A few minutes with ...

FOXBOROUGH -- Third-year outside linebacker Pierre Woods talks about how he started playing football and what he enjoys off the field:

How did you get into football?
“I was playing street football. We called it dyno-man. I started watching Jerry Rice and that’s really the main reason I started playing football.”

What is dyno-man?
“You just throw the ball back, the guy catches the ball, and you just run for dear life. We played in the winter, we played in the summer, we played at school, during recess, after school. When you went home, your clothes would be all marked up with grass stains. That’s what we did.”

How many guys would chase you?
“Pretty much the whole school. Everybody. Sometimes we played on concrete.”

When did you start playing organized football?
“Ninth grade. I was kind of scared. I wanted to play Muni League (Pop Warner) but I was too tall, too skinny, I weighed too much. I wore a plastic bag for like two days in the summer time [to lose weight] and I said ‘forget that.’ So I never played. In high school, I went out and I didn’t get to play the position I wanted. I wanted to play quarterback. It didn’t work out. I moved to defensive end and receiver. Receiver didn’t work out, so I stayed at defensive end. I got knocked on my butt two or three times by the offensive guard, and after that, I said ‘if he hit as hard as that, and I still get up, I can play this game.’”

You went to college at Michigan. Was that a tough decision?
“It wasn’t a tough decision. I’m from the inner-city [Cleveland]. You hear a lot of police sirens, EMS, gun shots, staying in the projects. I just wanted to get out of the city. When I went to Michigan for an official visit, it was a nice, quiet, peaceful day. I knew from then on, it was the place I wanted to be.”

Did you dream of playing in the NFL at that point?
“Definitely. You definitely work hard in high school and college, dreaming of playing in the NFL. My freshman year of college, we had a couple guys that were supposed to be potential NFL draft picks the year before and they had some serious injuries. One had a foot injury and they said ‘if you break your foot, you can’t play any more.’ That was a big shock, a reality check. It was a reminder not to put all your apples into one barrel, in football. You made sure you took your education seriously.”

What do you like to do away from football?
“I love to eat. Nothing spicy. I’ll try almost anything except for raw fish. I don’t mess with any of the sushi stuff. I am a homebody. I love being around my family. I really don’t do that much. I’ll go out with some of the guys, if they have an event or something. Playing basketball. I go back home and enjoy talking to kids. Just chilling really. I’m a laid-back guy.”