mesaSteeler
04-17-2009, 08:04 PM
Raising the curtain
Steeler LB Woodley praises teammates
http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/518177.html
By Todd Irwin, tirwin@altoonamirror.com
POSTED: April 17, 2009
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley had three or four warmup tosses before he took the mound for the first pitch of the Curve's 2009 home opener.
It didn't help him.
Woodley looked toward Curve catcher Hector Gimenez, went into his windup on a perfect April evening at Blair County Ballpark and uncorked one of the worst first pitches in baseball history.
The ball landed in the grass in front of the home plate area and rolled into the dirt. Woodley, possibly shocked by his effort, windmilled his right arm after the pitch.
"The thing about the pitch was," Woodley said with a pause as media members laughed, "that I didn't have my spikes on. I had basketball shoes on. I couldn't dig into the ground, so I slipped a little bit.
"Then the guy we were throwing the pitch to, we wanted to walk him because we didn't want him to hit a home run."
Woodley was asked if he was possibly bothered by the imaginary runners on the bases.
"I checked the runners out," he said during his four-minute stay with the media, "but when I went to throw it, I slipped."
"I wasn't expecting a good throw, but I wasn't expecting that really bad throw," Gimenez said laughing. "I think he was just having fun out there."
Good thing he's set as an NFL linebacker.
Woodley, who signed a bunch of autographs at the main concourse for about an hour of the Curve's 3-0 loss, was key in the Steelers' run to the Super Bowl XLIII, where they beat the Arizona Cardinals, 27-23.
In his second season in the NFL, Woodley had 11.5 sacks, made 60 tackles, forced two fumbles and intercepted a pass. He now holds the record for most consecutive playoff games with multiple sacks.
"It was the guys around me," said Woodley, who was a second-round pick out of Michigan in the 2007 draft. "When you've got good guys around you, good athletes around you, you can go out there and show people the kind of talent you have."
One of the athletes around him was fellow linebacker and NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison, who recently signed a six-year contract worth over $51 million.
"That guy comes to work every day," Woodley said. "He's the first one in the weight room and the last guy out. He watches extra film every day. He doesn't say much, but he works every day in practice to keep those guys motivated."
Woodley and Harrison will be key in attempting to get the Steelers back to the Super Bowl. A lot is expected of the six-time Super Bowl champs.
"I wasn't here in '05 when we won the Super Bowl, but that following year we didn't make the playoffs," Woodley said. "We definitely don't want to repeat that again this year. So, we're going to come in ready to play and compete for another Super Bowl.
"When I've won before different championships, coming into the following season, everybody's got a target on your back. Playing for Pittsburgh, you've got a target on your back anyway.
"You want to come into the season better because the fans are going to expect more, and you should expect more out of yourself. I definitely want to have that feeling again of winning that Super Bowl because the parade was one of the best I've ever seen."
After having one of the hardest schedules in the league last season, the Steelers are playing only five teams in 2009 that had winning records last season. Woodley downplayed that Thursday night.
"I think it's going to be a tough schedule," Woodley said. "Any team in the NFL is tough regardless of how people are ranked in the schedule. A lot of people didn't see us as a good team last year, and we proved everybody wrong."
Steeler LB Woodley praises teammates
http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/518177.html
By Todd Irwin, tirwin@altoonamirror.com
POSTED: April 17, 2009
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley had three or four warmup tosses before he took the mound for the first pitch of the Curve's 2009 home opener.
It didn't help him.
Woodley looked toward Curve catcher Hector Gimenez, went into his windup on a perfect April evening at Blair County Ballpark and uncorked one of the worst first pitches in baseball history.
The ball landed in the grass in front of the home plate area and rolled into the dirt. Woodley, possibly shocked by his effort, windmilled his right arm after the pitch.
"The thing about the pitch was," Woodley said with a pause as media members laughed, "that I didn't have my spikes on. I had basketball shoes on. I couldn't dig into the ground, so I slipped a little bit.
"Then the guy we were throwing the pitch to, we wanted to walk him because we didn't want him to hit a home run."
Woodley was asked if he was possibly bothered by the imaginary runners on the bases.
"I checked the runners out," he said during his four-minute stay with the media, "but when I went to throw it, I slipped."
"I wasn't expecting a good throw, but I wasn't expecting that really bad throw," Gimenez said laughing. "I think he was just having fun out there."
Good thing he's set as an NFL linebacker.
Woodley, who signed a bunch of autographs at the main concourse for about an hour of the Curve's 3-0 loss, was key in the Steelers' run to the Super Bowl XLIII, where they beat the Arizona Cardinals, 27-23.
In his second season in the NFL, Woodley had 11.5 sacks, made 60 tackles, forced two fumbles and intercepted a pass. He now holds the record for most consecutive playoff games with multiple sacks.
"It was the guys around me," said Woodley, who was a second-round pick out of Michigan in the 2007 draft. "When you've got good guys around you, good athletes around you, you can go out there and show people the kind of talent you have."
One of the athletes around him was fellow linebacker and NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison, who recently signed a six-year contract worth over $51 million.
"That guy comes to work every day," Woodley said. "He's the first one in the weight room and the last guy out. He watches extra film every day. He doesn't say much, but he works every day in practice to keep those guys motivated."
Woodley and Harrison will be key in attempting to get the Steelers back to the Super Bowl. A lot is expected of the six-time Super Bowl champs.
"I wasn't here in '05 when we won the Super Bowl, but that following year we didn't make the playoffs," Woodley said. "We definitely don't want to repeat that again this year. So, we're going to come in ready to play and compete for another Super Bowl.
"When I've won before different championships, coming into the following season, everybody's got a target on your back. Playing for Pittsburgh, you've got a target on your back anyway.
"You want to come into the season better because the fans are going to expect more, and you should expect more out of yourself. I definitely want to have that feeling again of winning that Super Bowl because the parade was one of the best I've ever seen."
After having one of the hardest schedules in the league last season, the Steelers are playing only five teams in 2009 that had winning records last season. Woodley downplayed that Thursday night.
"I think it's going to be a tough schedule," Woodley said. "Any team in the NFL is tough regardless of how people are ranked in the schedule. A lot of people didn't see us as a good team last year, and we proved everybody wrong."