GREEN BAY For the better part of his five seasons in Green Bay, Charles Woodson has taken a decidedly lead-by-example approach to his role as a sage veteran. While he would help out his young cornerbacks with their film studies and the occasional technique tip, the seven-time Pro Bowler and reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year wasnt much for public speaking.
Until his fellow Packers playoff captains gave him no choice.
Coach (Mike McCarthy) allowed the captains to come up with who was going to talk before the team before games and that sort of thing, Woodson explained as the Packers prepared for Super Bowl XLV against the Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The other captains kind of nominated me without any voting process.
You see, before the postseason began, the Packers elected six captains two from each phase: Aaron Rodgers and Greg Jennings on offense, Woodson and A.J. Hawk on defense, and Mason Crosby and Jarrett Bush on special teams. And before the teams playoff opener against the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Wild Card round, the other five nominated him to deliver pre- and post-game pep talks in addition to his gig calling all coin tosses.
Woodson was fine with the coin flips he correctly called the overtime flip in last years overtime playoff loss at Arizona but he wasnt too keen on the speech idea at first.
"They kind of pushed me out there to be the guy to do it," Woodson said. "And it was fine with me. I feel like I've played this game a long time, played it at a high level. I feel like the things I can say to the team are things that mean something to them, and I can give them something that maybe I've been through and just shed a little light on this process. So it just kind of happened that way. But it's a role that I feel comfortable with."
And a role hes filled extremely well, which has come as a surprise to no one.
He's been our leader. His messages have been on point, said veteran defensive end Ryan Pickett, the only player other than Woodson on the Packers roster to have played in a Super Bowl. He is normally quiet, but he's been speaking out. Just letting everybody know, Man, this is hard, this is rare. We have players that have been on this team 13, 12 years, never been to a Super Bowl. So we have to seize this moment and capitalize on it.
Because Woodson wasnt a rah-rah big-talking leader before the playoff run, his words now carry more gravitas, according to his teammates.
When youve got a guy like that, just leading by example, and he doesnt talk that much, but when he does, he tends to grab everyones attention in the room, outside linebacker Erik Walden said. Just following a guy like that, you aint got no choice but to go out there and put it on the line because you know hes going to give his all. Just follow that guy, man, because hes doing it Sunday-in and Sunday-out.
I think I tend to get a lot more hyped or electricity from Wood because hes a guy that doesnt talk that much. So, when he does speak, everybodys eyes are on him. Youve got to respect a man like that.
Added Rodgers, who has tried to emulate some of Woodsons leadership traits himself the past few years: Charles is a very respected player on this team. Every time there has been a vote for captains or player council, he always wins. Anytime he speaks, I think he's starting to realize he has a lot of respect in the locker room and guys listen to him; they appreciate what he has to say. And he's pretty good at it, too.
A number of Woodsons spiels have been captured on packers.com during the playoffs, with his most famous one going viral after he referenced President Barack Obamas pledge before the NFC Championship Game that he would attend Super Bowl XLV if his beloved Chicago Bears beat the Packers at Soldier Field last Sunday.
"Hey, I want you all to think about one thing: One," Woodson began. "For two weeks, think about One. Let's be one mind. Let's be one heartbeat. One purpose. One goal. One more game. One. Let's get it."
Then, Woodson paused.
"And check this," he began again, his voice rising to a crescendo. "If the President don't want to come watch us in the Super Bowl, guess what? We'll go see him. White House on three."
Woodson then called up his teammates, who all shouted in unison, "1 2 3 White House!"
The 34-year-old, 13-year NFL vet smiled wide after that, proud of himself.
You have to give it some thought, absolutely. You don't want to just go up there and rant, Woodson explained. You want to give it some thought because you're talking to your peers, and at the same time you're talking at a time where the games are bigger than ever. So you put some thought into it, and you want to be able to tell them something, something that they could feel.
You don't want to just talk and clich guys to death. You want to give them something they can feel. So that's what I try to do.
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