Pack93z
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13 years ago
Driver walking out and meeting his "boys" and their response makes this team.. allows them to overcome injury after injury that would derail many a season.

The others will just pick up the load in honor of those fallen behind.

Special.



Victory eases all the pain for Packers' Woodson, Driver 

Arlington, Texas In the middle of the hugs, the delirious Green Bay Packers fans, the wives trying to get down from the stands and onto the field. . .

In the middle of raining confetti and moments that were going by much too fast even to snap a few pictures, Donald Driver knew he had to find one man:

Charles Woodson.

Driver made it to the locker room, pushed through the shoulder pads of his teammates and limped onward with a high ankle sprain.

When he found Woodson, wincing from a broken collarbone and his arm in a sling, he saw he wasn't the only one with tears falling down smudged black eye paint.

"They can't take this from us," Driver and Woodson said almost at the same time. "We played.

"And now we can both say we're Super Bowl champions.

"And this is part of our legacy."

From a rough childhood during which he was homeless at times to a seventh-round draft pick of Green Bay in 1999 and the longest of shots to make it, Driver can now add Super Bowl champion to his story.

From a heartbreaking Super Bowl loss eight years ago and a one-way ticket out of Oakland to a second chance in Green Bay, Woodson has now put Super Bowl winner on the rsum for an incredible 13-year career.

The injuries? In the 45th Super Bowl, the very game they've battled and bled to play in after all these years? Well, who said life was ever going to be fair.

Driver left the field of Cowboys Stadium in the second quarter to get X-rays on his ankle. He had been playing well, grabbing a 24-yard catch early. He even thought he was going to come back.

As the trainers were tending to Driver, Woodson made a play at the end of the first half the way he always makes a play - with no regard for life and limb. Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger launched a deep throw to the left corner of the end zone. Defending Mike Wallace, Woodson threw himself in the way of the pass, and with both arms out and fully extended, the ball fell incomplete.

But Woodson felt bones crush on impact. He knew it was bad.

"As soon as I did it I knew it was severe," said Woodson. "I felt it. I've broken a few bones in my time. And played through a lot. I knew right away I wasn't going to make it through the rest of that game."

When Driver got the news, he was despondent.

"It was bad. I tried to come back and play. I taped it up," said Driver. "I told them I need to play, but they said they can't let me go play like that. Doc told me I was done. I broke down. And Doc came over and just told me, we've got to be able to get you out there and rally those guys on."

Driver came out to the tunnel and he was met by his guys - Greg Jennings, James Jones, Jordy Nelson and Brett Swain.

"They told me they were going to win it for me," said Driver. "One thing I told them is they had to make plays. And they made plays when it counted. That's all that matters."

Woodson told the players at halftime that he was out but that they needed to push on.

Woodson and Driver have been extremely vocal in the playoffs, imploring their teammates to win now and not think of later. They constantly talked about it - let's go get that ring.

"For us, we walk those halls every day in Lambeau, seeing all the greats," said Woodson. "This means a great deal to us."

But watching the game was very tough, especially considering the Steelers had the momentum and came raging back with these two longtime starters and veterans on the sideline. The only way Woodson could stand it was to try to work with the other defensive backs. He gave the best input he could to Sam Shields, Pat Lee and Jarrett Bush.

"Yeah, it's always hard not being to be able to be on the field. But we won. I'm a champion," he said. "Give credit to the younger guys. This game was just a microcosm of the way the whole season has been. All year long guys have gone down, key guys - starters - and other guys have come in and stepped up."

Woodson, cradling his little boy Charles Jr. who just turned 2, said he didn't think he would need surgery; he hoped the collar bone would heal on its own.

After the game, Driver's wife, Betina, tried like crazy to get to him right away. But there were logjams of people everywhere. This win was so meaningful to both of them now, residents of Dallas in Flower Mound.

She didn't even know how serious the injury was as Driver sat with son Christian and daughter Christina on each side.

"I'm sure he wanted to finish playing but he seems so happy," she said. "He's just thrilled that the guys stepped up and pulled it off."

"This means everything to me," said Driver. "I can always say I have that Super Bowl ring. We're on top of the world."

Before Woodson left, he sent another message for his team.

"We're looking to be back again next year," said Woodson. "I really believe that. We have the nucleus. Most definitely have the quarterback. So we're looking to get back again."


