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For years, Michigan press conferences have been among the blandest anywhere. Under Lloyd Carr, it seemed the least colorful players were always trotted out for the media to ensure nothing insightful or incendiary was ever spoken.

So it was a nice break from routine Monday when witty safety Troy Woolfolk made his way to the podium. Woolfolk talked football, but he also told several entertaining tales about his dog, Julius, his favorite rap song (Stanky Legg) and his respect for Eastern Michigan coach Ron English, who recruited him to Michigan three years ago.

The highlights:

Woolfolk said he wouldn’t have ended up at Michigan if not for English, a coach he was close with in Ann Arbor, but someone he hasn’t talked to recently because Woolfolk always seems to break his phone.

And how does he do that?

“I have a dog and he likes to just chew on everything,” Woolfolk said. “So if you leave anything around he’ll take it, and when I chase him he tends to throw it up in the air. Not a good combination.”

The dog, Julius, is a 1-year-old mutt and not very big, though Woolfolk thought it was a pure bred Labrador when he first got it.

“It’s about this big,” he said, holding his arms a foot apart in front of his chest. “And I know Labs aren’t this big, so I took him to the doctor and I found out he was half beagle. Kind of disappointed, but I still love him because he’s my dog. So I got a little mutt as a dog. It’s all good.”

As odd as it is to see a football player taking his pint-sized dog for a walk - “I kind of like to walk him in the dark because he’s black and he can’t be seen, so it’s like I just have a leash,” Woolfolk joked - Woolfolk said there are benefits.

“It might be a shot to my pride to walk a little dog down the street, but all the girls like him,” he said. “That’s a plus, too.”

Julius, by the way, was a gift from Woolfolk’s ex-girlfriend.

“That’s why she’s my ex now,” he said.

On other subjects, Woolfolk said:

• He likes that music is being pumped into Michigan Stadium on gamedays, but he’s not too fond of the current playlist. His requests: “Stanky Legg” by GS Boyz or anything else by Texas-born rap artists.

“It’s like a different branch of rap,” he said. “We’re better than everybody else in that industry. Just throwing that out there.”



• Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez deserves lots of credit for how close the team is. He’s instituted rules like no talking on cell phones and no texting inside the football building, though he sometimes skirts that last one.

“You’re not supposed to but - is he here? No? - people do it under the table sometimes,” Woolfolk said.

• He plans to race true freshman quarterback Denard Robinson at some point during or after the season.

“I tell the linebackers every day in practice to let him loose so I can try to go catch him and prove a point,” Woolfolk said. “But they’re too aggressive and that never happens. But I’d love to race him and one day we’re going to plan a date for us to race to clear all the questions and doubts.”

Woolfolk wouldn’t make and predictions on who’ll win, but he said, unlike Robinson, he’ll run with his shoelaces tied.

“I keep mine tied,” he said. “Very tight. Extra tight. Feet turn purple.”

Dave Birkett covers the University of Michigan football team for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at davidbirkett@annarbor.com

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