of thing."
The Packers soon discovered, however, that while Woodson frequently seemed to be battling one injury or another, he always showed up on Sundays and played with a fierce competitiveness. His pressing style fit Green Bay's aggressive man-to-man scheme. Maybe he had lost a step over the years, but opposing receivers seldom separated from him.
McCarthy allowed Woodson to miss practices to rest and rehabilitate his injuries (he's been bothered by turf toe this year) and the strategy has paid off.
"I think he understands that, for me, during the week, no matter what's going on - whether I'm hurt, whether it's turf toe, whether it's my knee or any other situation that's going on in my life or with the team - on Sunday, I'm coming to play," Woodson said. "I think he understands that.
"You have to have your rules, of course, but some people you just have to deal with differently, and not only does the coach have to understand that, but players have to understand that as well. A young guy's not going to be treated like a 10-year veteran, and he's not supposed to.
"And once everybody can buy in, then the sky's the limit."
Over the last two years, Woodson also has discovered that his perceptions of Green Bay were wrong. He's probably not going to make it his home after he retires, but he likes the city and the environment.
"I've been out and a lot of what I heard about, it just hasn't happened," he said. "My experience being here, the two years I've been here, it's not been like people told me it would be. I've been able to go out in restaurants and sit down and eat in peace and it's been great.
"So my story of Green Bay and the people (here) would be a little different than what was told to me."