PITTSBURGH — LaMarr Woodley hosted a fundraising gala at a downtown hotel last week for the most noble of causes: The Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker wants to fight crime.
In aligning himself with a local grassroots organization, the P.A.C.T. — Prevent Another Crime Today — Initiative, Woodley has appeared on billboards in Pittsburgh to raise awareness and urge citizens to provide tips to help with unsolved murders. He's met with the families of victims, too, gaining a first-hand account of grieving. It has become a mission.
"I don't think a lot of light gets shined on these issues," Woodley told USA TODAY Sports during a recent interview at his home in Pittsburgh's North Hills.
Days after the gala, Woodley's words are layered with an added dimension. His teammate, second-year tackle Mike Adams, was stabbed during an attempted carjacking early Saturday morning in the city's South Side.
Adams was lucky. The knife wound missed vital organs, and the gun that one of the three alleged assailants was said to have brandished was never fired. After undergoing surgery on Saturday, Adams could be released from the hospital as early as Tuesday, coach Mike Tomlin said, and is expected to make a full recovery in about six weeks.
Monday night, police said 25-year-old Michael Paranay of Pittsburgh had been arrested and taken to Allegheny County jail on charges of criminal attempted homicide, aggravated assault, attempted robbery and conspiracy. Any other accomplices remained at large.
The incident hit home hard with Woodley.
"Luckily, Mike got out of that situation alive," Woodley said. "It could have been worse."
Apparently, Adams' status as a Steelers player in a city that bleeds black and gold didn't help him — if the perpetrators even knew that he is the player being groomed to protect Ben Roethlisberger's blind side.
His size didn't matter, either. Adams, drafted in the second round from Ohio State last year, is listed as 6-7, 323.
"It just shows that these violent crimes can happen to anybody, at anytime, anywhere," Woodley said. "I'm glad that he came out of this OK."
It's striking that one of the reasons Woodley, through his foundation, was drawn to support P.A.C.T. is now evident in the Adams case. He hopes to inspire people to be more willing to provide authorities with tips, which was the notion that fueled Valerie Dixon to establish her non-profit organization in 2001, after her 22-year-old son, Robert, was slain.
In Dixon's tragedy, the case was quickly solved. Yet her experience, which included the slaying of four of Robert's friends during a six-week period following his death, became a calling to aid the families of other victims.
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Woodley, who grew up in Saginaw, Mich., relates to her from his own worldview. He says he knew seven people from his hometown who were murdered. And one of the most lasting impressions from his childhood had nothing to do with football. His older brother was a victim of a carjacking. Woodley's brother -- whom he has asked not be identified -- and two other companions survived the incident, but the fourth member of their group was killed with a gunshot wound to the head.
"That could have been my brother," Woodley said. "But the gun jammed."
Woodley was only 6 when the incident occurred. But the manner in which it shook his family's world is ingrained in his memory. It also helped shape a sense of purpose that doesn't shy away from the real-world problem that is violent crime.
"Some people think that for people who live in certain communities, some of these things should just happen," Woodley says. "But it could happen to a straight-A student who just happens to live in that neighborhood. Innocent people get killed."
To Dixon, Woodley has been a godsend. On Wednesday night, he presented P.A.C.T. with a $30,000 donation, and is already contemplating another fundraiser. Dixon, who left her job as a call center supervisor and became a social worker after her son was murdered, says her group has operated on a shoestring budget.
The next billboard featuring Woodley is expected to go up by July, and the theme will undoubtedly urge people to get involved with witness protection.
"You look in every city, people are getting killed every day," Woodley said. "On the news, it's talked about for 30 seconds, and it's gone.
"Sometimes, you don't understand it until you've lost a loved one. In the community, it's 'Don't snitch.' Then you lose a loved one and it's, 'Can someone find out?' "
Over the years, Dixon said the billboard campaigns (which previously featured fornmer Steelers linebacker Joey Porter) have led to tips that led to 33 arrests and 22 convictions.
"You can't measure it with numbers," she said. "It's more about healing for the families, letting them know that we're not forgetting their loved ones."
Woodley said that one of the most powerful exchanges he his life came with Lueana Coward, a McKeesport, Pa., mother who lost three sons in separate incidents.
"Still unsolved," Woodley said. "Somebody knows something."
Dixon said the same applies to Adams' case. With one man caught, she knows what the others probably are thinking.
"Wherever they are, they're shaking in their boots, realizing that it was a Steelers player who was involved," Dixon said. "I know each one is wondering which of the others will snitch. This is not some regular burglary. Before long, they'll start singing like songbirds."
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