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Ryan Williams gets fresh start in Dallas
Posted: Thursday, July 24, 2014 5:30 am | Updated: 9:13 am, Thu Jul 24, 2014.
by David_Fawcett
Ryan Williams wasn’t sure what to expect the day he arrived in Dallas to work out for the Cowboys.
Despite great promise, Williams’ NFL career had yet to take off and more questions than answers remained as to whether it ever would.
Three seasons in Arizona had produced two season-ending injuries with a grand total of five games and 164 rushing yards on 58 attempts. Not exactly the type of numbers Williams or Arizona hoped for when the Cardinals selected the Stonewall Jackson High School graduate 38th overall in the 2011 NFL Draft out of Virginia Tech.
Deciding to move on and free up space under the salary cap, Arizona released Williams May 12, allowing Williams the opportunity to sign as a free agent with another team and forcing him to search for other opportunities sooner than he or anyone anticipated.
Dallas was Williams’ No. 1 choice. The Cowboys had always been his favorite team and he felt they would give him a fair shot to step in, push for playing time and contribute right away.
Dallas reciprocated the interest and brought Williams in for a tryout May 17.
He looked forward to the chance to showcase his skills, but Williams was also determined to take another step toward shedding any stigma that might label him as a bust or injury-prone. As haunted as he was by his past struggles, he did not view himself as someone with unfulfilled potential. He was someone itching for a fresh start.
The question was whether the Cowboys would see him the way he saw himself. He soon got his answer from a person in Dallas’ organization.
In recounting the story, Williams said he doesn’t remember the person’s name or role with the team. What stood out, though, was how the man greeted Williams when he walked out to the field for his workout.
“He said when the Cowboys saw my name on the waiver wire, the whole building wanted me,” Williams said.
That’s all Williams needed to hear. Being surrounded by key members of Dallas’ front office, including owner Jerry Jones, head coach Jason Garrett and director of player personnel Stephen Jones, only bolstered his spirits as Williams turned in an impressive performance during his 30-minute workout by Cowboys running back coach Gary Brown.
“I got a different vibe than being in Arizona last year,” Williams said. “It was a great feeling. I felt like I could be part of something.”
ANOTHER CHAPTER
So much has changed for Williams since the night in April of 2011 when he and his family and friends attended the draft in New York City, waiting for word of his future.
Not long into the draft’s second day, Williams’ phone rang. Arizona was on the other end to tell Williams they had taken him.
An emotional Williams, who left Virginia Tech with two years of eligibility, wept and then hugged those around him before heading out to the stage at Radio City Music Hall and accepting congratulations from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and former Cardinals cornerback Aenaes Williams, who announced the selection.
The celebration, though, was short-lived as Williams’ time in Arizona eventually became defined by disappointment and frustration.
Williams missed his entire rookie season after rupturing his patellar tendon two games into the preseason. He then missed most of the 2012 season after suffering a shoulder injury in Arizona’s fifth regular-season game.
ONE LAST CHANCE
Coming into Arizona’s 2013 training camp, Williams knew his standing in the organization was far from firm. Trade rumors circulated and then the injury bug hit again when his knee began hurting him early in training camp.
To get himself back on to the field as soon as possible, Williams said he was injected with various shots to ease the pain. But it still lingered.
“I’m not here to throw anyone under the bus,” Williams said. “I love the training staff in Arizona. There was confusion on my part and on that side of the staff as far as what was going on. The quickest way was to shoot my knee up to speed up the process.”
By missing time on the field, Williams fell down the depth chart and never recovered. He played in Arizona’s final two preseason games, rushing twice for 10 yards against San Diego and nine times for 25 yards and a touchdown against Denver.
He made the final 53-player roster but was never activated for any of the 16 regular-season games as the Cardinals relied on other running backs to carry the load.
Williams thought his best chance to play came in Week 8 against Atlanta when starter Rashard Mendenhall was out with an injury.
“I asked if I would get on the active roster and I was told no,” Williams said. “After that, I knew I was not going to play the whole season.”
Williams said no one worked harder during the week than him. He was the first one to practice and the last one to leave.
“It’s a business,” Williams said. “I wish I could go into the office and create a highlight film of practices and put it on my phone to show my friends. I killed the defense.”
Arizona first-year head coach Bruce Arians had stated that one of the reasons Williams never played was his inexperience with special teams. It’s a notion Williams scoffs at.
“You mean I can’t run down the field to make a tackle?” Williams said.
Williams said Arians never told him directly why he remained on the sidelines.
“Only Bruce Arians knows why I wasn’t playing,” Williams said. “I have no plans on talking to him anytime soon.”
The Cardinals felt it had given Williams plenty of chances to play, but that he had been beaten out by other running backs.
"I think you always want to try to always give the player the benefit of the doubt and try to see the process through," Cardinals GM Steve Keim told Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM May 20. "He was bit early with the injury bug, then he came back and he was healthy.
