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Trip to Super Bowl Radio Row Motivates Titans LB Wesley Woodyard

190131-woodyard

ATLANTA – Titans linebacker Wesley Woodyard walked into Radio Row at Super Bowl LIII on Thursday, and it fired him up.

Super Bowl banners – and photos of Patriots and Rams stars – decorate the building, and they served as more reminders his team came up short.

"Obviously it is tough watching football when your football season is over," Woodyard said. "I walk through here and I get that bubbly, burning feeling of, 'I want to be here, and I need to be here.' I definitely think this is something that will fuel me through the offseason, being here.

"When I walk in here and see Super Bowl signs and don't see a Tennessee Titan player anywhere, it eats me up. I want to see some Lumberjack paintings hanging up, some Marcus Mariota paintings. It's going to motivate me to get back in the gym and work harder to hone my craft to do whatever it takes to get my team to the next level. It makes me hungry, man. It's another chip I am going to carry throughout the season."

Woodyard, decked out in a Titans blue suit, was a busy man inside the Georgia World Congress Center.

Within a five-minute period he was chatting with two former NFL teammates – Brian Dawkins and Eric Decker – and a former competitor at the collegiate level – former Vanderbilt receiver Earl Bennett.

Woodyard, who played at Kentucky and played with the Broncos before joining the Titans in 2014, is here to take part in an extension of Broadcast Boot Camp/Advanced Broadcast Boot Camp, his third step in the NFL Player Engagement program.

He has a schedule tailored to make the rounds on Radio Row either doing interviews, or conducting him.

It's a career Woodyard is considering after his playing days are over. He's also considered coaching when his playing days are over.

"Taking off the pads, stepping back, it's a great set-up for after football," Woodyard said. "But I have some years left in the tank. I am not worried about getting here so fast."

Woodyard, who just finished his 11th NFL season, said he's nowhere close to hanging it up. Woodyard is coming off a season when he led the Titans with 124 tackles, while recording 4.5 sacks.

"I sit back, and I ask myself that all the time," Woodyard said when asked how long he'll play. "If you would have asked me that question about five years ago I would have said, 'I want to get to 10.' But I spoke to a friend of mine (Keenan Burton), who got injured his third year in the league and couldn't play. And he was like 'Hey, bro, don't put a limit on how many years you play. I want to you get 10, and I want you to go after that…'

"I made up in my mind I want to get to 15, and just take it year by year after that. I feel like I have a lot of things offer to a team, while mentoring younger guys."

Woodyard said he's already looking forward to 2019, what will be his 12th season.

He's hoping it will end at the Super Bowl. As a member of the Broncos, Woodyard played in Super Bowl XLVIII.

He believes the Titans are close. The Titans finished 9-7 for the third straight year in 2018.

"I definitely feel like we are there," Woodyard said. "Coming in with a new head coach, a new system, we finished one game shy of getting to the playoffs. I feel like we are heading into the right direction to not just be a playoff team, but be a dominant and scary team. We were a bit inconsistent last season. There's no need to make excuses. I think we will take that step this offseason to be better. The sky is the limit man."

The Tennessee Titans take on the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV on Sunday, Jan. 30, 2000 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga. (AP Photos)

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