GREEN BAY, Wis. ( — Although the ring was even heavier than Charles Woodson expected, it felt just right on his hand.

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. “I feel like I worked very hard playing this game. I feel like every time I go out on that field, I leave it all out there on the field. That’s the way I’ve always played this game. I feel like I deserve to win a championship, I feel like it’s my rightful place in history to be a Super Bowl champion.”

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.