"Quite frankly, Bruce and his staff gave him several opportunities last season, and quite frankly, he was outperformed by some of the younger backs on our roster."
Feeling like he had no one fighting for him, Williams fired his agent Malik Shareef in March. Williams had signed with Shareef out of loyalty after he was introduced to Williams as a teenager through a family friend.
“The problems began when I got hurt and it went downhill from there,” Williams said of his relationship with Shareef. “A lot of things stopped happening after I got hurt … No one was pleading my case.”
Two weeks later, Williams replaced him with Eugene Parker, one of two finalists when Williams was initially choosing an agent.
Williams became reacquainted with Parker through Cardinals’ receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Parker represents Fitzgerald.
Parker wasted no time helping Williams out. He made arrangements for Williams to get his knee checked out by a doctor in Minnesota.
As he tried to put 2013 behind him, Williams kept his mouth shut, believing he would get a fair shot to return to the lineup. In Williams’ mind, there was no reason to think otherwise. That’s why he was shocked when he was called into the office of Mike Disner May 12 and told the Cardinals were releasing him.
Before hearing the news, Williams had met earlier in the day with the Cardinals’ offensive coordinator, who was telling him they were designing plays specifically for him. Williams is convinced most people in the Cardinals’ organization were in the dark about the team’s decision to release him.
What bothered him the most, though, was he received the news from someone other than the general manager or Arians. Disner is Arizona’s director of football operations and salary cap expert.
“The whole situation was off to me,” Williams said.
CONFIDENCE BOOST
On the free-agent market, Williams drew immediate interest from teams, including the Titans, where he heard from Ken Whisenhunt, his former head coach at Arizona now at Tennessee.
The Cowboys had a starting running back in DeMarco Murray, but were looking for a backup when they signed Williams. Williams is expected to challenge Joseph Randle, a fifth-round pick last season, for that position.
“We thought a lot of him coming out of school. He’s had some injuries in Arizona and hasn’t played as much as I think they probably thought he would, but he’s certainly an impressive guy,” Garrett told the Cowboys website the day of Williams’ workout May 17. “What we saw on tape when he was playing was some pretty good stuff, even though they numbers didn’t back that up. You saw that kind of movement today in the workout.”
With a new team and a new outlook, Williams is more determined than ever to prove to critics he not only belongs in the NFL, but he can become a headliner in it and leave a legacy as one of the best ever.
“I promised myself there would be better days ahead,” Williams said. “I took everybody’s ridicule. But I feel like the time is now for them to eat their words.”
Ryan Williams gets fresh start in Dallas
Posted: Thursday, July 24, 2014 5:30 am | Updated: 9:13 am, Thu Jul 24, 2014.
by David_Fawcett
Ryan Williams wasn’t sure what to expect the day he arrived in Dallas to work out for the Cowboys.
Despite great promise, Williams’ NFL career had yet to take off and more questions than answers remained as to whether it ever would.
Three seasons in Arizona had produced two season-ending injuries with a grand total of five games and 164 rushing yards on 58 attempts. Not exactly the type of numbers Williams or Arizona hoped for when the Cardinals selected the Stonewall Jackson High School graduate 38th overall in the 2011 NFL Draft out of Virginia Tech.
Deciding to move on and free up space under the salary cap, Arizona released Williams May 12, allowing Williams the opportunity to sign as a free agent with another team and forcing him to search for other opportunities sooner than he or anyone anticipated.
Dallas was Williams’ No. 1 choice. The Cowboys had always been his favorite team and he felt they would give him a fair shot to step in, push for playing time and contribute right away.
Dallas reciprocated the interest and brought Williams in for a tryout May 17.
He looked forward to the chance to showcase his skills, but Williams was also determined to take another step toward shedding any stigma that might label him as a bust or injury-prone. As haunted as he was by his past struggles, he did not view himself as someone with unfulfilled potential. He was someone itching for a fresh start.
The question was whether the Cowboys would see him the way he saw himself. He soon got his answer from a person in Dallas’ organization.
In recounting the story, Williams said he doesn’t remember the person’s name or role with the team. What stood out, though, was how the man greeted Williams when he walked out to the field for his workout.
“He said when the Cowboys saw my name on the waiver wire, the whole building wanted me,” Williams said.
That’s all Williams needed to hear. Being surrounded by key members of Dallas’ front office, including owner Jerry Jones, head coach Jason Garrett and director of player personnel Stephen Jones, only bolstered his spirits as Williams turned in an impressive performance during his 30-minute workout by Cowboys running back coach Gary Brown.
“I got a different vibe than being in Arizona last year,” Williams said. “It was a great feeling. I felt like I could be part of something.”
ANOTHER CHAPTER
So much has changed for Williams since the night in April of 2011 when he and his family and friends attended the draft in New York City, waiting for word of his future.
Not long into the draft’s second day, Williams’ phone rang. Arizona was on the other end to tell Williams they had taken him.
