Scott Wells kept buying wedding rings, and along the way he kept breaking fingers.
So a few years back, the Packers center came up with a solution — he had a wedding band tattooed on his left ring finger. He no longer has to worry about the swelling.
“I don’t have to take jewelry on and off,” Wells said on Wednesday. “And you are definitely not going to lose it. I actually really like it. It’s made it a lot easier for sure.”
Unfortunately, the former Brentwood Academy and UT standout can’t have the ring he received last week tattooed on a finger.
At a ceremony honoring Green Bay’s Super Bowl XLV win over the Steelers, Wells was awarded a sparkling piece of jewelry he said he would treasure for the rest of his life.
The ring inspired him even more for the 2011 season.
“Once you have tasted greatness and feel it, and you win a championship, that makes you want it more because you see how real it is. You see it is attainable,” Wells said. “When you hold that Lombardi Trophy, you celebrate with your family and friends and get that Super Bowl ring and put it on, that only drives me to do it again.
“I have that hunger even more now because there is no better feeling in professional sports than winning a championship.”
Wells, who was a two-time all-state performer at Brentwood Academy, has been working out in Franklin with Judd Granzow of M.A.D. Sports Training.
After seven NFL seasons, the Super Bowl win marked the high point of his athletic career. He took his family to Disney World, had a Super Bowl celebration party with another former Vol, Packers tackle Chad Clifton, and last week traveled to Green Bay to receive the ring. He was invited to the ESPY Awards next month in Los Angeles.
And there have been countless pats on the back from friends and family, of course.
“It’s been fun, and the people that know me have been as excited as I am if not more,” Wells said. “Now that we have gotten the ring, they want to see the ring. And they are happy to see my hard work has paid off.”
Heading into the final year of his contract with the Packers, Wells is preparing with renewed vigor.
“To be honest, this is the best offseason he’s had,” said Granzow, who has worked out with Wells since his senior year at UT. “He could go play a game right now. Physically, where he is now compared to where he was last year, he is ahead of the game. The good thing is Scott’s never satisfied. He has it figured out.”
While many of his Packers teammates have said they feel slighted because the conversation quickly turned from the Super Bowl to the NFL lockout, Wells said he’s not upset about the absence of a trip to the White House and other perks of winning the biggest game in sports.
He has his ring. And he wants another one.
“What we went through as a team this year, to be able to persevere and to win the championship, that was huge,” Wells said. “But now that we have received our rings, that chapter is closed and we’re ready to move onto the next chapter. We want to defend our title now, and hopefully we can repeat and celebrate again.”