Pack93z
You retired too? .... Not me. I'm in my prime
If it has been posted sorry... but didn't see it on first glance.. but posted for the Cwood fans on here..
Packers: Comeback? Woodson doesn't buy it
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/packers/253731
DENVER -- The music usually emanates from the back corner of the Green Bay Packers' locker room, where cornerback Charles Woodson dresses.
The team's resident gadget guy -- he was the first one to own Apple's new iPhone -- he could be an honorary member of the Geek Squad at Best Buy, if only the unfashionable uniform didn't clash with his impeccable sense of sartorial style.
So while the rest of his teammates listen to their respective iPods privately through headphones, Woodson has a portable speaker set which, on occasion, he blares. But each time, thanks to Woodson's varied musical palette, the tunes are different. Jazz one day, R&B or hip-hop the next.
Clearly, the dude needs a theme song. So may we humbly suggest one: L.L. Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out. "
Mama Said.....
Don't call it a comeback ...
I've been here for years ...
Explosion, overpowerin' ...
Over the competition, I'm towerin' ...
It's perfect for the Packers' 31-year-old four-time Pro Bowler, because while the rest of the football world is talking about his re-emergence as a relevant player on the NFL landscape, Woodson insists this isn't a comeback story -- even though he spent his final two seasons with the Oakland Raiders essentially in witness protection.
"I wouldn't say (it's a) rebirth," Woodson said last week as he prepared for Monday night's game between the Packers and Denver Broncos at Invesco Field. "Before I left Oakland, the thing people really focused on (were) the injuries, but if you go back and look at film, I played real good football out there.
"I wouldn't say it's a rebirth, but I think people stopped paying attention to the way I played the game. Now, I think people are just rediscovering the type of player that I am."
Yes, when the Packers signed him to a seven-year, $39 million deal before last season, they did so despite his checkered injury history: He missed 10 games in 2005 with a broken right leg and also missed two games in '04 with a knee injury and seven games in '02 with a fractured shoulder. As a result, Green Bay was the only team to take a sincere interest in him.
"If you would've asked me before I left Oakland, 'Where do you think about playing? Would you go to Green Bay? ' I would've told you, 'Naw, I'm not going to Green Bay. Why would I go to Green Bay? ' " Woodson admitted. "(But) when I became a free agent, there was really one team knocking on the door, and that was Green Bay. So it was almost like God was telling me, Hey, you don't tell me where you 're going to go. I tell you where to go. 'And that's kind of the way it worked out."
It has worked out. Woodson responded by playing in all 16 games last season -- something he hadn't done since '01 -- and collecting a career-high eight interceptions while playing through painful shoulder and knee injuries.
This season, Woodson is at it again, despite nagging hip and foot issues. In the Packers' most recent game, an Oct. 14 victory over Washington, he picked off his first pass of the season and returned a fumble 57 yards for the winning touchdown.
"I think he's playing excellent football," said Packers cornerbacks coach Lionel Washington, who played in the NFL until he was 37, when he retired from the Raiders. "I'd always watched him play because I'm always going to watch the Raiders -- that's where I finished my career -- and I thought he was an exceptional football player. He had a few years where he was hurt in there, but he fought through those injuries and now he's doing exceptionally well."
And two of his longtime AFC West rivals, Broncos' all-time leading receiver Rod Smith and seven-time Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey, are happy to corroborate Woodson's claim he hadn't gone anywhere.
"I think he was just in a bad situation with the Raiders at the end of his time there, and he's rejuvenated," said Smith, who was activated from the physically unable to perform list to practice last week but won't play tonight. "I've gone against him probably more than anybody in the NFL, and I don't think it was a matter of him personally falling off. He was in a bad situation.
"Think about (ex-Raiders wide receiver) Randy Moss -- he's in the same situation. Everybody said the same things about him, and he's got 10 touchdown catches for New England. Sometimes situations dictate that fire that you have for the game, and I think those are two instances where a change was best for them. And they've excelled."
Added Bailey, widely considered the league's top cornerback: "That happens when you're not on a good team and you get hurt. If you're not playing, people don't think about you as much. But he never lost his talent. It's good that he's getting his game back and getting that respect back, because he's a great corner. He's one of the best."
Woodson admitted even his closest friends didn't know how he was playing in Oakland because the Raiders had struggled so badly after reaching Super Bowl XXXVII in January 2003. Now, with the Packers' 5-1 start and four-game winning streak to end last season, that's no longer a problem.
"I can remember a game against Kansas City one game out there I had like 13 tackles and an interception and I never heard anything about that," Woodson said. "I'd have friends ask me, 'Did you play this week?' (And I 'd say), 'Yeah, I played.' But if your team ain't doing well, people have written you off as a player.
"It was frustrating because we were losing. Having 4-12 seasons and 5-11 seasons is not fun at all. But now, you win some games and then all of sudden it's, 'Oh, he's playing like the Charles Woodson of old.' "
Packers: Comeback? Woodson doesn't buy it
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/packers/253731
You must be logged in to see this image or video!
