56 days until Michigan football: Shouting out Lamar Woodley
There’s much anticipation heading into the Michigan Wolverines football season, and TheWolverine.com is counting down the days until the Sept. 2 opener against East Carolina. We’ll discuss current Michigan events, the upcoming season and/or take a look at a significant number that correlates with how many days remain until kickoff, whether it be a player’s jersey number, a year, a date, a score, etc.
Michigan football has 56 more days until the 2023 season begins, today is a good time to look at former linebacker Lamar Woodley. Perhaps the best No. 56 in school history, the former five-star recruit made his mark on the program during his time in Ann Arbor.
Woodley was born and raised in Saginaw, Michigan and was a high school teammate of former MSU standout and Detroit Lions wide receiver Charles Rogers and Chicago Bulls point guard Anthony Roberson to win the Division II state title in 1999.
Woodley, a five-star recruit coming out of high school, played defensive end and linebacker at Michigan and was the MVP of the 2005 Rose Bowl. He was named a defensive captain in 2006 and led the team with 12 sacks, leading to a laundry list of honors during his final season:
- First-team All-American
- Ted Hendricks Award
- Chuck Bednarick Award finalist
- Lott Trophy quarterfinalist
- Bronco Nagurski Trophy watchlist
- Outland Trophy watchlist
During Woodley’s time at Michigan, he was a three-time All-Big Ten performer that won first-team honors in 2006. He also earned the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Defensive Lineman of the Year awards from the conference.
Woodley was a second-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2007 and played with the organization through 2013, winning Super Bowl XLIII and earning second-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors in 2009.
Woodley spent one season with the Oakland Raiders in 2014 and Arizona Cardinals in 2015 before stepping away from football.
Michigan football countdown to kickoff
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