Coming off a fresh Superbowl victory the Pittsburgh Steelers loved every moment of it, but with that being said its nothing wrong with the team wanting another taste of glory.

One of they key components of last seasons Superbowl team is linebacker Lamarr Woodley. They say defense wins championships and along with James Harrison, safety Troy Polamalu, and James Harrrison, Lamarr Woodley was also a firecracker in the back-cracking defense ran by the aggressive and genius mind of Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. The University of Michigan standout knows what it takes to earn respect on and off the field. At this early stage in his career (2nd in NFL) Lamarr Woodley appreciates the honor of playing for great coaches and a organization that takes pride in its players, coaches, and even the fans. With that being said though please do not take Lamarr Woodley’s kindness for a weakness as you know back in in Ann Harbor days at Michigan the slogan was “Guns don’t kill people. LaMarr Woodley kills people.”

Getting down with Lamarr Woodley after he finished a day of practice was quite interesting. Carrying himself with such humbleness shows that this is a man that just loves the game. For that he had a lot say about this off season being one of the best moments of his life. His lifelong dream was finally accomplished and there is always room for improvement. In this great in-depth interview Woodley lets you know the respect he has for Coach Mike Tomlin and Dick Lebeau while also letting it be known why he’s proud to be a Michigan Wolverine. As the season just started you know all the teams will make a run at the defending champs and Lamarr lets it be known competition is on the way, but the Steel Curtain will defend their title at all cost.

So Lamarr Woodley, how it’s been this for the Steelers this off season. With preseason and training camp ending are you ready for this upcoming season?

LM: So far yeah, I feel like everybody did what they needed to do in the off season. I feel like everybody got better individually and we got better as a team. I did my part so I know were ready.

Speaking on the off season how was things coming off such a strong and successful Superbowl season?

LM: Aw man I did a lot of things after the Superbowl. I got to go on 106th and Park with my teammate Willie Parker. I went down and did ESPN on the weekend, Rip The Runaway show with BET, Jim Rome Show, commercial for EA Sports, and went to the Espy’s. That’s pretty much it, they say when your hot your hot so hey [laughs].

Everybody in life have their big dreams that they would love to accomplish. Would you say winning a Superbowl as a professional athlete was your biggest dream?

LM: Oh yeah! That’s definitely one of them, but when you win one especially early in your career you want to go out and win another one. You got some guys that been in the league 10, 11 years, some more than that, that never got the chance to even play in the Superbowl. I went out there and won a Superbowl in my second year so it’s a great opportunity.

A lot of players on Sunday Night Football in the start of the game rep their college proudly. Speaking on that when you announce “Lamarr Woodley, Michigan Wolverine”, what comes up that made you love being a Michigan Wolverine?

LM: The thing about Michigan is that it’s bigger than football. It’s just the tradition, the history that kind of speaks for itself. Michigan is known for recruiting good quality guys on and off the field. Coach Carr taught us not only to grow as a football player, but also as a man. That’s one of the biggest things that I got at Michigan growing as a man off the field. How you carry yourself off the field is what makes people respect you. That’s what I enjoyed being at Michigan. Being on campus able to meet people, having one of the longest living alumni in the country with players, coaches, it’s just everything.

Making the transition from college to the NFL, did you hope to get selected to a certain team you were a fan of growing up?

LM: Actually Pittsburgh was my favorite team. Before Pittsburgh I was actually a Dallas Cowboys fan from like the 3rd grade to the 7th grade. In the 8th grade I become a Steelers fan as I was playing fullback wearing #36 and called myself “The Bus.” I kind of just been rolling with the Steelers ever since then. When they (Steelers) brought me in for a visit, I was very excited hoping they would draft me.

I see you’re a fan of The Bus as well. Even though I’m a Philadelphia Eagles fan in my opinion Jerome Bettis is the greatest RB of all time. When you need that 4th & 1 give it to the Bus. The Bus will convert the 1st down and take like two, three people with him, everybody got a ride.

LM: [Laughs], Yeah it’s a lot of great running backs and Jerome was definitely one of the best out there. He was fun to watch and he really gave me a lot of advice about being a NFL player and how to prolong my career.

