Lure of a ring spurs linebacker Woodley

By Scott Brown, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley (56) leads a pack of defenders in making a swarming tackle on the Ravens' Willis McGahee during the second quarter of the AFC Championship Game this past weekend at Heinz Field.
Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review

Steelers outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley made history Sunday when he twice sacked Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco in the AFC Championship Game.

Woodley is the first player in NFL history to record three consecutive multi-sack games in the postseason. He had one last season and two this season.

The havoc he has wreaked opposite James Harrison, the NFL's defensive player of the year, during the playoffs may have something to do with a dinner Woodley attended at the end of the regular season — one at which he ate yet somehow managed to leave hungry.

The different position groups get together annually — they usually gather for a pricey meal — and spend the money the players have raised by fining one another for various offenses committed during the season.

What Woodley remembers most about the dinner is the shiny Super Bowl rings the veterans wore.

"All of the guys had their rings on with nice suits, pretty much rubbing it in our face," said Woodley, who was playing for the University of Michigan when the Steelers won the Super Bowl three years ago. "Coach (Keith) Butler asked 'Who all has a ring?' I kind of looked at my finger like, 'I don't have one.'"

If Butler and the veterans were trying to motivate the younger linebackers by breaking out their Super Bowl rings, they certainly succeeded in doing that with Woodley.

Woodley didn't have a sack in the Steelers' final four regular-season games, but he has four since the playoffs started.

Woodley has been playing with a sense of urgency that belies his relative youth, but he said there are no guarantees he'll ever get back to a Super Bowl. Plus, he added, seeing his older teammates wear their rings stirred something in him.

"When you see guys with that, you want to go get that," Woodley said. "You want to be able to put on one of those rings one day."