Super Bowl Rings

Woodson and his Green Bay Packers teammates received their Super Bowl rings in a private ceremony at Lambeau Field on Thursday night, and the veteran cornerback's smile beamed just as brightly as the diamond-encrusted ring he was showing off to the cameras.

"I feel like it's my right to wear this ring," Woodson said. Contact between players and teams generally is prohibited during the ongoing NFL lockout, but the Packers received special permission from the NFL to hold the ceremony.

"Everybody's been separated too long," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. The Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 to win the Super Bowl on Feb. 6, then held a "Return to Titletown" celebration for fans at Lambeau Field the Tuesday after the game. While several other teams have held informal player-organized, OTA-style workouts, the Packers haven't done so yet.

The rings feature a Packers "G'' logo with 13 diamonds to symbolize each of the team's championships. Surrounding it are four more diamonds to symbolize its four Super Bowl wins.

One piece of a traditional Super Bowl celebration still is missing. Murphy said Thursday's ceremony gave everyone a chance to think about their place in the team's history.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Before he put on his platinum, diamond-encrusted Super Bowl ring, Mike McCarthy donned a different accessory Thursday night: A cowboy hat.

It was yet another master stroke by the coach who’d had his players sized for their Super Bowl rings on the eve of their 31-25 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. I feel like it’s my right to wear this ring. I feel like I worked very hard playing this game. “Everybody’s been separated for too long,” McCarthy said. The players, they’re ecstatic about it,” McCarthy said. Everybody feels good about what the ring looks like ... It was a special night, it’s a special ring.”

The rings themselves were overwhelming. Each platinum ring features the Packers’ signature "G" logo cast in 18-karat yellow gold atop a green tablet. Within the “G” are 13 diamonds to symbolize each of the team's championships. Each player’s name is personalized on one side of the ring while the other side contains an image of Lambeau Field.

Engraved inside the ring is an abbreviated version of Woodson’s post-game speech in Chicago following the team’s NFC Championship Game victory, when he admonished his teammates to play with “one mind, one goal, one purpose and one heart,” for one more game.

“Every sports franchise that wins a championship, it’s all about the ring. “Now, we have this ring.

The Green Bay Packers received their Super Bowl rings in a private ceremony at Lambeau Field on Thursday night.

Contact between players and teams generally is prohibited during the ongoing NFL lockout, but the Packers received special permission from the NFL to hold the ceremony.

It was closed to fans and the media, but Packers players gleefully posted notes and photos from the party on their Twitter accounts. "Everybody's been separated too long," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. College basketball: Kentucky said it will change coach John Calipari's career record because of 42 vacated victories from his time at Memphis and Massachusetts. Mayweather is being sued over statements accusing Pacquiao of taking performance-enhancing drugs.