Ex-Steelers LB LaMarr Woodley: '(Steelers) said I was overweight'

Let the sly belittling of the Steelers continue.

After Emmanuel Sanders didn't speak too positively of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger this past week, linebacker LaMarr Woodley joined in when talking about his former team.

When talking to Silver and Black Pride's Levi Damien, Woodley talked how differently he is viewed in Oakland compared to Pittsburgh.

"In Pittsburgh they said I was [over]weight, I was out of shape, fat anyway, so I didn't really have to do much (gaining weight) at all," said Woodley. "I've been this size my whole career. So, just now, the only reason that I weighed too much in Pittsburgh is because I was asked to chase guys like your size down the field. And now I'm playing defensive end, I don't have to be... It doesn't matter, because the main thing is getting after the quarterback."

As Oakland tries to rebuild, they brought Woodley in to play defensive end, a position he hasn't played since college. While he struggled to stay on the field in recent years due to injury, the Raiders hope he can re-kindle his 2008-2010 Pro Bowl level of play.

Woodley does have a good point though about his weight. He has always been known as a bigger outside linebacker at the size of 6 foot 2, 265 pounds. He was also right in the fact that at that size it becomes tough to cover wide receivers in the slot.

While being larger isn't necessarily an excuse to not be able to cover fast offensive players, Woodley might find himself in a better position at defensive end as he approaches turning 30.

With Woodley gone, the Steelers hope linebackers Jarvis Jones and Jason Worilds can provide the edge play that the Steelers had in Woodley and Harrison when they won the Super Bowl in 2008 and when they went to another one in 2010.

The dead money involved with cutting Woodley hurt the Steelers. But, if what Woodley said was true, there's a good chance the Steelers won't miss him.