An emotional Williams, who left Virginia Tech with two years of eligibility, wept and then hugged those around him before heading out to the stage at Radio City Music Hall and accepting congratulations from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and former Cardinals cornerback Aenaes Williams, who announced the selection.
The celebration, though, was short-lived as Williams’ time in Arizona eventually became defined by disappointment and frustration.
Williams missed his entire rookie season after rupturing his patellar tendon two games into the preseason. He then missed most of the 2012 season after suffering a shoulder injury in Arizona’s fifth regular-season game.
ONE LAST CHANCE
Coming into Arizona’s 2013 training camp, Williams knew his standing in the organization was far from firm. Trade rumors circulated and then the injury bug hit again when his knee began hurting him early in training camp.
To get himself back on to the field as soon as possible, Williams said he was injected with various shots to ease the pain. But it still lingered.
“I’m not here to throw anyone under the bus,” Williams said. “I love the training staff in Arizona. There was confusion on my part and on that side of the staff as far as what was going on. The quickest way was to shoot my knee up to speed up the process.”
By missing time on the field, Williams fell down the depth chart and never recovered. He played in Arizona’s final two preseason games, rushing twice for 10 yards against San Diego and nine times for 25 yards and a touchdown against Denver.
He made the final 53-player roster but was never activated for any of the 16 regular-season games as the Cardinals relied on other running backs to carry the load.
Williams thought his best chance to play came in Week 8 against Atlanta when starter Rashard Mendenhall was out with an injury.
“I asked if I would get on the active roster and I was told no,” Williams said. “After that, I knew I was not going to play the whole season.”
Williams said no one worked harder during the week than him. He was the first one to practice and the last one to leave.
“It’s a business,” Williams said. “I wish I could go into the office and create a highlight film of practices and put it on my phone to show my friends. I killed the defense.”
Arizona first-year head coach Bruce Arians had stated that one of the reasons Williams never played was his inexperience with special teams. It’s a notion Williams scoffs at.
“You mean I can’t run down the field to make a tackle?” Williams said.
Williams said Arians never told him directly why he remained on the sidelines.
“Only Bruce Arians knows why I wasn’t playing,” Williams said. “I have no plans on talking to him anytime soon.”
The Cardinals felt it had given Williams plenty of chances to play, but that he had been beaten out by other running backs.
"I think you always want to try to always give the player the benefit of the doubt and try to see the process through," Cardinals GM Steve Keim told Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM May 20. "He was bit early with the injury bug, then he came back and he was healthy.
"Quite frankly, Bruce and his staff gave him several opportunities last season, and quite frankly, he was outperformed by some of the younger backs on our roster."
Feeling like he had no one fighting for him, Williams fired his agent Malik Shareef in March. Williams had signed with Shareef out of loyalty after he was introduced to Williams as a teenager through a family friend.
“The problems began when I got hurt and it went downhill from there,” Williams said of his relationship with Shareef. “A lot of things stopped happening after I got hurt … No one was pleading my case.”
Two weeks later, Williams replaced him with Eugene Parker, one of two finalists when Williams was initially choosing an agent.
Williams became reacquainted with Parker through Cardinals’ receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Parker represents Fitzgerald.
Parker wasted no time helping Williams out. He made arrangements for Williams to get his knee checked out by a doctor in Minnesota.
As he tried to put 2013 behind him, Williams kept his mouth shut, believing he would get a fair shot to return to the lineup. In Williams’ mind, there was no reason to think otherwise. That’s why he was shocked when he was called into the office of Mike Disner May 12 and told the Cardinals were releasing him.
Before hearing the news, Williams had met earlier in the day with the Cardinals’ offensive coordinator, who was telling him they were designing plays specifically for him. Williams is convinced most people in the Cardinals’ organization were in the dark about the team’s decision to release him.
What bothered him the most, though, was he received the news from someone other than the general manager or Arians. Disner is Arizona’s director of football operations and salary cap expert.
“The whole situation was off to me,” Williams said.
CONFIDENCE BOOST
On the free-agent market, Williams drew immediate interest from teams, including the Titans, where he heard from Ken Whisenhunt, his former head coach at Arizona now at Tennessee.
The Cowboys had a starting running back in DeMarco Murray, but were looking for a backup when they signed Williams. Williams is expected to challenge Joseph Randle, a fifth-round pick last season, for that position.
“We thought a lot of him coming out of school. He’s had some injuries in Arizona and hasn’t played as much as I think they probably thought he would, but he’s certainly an impressive guy,” Garrett told the Cowboys website the day of Williams’ workout May 17. “What we saw on tape when he was playing was some pretty good stuff, even though they numbers didn’t back that up. You saw that kind of movement today in the workout.”
With a new team and a new outlook, Williams is more determined than ever to prove to critics he not only belongs in the NFL, but he can become a headliner in it and leave a legacy as one of the best ever.
“I promised myself there would be better days ahead,” Williams said. “I took everybody’s ridicule. But I feel like the time is now for them to eat their words.”
