The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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michigan in the pros part, that I've found ways that I can prepare my body and prepare myself so I don't go through that. "I don't buy into the fact that you just get older and you have to feel crappy for the rest of your life. I try to live my life and take what I've learned over the years and apply that to my everyday living so that I can wake up in the morning and be excited about going to work." Despite three Super Bowl titles in five appearances, Brady continues to operate as though nothing is good enough. "Football is too challenging to think that you can have it all figured out," he said. "You certainly don't want to be peaking the first week of August. It's a constant building process. You're still learning who your team is, the depth and quality of your team, through October and November. We're so far from where we're going to be. We're teeing off on the first hole. We've got a lot more to go." Charles Woodson's Back In Familiar Territory In Oakland Charles Woodson is back where he started in the NFL, having returned to Oakland and the team that drafted him. The 36-year-old safety, sporting the same No. 24 he wore for eight seasons with the team, remains confident after several years and a Super Bowl title in Green Bay. "I'm just older. That's really it," Woodson told the Associated Press of the changes since 2005. "I've played the game now going on 16 years. The great thing about it is it's still fun. I still love it. I plan on having a great deal of fun this season with the guys who are going to the first game. I feel good. My body feels good. As far as anything being different, I'm a Raider again." It took Woodson until May to find another team after Green Bay released him, but the fan support and a solid, one-year deal ($1.8 million with incentives that could bring it to $4.3 million) made Oakland the place for him. "The one thing about it is the fans, they treat me as if I never left," Woodson said. "That's probably the greatest part of it. The reception when I got to the facilities a couple of months ago, the love that the fans showed me. That was huge. That meant a lot to me. That's another reason why you go out and work the way you work and play the way you play is for the fans. You want to give them the best you can possibly give them out there on the field and that's what I plan on doing." Wo o d s o n h a s n o t c h e d 5 5 interceptions, 17 sacks, 24 forced fumbles and 11 interception returns for touchdowns in eight seasons in Oakland and seven in Green Bay. He missed nine games for Green Bay during the regular season last year because of a broken right collarbone, but insists he's completely healthy. "My age is not going to dictate for me whether I practice a lot or not practice a lot," he said. "I'm going to take as many reps as I can just because I still love football. To stand on the