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From soccer fields in Jamaica to the NFL for LT Williams
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_e210c064-5697-59e7-8b9c-446350ce2e43.html
Darrell Williams made sure his cell phone was fully charged and the ring tone was set on loud.
He was munching on a breakfast sandwich around noon Saturday, at a restaurant with fellow Rams Bryce Hager and Cody Wichmann.
Wichmann’s phone rang, and it was coach Jeff Fisher. Telling him he’d made the team. Hager’s phone rang, and again it was Fisher. Telling him he’d made the team.
“They were trying to keep it controlled just in case I didn’t get the same call,” Williams said. “I was watching Bryce, and Bryce played it off so well, I was like, ‘God, maybe Bryce got cut.’ I couldn’t tell. But he was just keeping himself collected.”
Wichmann and Hager were both Rams draft picks last spring. Williams went undrafted out of South Florida. And his phone wasn’t ringing.
When Williams’ phone finally rang, his heart nearly pounded out of his chest. It was Fisher on the other end. Was this the call telling him he’d been cut?
“He told me to take a deep breath and relax, and once I heard that, I knew I was in,” Williams said.
One of the longest of long shots entering training camp, Williams has made the Rams’ initial 53-man roster as an offensive tackle.
“I was shaking the whole time, and then got the good news,” Williams said. “It took me about an hour to relax.”
Williams’ first call after the call went to his agent. And he couldn’t help it, he broke down a little. He got it together for his next call; there were no tears when he called his mother in New York or his father in Orlando.
Williams thus became one of three undrafted rookies to make the Rams’ roster, joining wide receiver Bradley Marquez and linebacker Cameron Lynch.
Everything about Williams’ path to the NFL speaks to the road less traveled. He didn’t take up football until his sophomore year of high school in Orlando, and that was largely because he spent the first 13 years of his life in Jamaica.
His family moved from Jamaica to Florida just before his 14th birthday. He still has plenty of relatives in Jamaica, particularly on his mother’s side of the family. And when he talks to Mom and Dad, a little of his old Jamaican accent comes out.
Growing up in St. Catherine Parish near Kingston, Williams described himself a “chubby kid” who wasn’t very good in soccer. He also played basketball in Jamaica, and played that game at the high school level when he came to the U.S.
But the head football coach at Evans High in Orlando kept pestering Williams about trying the gridiron game. He would show up at every basketball game and tell Williams: “You’re not going to grow much for basketball. You need to play football. You’re the perfect size for football.”
Williams, now 6 feet 5 and 301 pounds, finally relented.
“And it was the best decision I ever made,” he said. “I wasn’t very good. The first day it took me like 30 minutes to put my pads on. Actually had to get help from my assistant coach.”
He proved to be a quick study. As a high school senior, he made the all-Orange County and all-Central Florida teams. In college at South Florida in nearby Tampa, he played in 45 games with 29 starts — all at left tackle.
Although Williams went undrafted, Rams offensive line coach Paul Boudreau liked Williams’ quick feet — a necessity for a left tackle — from the outset.
“Seemed like just yesterday I walked in here for OTAs and offseason workouts and stuff,” Williams said. “And it’s game week now. We’re gearing up to go play.”
Gearing up to play the two-time defending NFC champion Seattle Seahawks in fact.
So are Marquez and Lynch, although there are no guarantees any of the three will be on the game-day roster, or even how long they’ll be on the 53-man roster.
But no matter what the future brings, no one can take away the feeling of getting that phone call from Fisher.
Marquez described his weekend as “a roller coaster of emotions, just not knowing what’s gonna happen.”
Marquez had just gotten out of the shower at the team hotel when his phone rang. He saw it was a St. Louis area code.
“My heart kind of dropped a little bit, just thinking that it was gonna be a bad phone call and not an exciting one,” Marquez said.
It turned out to be an exciting one. Marquez, who spent parts of two summers playing outfield in the New York Mets’ minor league system, has made the “big leagues” in a different sport. He never felt he was close to making the major leagues in baseball.
“But once I decided to do this, I guess it’s been about a year-and-a-half, I was able to put everything into football and try to make this roster, which was one of my first goals,” he said.
He didn’t bring a car to St. Louis, so after he got the phone call from Fisher, he went out and got a rental car. He’s looking for an apartment, and looking for some time on special teams against the Seahawks.
Special teams play is what got Marquez on the roster as a sixth wide receiver, and that was also the ticket for Lynch, the linebacker from Syracuse. Lynch stayed close to special teams coordinator John Fassel throughout camp and stopped into his office whenever possible to pick his brain.