The Steelers is respected as one of the fiercest defenses in the National Football League. Known for playing for 3-4 defensive scheme as a player is it more difficult aside from the 4-3?

LM: It’s real different and its confusing for the offense. The biggest thing with the 3-4 defense is that your outside linebackers can confuse the offensive line. We can stand as defensive ends and drop back in coverage covering a tight end, running back, or even a receiver man to man. When you got a 4-3 your defensive ends rush mainly. You have to know a lot being a outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense.

Being a player under Dick LeBeau’s how do you stay focus and make it work playing to the best of your ability for such a respect defensive coordinator?

LM: Not only do you respect coach LeBeau as a coordinator, but a player as well. When he was out there playing he was a great player and he has records out there now. He’s out there right now as one of the next candidates to be considered in the Hall of Fame. Coach Lebeau is a respected person, he’s a aggressive coach when it comes to attacking the other offense. He treats each player on our defense like a man, he’s gonna put you in the best position to go out there and win.

Coach Lebeau indeed do his thing, you know he was playing when they had the sweatshirt and leather helmet days [laughs].

LM: [Laughs], oh yeah you know coach Lebeau was down in Detroit as a player and he definitely got some big records out there.

What it like playing under Coach Tomlin as well and by the way did ya’ll ever joke on Coach Tomlin saying he looks like Omar Epps?

LM: [Laughs], Yeah they got him a few times. Coach Tomlin his first year was my first year, Coach Tomlin is laid back, but he’s a real serious coach. To be honest with you he is going to treat you fair. He doesn’t overwork us, he goes out there and treat us like were men. He’s always willing to listen to his players, it’s not the what he says goes. He gives us opportunities to speak our minds and that’s what make us respect him.

That’s the thing with the NFL nowadays, as coaches are now as young as the players. How you feel about the new trend with the hiring of younger coaches?

LM: Times has changed and you get a lot of coaches that still want to do it how they did it 20, 30 years ago. When you dealing with a breed of kids with different backrounds, coming from different schools it’s just different. So sometimes you can get a younger coach that can relate to the younger kids which is great. One thing about coach Tomlin is that he’s not talking about last year’s Superbowl, he got us focused on each game to get better.

The Steelers play in the AFC and it’s a lot of talk about what ya’ll will do this year. Of course the Steelers is the Champs, Brady is back for New England, and even the improvement in your division the AFC North. The Ravens will be tougher, the Browns have a new coach with the hiring of Mangini, and Carson Palmer is back for the Bengals. What’s your take on the AFC this year?

LM: I think we have a tough conference and one of the toughest divisions. When you have Baltimore in your division playing them twice a year that’s a lot of cake walk [laughs]. Teams like the Browns they are improving as well. I think the main focus as a team you need to do first is taking care of the guys in your division. When you take care of that then you can kind of move towards the playoffs a little bit. The main focus is taking them one game at a time.

I’m sure you love doing what you do with your teammates, but are there other teams you like to watch as well?

LM: Oh yeah I like to watch the Baltimore Ravens because there similar to us. They play hard-nosed defense and they got guys like Ray Lewis. I’ve been watching Ray Lewis for a long time and had a opportunity to talk to him as he gave me some encouragement. I like watching the Eagles, because they get after a offense playing hard nose defense. Donovan McNabb and all of them is out there looking good so I enjoy watching the Eagles as well. By far those are the main two teams I like to watch.

How does it feel to be playing in front of those die-hard fans of the Steelers each Sunday or sometimes Monday. What its like going into that stadium watching those fans wave those yellow terrible towels?

LM: Aw man it’s real man. You go to the stadium seeing the tailgates, everybody with the jerseys on. The fans be out there pregaming it up I enjoy seeing people outside the stadium just acting crazy for us. When you come out you just see towels everywhere with Steelers fans loud, yelling, and ready to go. Not only at home, but we have a big fan base when we out on the road as well. Sometimes we have more fans in other stadiums than the team we playing against [laughs]. Our fans are very loyal and travel where ever we go so I enjoy them a lot.