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."