DENVER -- The music usually emanates from the back corner of the Green Bay Packers' locker room, where cornerback Charles Woodson dresses.
The team's resident gadget guy -- he was the first one to own Apple's new iPhone -- he could be an honorary member of the Geek Squad at Best Buy, if only the unfashionable uniform didn't clash with his impeccable sense of sartorial style.
So while the rest of his teammates listen to their respective iPods privately through headphones, Woodson has a portable speaker set which, on occasion, he blares. But each time, thanks to Woodson's varied musical palette, the tunes are different. Jazz one day, R&B or hip-hop the next.
Clearly, the dude needs a theme song. So may we humbly suggest one: L.L. Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out. "
Mama Said.....
You must be logged in to see this image or video!
Don't call it a comeback ...
I've been here for years ...
Explosion, overpowerin' ...
Over the competition, I'm towerin' ...
It's perfect for the Packers' 31-year-old four-time Pro Bowler, because while the rest of the football world is talking about his re-emergence as a relevant player on the NFL landscape, Woodson insists this isn't a comeback story -- even though he spent his final two seasons with the Oakland Raiders essentially in witness protection.
"I wouldn't say (it's a) rebirth," Woodson said last week as he prepared for Monday night's game between the Packers and Denver Broncos at Invesco Field. "Before I left Oakland, the thing people really focused on (were) the injuries, but if you go back and look at film, I played real good football out there.
"I wouldn't say it's a rebirth, but I think people stopped paying attention to the way I played the game. Now, I think people are just rediscovering the type of player that I am."
Yes, when the Packers signed him to a seven-year, $39 million deal before last season, they did so despite his checkered injury history: He missed 10 games in 2005 with a broken right leg and also missed two games in '04 with a knee injury and seven games in '02 with a fractured shoulder. As a result, Green Bay was the only team to take a sincere interest in him.
"If you would've asked me before I left Oakland, 'Where do you think about playing? Would you go to Green Bay? ' I would've told you, 'Naw, I'm not going to Green Bay. Why would I go to Green Bay? ' " Woodson admitted. "(But) when I became a free agent, there was really one team knocking on the door, and that was Green Bay. So it was almost like God was telling me, Hey, you don't tell me where you 're going to go. I tell you where to go. 'And that's kind of the way it worked out."
It has worked out. Woodson responded by playing in all 16 games last season -- something he hadn't done since '01 -- and collecting a career-high eight interceptions while playing through painful shoulder and knee injuries.
This season, Woodson is at it again, despite nagging hip and foot issues. In the Packers' most recent game, an Oct. 14 victory over Washington, he picked off his first pass of the season and returned a fumble 57 yards for the winning touchdown.
"I think he's playing excellent football," said Packers cornerbacks coach Lionel Washington, who played in the NFL until he was 37, when he retired from the Raiders. "I'd always watched him play because I'm always going to watch the Raiders -- that's where I finished my career -- and I thought he was an exceptional football player. He had a few years where he was hurt in there, but he fought through those injuries and now he's doing exceptionally well."
And two of his longtime AFC West rivals, Broncos' all-time leading receiver Rod Smith and seven-time Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey, are happy to corroborate Woodson's claim he hadn't gone anywhere.
"I think he was just in a bad situation with the Raiders at the end of his time there, and he's rejuvenated," said Smith, who was activated from the physically unable to perform list to practice last week but won't play tonight. "I've gone against him probably more than anybody in the NFL, and I don't think it was a matter of him personally falling off. He was in a bad situation.
"Think about (ex-Raiders wide receiver) Randy Moss -- he's in the same situation. Everybody said the same things about him, and he's got 10 touchdown catches for New England. Sometimes situations dictate that fire that you have for the game, and I think those are two instances where a change was best for them. And they've excelled."
Added Bailey, widely considered the league's top cornerback: "That happens when you're not on a good team and you get hurt. If you're not playing, people don't think about you as much. But he never lost his talent. It's good that he's getting his game back and getting that respect back, because he's a great corner. He's one of the best."
Woodson admitted even his closest friends didn't know how he was playing in Oakland because the Raiders had struggled so badly after reaching Super Bowl XXXVII in January 2003. Now, with the Packers' 5-1 start and four-game winning streak to end last season, that's no longer a problem.
"I can remember a game against Kansas City one game out there I had like 13 tackles and an interception and I never heard anything about that," Woodson said. "I'd have friends ask me, 'Did you play this week?' (And I 'd say), 'Yeah, I played.' But if your team ain't doing well, people have written you off as a player.
"It was frustrating because we were losing. Having 4-12 seasons and 5-11 seasons is not fun at all. But now, you win some games and then all of sudden it's, 'Oh, he's playing like the Charles Woodson of old.' "