“I’m glad that I did bug him,” Lynch said, smiling.
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_e210c064-5697-59e7-8b9c-446350ce2e43.html
Darrell Williams made sure his cell phone was fully charged and the ring tone was set on loud.
He was munching on a breakfast sandwich around noon Saturday, at a restaurant with fellow Rams Bryce Hager and Cody Wichmann.
Wichmann’s phone rang, and it was coach Jeff Fisher. Telling him he’d made the team. Hager’s phone rang, and again it was Fisher. Telling him he’d made the team.
“They were trying to keep it controlled just in case I didn’t get the same call,” Williams said. “I was watching Bryce, and Bryce played it off so well, I was like, ‘God, maybe Bryce got cut.’ I couldn’t tell. But he was just keeping himself collected.”
Wichmann and Hager were both Rams draft picks last spring. Williams went undrafted out of South Florida. And his phone wasn’t ringing.
When Williams’ phone finally rang, his heart nearly pounded out of his chest. It was Fisher on the other end. Was this the call telling him he’d been cut?
“He told me to take a deep breath and relax, and once I heard that, I knew I was in,” Williams said.
One of the longest of long shots entering training camp, Williams has made the Rams’ initial 53-man roster as an offensive tackle.
“I was shaking the whole time, and then got the good news,” Williams said. “It took me about an hour to relax.”
Williams’ first call after the call went to his agent. And he couldn’t help it, he broke down a little. He got it together for his next call; there were no tears when he called his mother in New York or his father in Orlando.
Williams thus became one of three undrafted rookies to make the Rams’ roster, joining wide receiver Bradley Marquez and linebacker Cameron Lynch.
Everything about Williams’ path to the NFL speaks to the road less traveled. He didn’t take up football until his sophomore year of high school in Orlando, and that was largely because he spent the first 13 years of his life in Jamaica.
His family moved from Jamaica to Florida just before his 14th birthday. He still has plenty of relatives in Jamaica, particularly on his mother’s side of the family. And when he talks to Mom and Dad, a little of his old Jamaican accent comes out.
Growing up in St. Catherine Parish near Kingston, Williams described himself a “chubby kid” who wasn’t very good in soccer. He also played basketball in Jamaica, and played that game at the high school level when he came to the U.S.
But the head football coach at Evans High in Orlando kept pestering Williams about trying the gridiron game. He would show up at every basketball game and tell Williams: “You’re not going to grow much for basketball. You need to play football. You’re the perfect size for football.”
Williams, now 6 feet 5 and 301 pounds, finally relented.
“And it was the best decision I ever made,” he said. “I wasn’t very good. The first day it took me like 30 minutes to put my pads on. Actually had to get help from my assistant coach.”
He proved to be a quick study. As a high school senior, he made the all-Orange County and all-Central Florida teams. In college at South Florida in nearby Tampa, he played in 45 games with 29 starts — all at left tackle.
Although Williams went undrafted, Rams offensive line coach Paul Boudreau liked Williams’ quick feet — a necessity for a left tackle — from the outset.
“Seemed like just yesterday I walked in here for OTAs and offseason workouts and stuff,” Williams said. “And it’s game week now. We’re gearing up to go play.”
Gearing up to play the two-time defending NFC champion Seattle Seahawks in fact.
So are Marquez and Lynch, although there are no guarantees any of the three will be on the game-day roster, or even how long they’ll be on the 53-man roster.
But no matter what the future brings, no one can take away the feeling of getting that phone call from Fisher.
Marquez described his weekend as “a roller coaster of emotions, just not knowing what’s gonna happen.”
Marquez had just gotten out of the shower at the team hotel when his phone rang. He saw it was a St. Louis area code.
“My heart kind of dropped a little bit, just thinking that it was gonna be a bad phone call and not an exciting one,” Marquez said.
It turned out to be an exciting one. Marquez, who spent parts of two summers playing outfield in the New York Mets’ minor league system, has made the “big leagues” in a different sport. He never felt he was close to making the major leagues in baseball.
“But once I decided to do this, I guess it’s been about a year-and-a-half, I was able to put everything into football and try to make this roster, which was one of my first goals,” he said.
He didn’t bring a car to St. Louis, so after he got the phone call from Fisher, he went out and got a rental car. He’s looking for an apartment, and looking for some time on special teams against the Seahawks.
Special teams play is what got Marquez on the roster as a sixth wide receiver, and that was also the ticket for Lynch, the linebacker from Syracuse. Lynch stayed close to special teams coordinator John Fassel throughout camp and stopped into his office whenever possible to pick his brain.
“I’m glad that I did bug him,” Lynch said, smiling.