"The oranges are dry; the apples are mealy; and the papayas... I don't know what's going on with the papayas!"
13 years ago
I love that they ALREADY have the drive to be back next year. There is Woodson, after 13 grueling years in the NFL, with a snapped collarbone, finally winning a ring and trophy, and he's talking about next year. I LOVE IT.
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Nonstopdrivel
13 years ago
I couldn't say it better myself, MassPackersFan.
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millertime
13 years ago
Two of the classiest guys in the NFL. They would be champions in my book regardless of yesterdays outcome. I'm so glad these guys are Packers.
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packerfanoutwest (17h) : Jaire Alexander says he has a torn PCL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : Even with the context it's ... what?
Mucky Tundra (20-Nov) : Matt LaFleur without context: “I don’t wanna pat you on the butt and you poop in my hand.”
beast (20-Nov) : We brought in a former Packers OL coach to help evaluate OL as a scout
beast (20-Nov) : Jets have been pretty good at picking DL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He landed good players thanks to high draft slot. He isn't good.
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He can shove his knowledge up his ass. He knows nothing.
beast (20-Nov) : More knowledge, just like bring in the Jets head coach
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : What? Why? Huh?
beast (19-Nov) : I wonder if the Packers might to try to bring Douglas in through Milt Hendrickson/Ravens connections
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : The Jets fired Joe Douglas, per sources
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : Jets are a mess......
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Pretty sure Jets fired their scouting staff and just pluck former Packers.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Jets sign Anders Carlson to their 53.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : When you cycle the weeks, the total over remains for season. But you get your W/L for that selected week. Confusing.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the total and percentage are the same as the previous weeks
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the total and percentage are the same as the previous weeks
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the totals are accurate..nrvrtmind
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : I don't follow what you are saying. The totals are not the same as last week.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : ok so then wht are the totals the same as last week?
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : NFL Pick'em is auto updated when NFL Scores tab is clicked
Martha Careful (19-Nov) : The offense was OK. Let's not forget the Bear defense is very very good.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : Who updates the leaderboard on NFLPickem?
beast (19-Nov) : Has the Packers offense been worse since the former Jets coach joined the Packers?
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Offense gets his ass in gear, this could be good.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Backup QB helped with three wins. Special Teams contributed to three wins.
bboystyle (18-Nov) : Lions played outside thats why. They scored 16 and 17 in the only 2 outside games this year
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : The rest of the NFL is catching up to Packers ... kicking is an issue throughout league
packerfanoutwest (18-Nov) : Packers DL Kenny Clark: We knew 'we were going to block' Bears' game-winning field goal attempt
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : Lions seem to be throttling everyone, but only (only) got 24 lol maybe the rain is why
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : Packers vs Lions game doesn't seem so bad.
beast (18-Nov) : Dennis Green "They are what we thought they were, and we let them off the hook!"
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : comment of the day Z2Cool "Bears better than we want to admit. Packers worse than we think. It's facts."
Mucky Tundra (17-Nov) : my worst case scenario: Bears fix their oline and get a coach like Johnson from the Lions and his scheme
Zero2Cool (17-Nov) : Bears get OL fixed amd we might have a problem
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : Pretty sure they already have scouting reports on guys who aren't even starting for their college team. The future is now for me.
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : I tend to let Gute and Co. Worry about the future.
beast (17-Nov) : That's great news and Packers need to keep upgrading their OL, DL and DBs this off-season, so missing one guy doesn't kill them
beast (17-Nov) : That's great news and Packers need to keep upgrading their OL, DL and DBs this off-season, so missing one guy doesn't kill them
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : Jaire and Evans Williams are both ACTIVE! Good news.
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : The badgers really need to change the whole offensive scheme. No draws no screens plus the quarterback is marginal
Cheesey (17-Nov) : If the Badgers had a decent QB, they would have won. The guy can't hit a wide open receiver
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : chop block
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : there was a very questionable job Block call that upon viewing replay was very borderline
beast (17-Nov) : How so? (I didn't watch)
Zero2Cool (17-Nov) : Badgers got hosed vs Oregon
packerfanoutwest (16-Nov) : damn,he hasn't played since week 2
Mucky Tundra (15-Nov) : poor guy can't catch a break
wpr (15-Nov) : wow. That three different things for the kid.
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