Skinny
12-24-2007, 04:06 PM
12/24/2007
By Brian Howell
Longmont Times-Call
ENGLEWOOD — Playing special teams at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., required filling out a questionnaire. One of the questions asked what a player would do if their mom were on the opposite team during a kickoff.
“I just decided to make a tape,” said D.J. Williams, now a linebacker with the Denver Broncos. “Yeah, I hit my mom on the tape. I kind of set it up and didn’t tell her I was really going to lay out. Then, I had the guys edit it and slow it down, so it ended up being funny. I hit her hard enough. She wasn’t OK with it, but she was OK.”
Williams’ mom, Sherri Gonzalez, was lucky; she only had to get hit once by Williams. From a young age, Williams showed a desire to hit anyone, and now in his fourth NFL season, he has made a healthy living by doing just that.
Heading into tonight’s game against the San Diego Chargers, Williams has a career-high 149 tackles, nearly matching his total from the past two seasons combined (154).
“I was excited about this year, knowing that I’d be on the field a lot,” he said. “As far as personal goals, I’d say I had a pretty good year, but as far as team goals I can’t be happy or satisfied with how we ended up.”
Like most of the players, Williams is disappointed with the Broncos’ 6-8 record, which will keep them out of the playoffs for the second year in a row. For Williams, though, this has been a season of learning and developing.
An outside linebacker at the University of Miami and in his first three seasons with the Broncos, Williams shifted to the middle this season. In the offseason, the Broncos parted ways with Al Wilson, a five-time Pro Bowl middle linebacker from 2001-2006, and decided Williams would take his place.
“We thought from the very beginning that D.J. has the athletic ability that you’re looking for in the position,” Broncos linebackers coach Joe Baker said. “What we’ve seen through the course of the year is him growing into being a mike linebacker.”
Williams’ transition to the middle has been met with criticism. He’s viewed by some as a great outside linebacker playing out of position in the middle. Baker doesn’t see it that way.
"I feel good about where we are right now with D.J. in the middle,” Baker said. “I’m not sure where the criticism comes from of what is a true middle linebacker. I’m not sure what that means, that typecast.
“I think the tackles are one indication. He’s obviously been very productive in the position. It’s one of those positions where once you get it down you can play it for years and years.”
After a rough start, Williams believes he does have it down, and hopes to be in the middle for years to come.
“I think around Week 3 or 4, I had it down pat and I had everything going with it, as far as being comfortable with the position,” he said. “The biggest thing is, you’re in the middle so you’re in a different position (from the outside) — the spaces, the angles, everything is different. After about the third or fourth week, I was comfortable with it.”
One of the biggest differences between the middle and the outside is that the middle linebacker has more responsibility in terms of calling plays and making sure he and his teammates are in the right spot on each play.
“You control everything,” Williams said. “Once you get that down, it’s just playing ball once the ball is snapped.”
Baker said Williams had no trouble adjusting to the responsibilities of a middle linebacker.
“He’s done great,” Broncos veteran cornerback Champ Bailey said. “We look at him as the leader of our defense and he’s taken that role step by step. Every day it grows, and I think he’s getting more and more comfortale with what he has to do on defense.”
Added Baker: “For D.J., that was one of the easier parts of it, in terms of running the defense. He’s pretty good at recognizing formations and making calls and getting everybody lined up. He really has got no hesitation that way.”
Coming out of high school, Williams had some hesitation about what position to play. He was named the USA Today prep defensive player of the year as a senior at De La Salle, but also ran for 1,974 yards and scored 42 total touchdowns. Some colleges wanted him to play linebacker, others to play running back.
“That was always my first love,” Williams said of playing running back. “I enjoyed running back. I played defense for fun. If I had another life, I’d probably play running back and see how that played out.”
Williams actually began his college career as a fullback at Miami, but switched to linebacker as a sophomore. He wound up being a two-time semifinalist for the Butkus Award, given to the nation’s top linebacker.
“After talking to people and just thinking about the longevity and the injuries and things like that, linebacker seemed like a better choice of career,” Williams said.
So far, things are going well for Williams. Despite the challenges associated with each step up in his career, he’s met them all and become better.
I was always confident that I could succeed at the next level,” he said. “You’re there for a reason. You know you have to work a lot harder, because the talent level and the mental part of it gets a lot more difficult, but everybody in this locker room, they have some kind of talent in some way. Anybody that makes an NFL roster should be confident.
“I’m enjoying my career, I’m healthy right now, so I’m good."
http://www.timescall.com/Sports_Story.asp?ID=5404
By Brian Howell
Longmont Times-Call
ENGLEWOOD — Playing special teams at De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., required filling out a questionnaire. One of the questions asked what a player would do if their mom were on the opposite team during a kickoff.
“I just decided to make a tape,” said D.J. Williams, now a linebacker with the Denver Broncos. “Yeah, I hit my mom on the tape. I kind of set it up and didn’t tell her I was really going to lay out. Then, I had the guys edit it and slow it down, so it ended up being funny. I hit her hard enough. She wasn’t OK with it, but she was OK.”
Williams’ mom, Sherri Gonzalez, was lucky; she only had to get hit once by Williams. From a young age, Williams showed a desire to hit anyone, and now in his fourth NFL season, he has made a healthy living by doing just that.
Heading into tonight’s game against the San Diego Chargers, Williams has a career-high 149 tackles, nearly matching his total from the past two seasons combined (154).
“I was excited about this year, knowing that I’d be on the field a lot,” he said. “As far as personal goals, I’d say I had a pretty good year, but as far as team goals I can’t be happy or satisfied with how we ended up.”
Like most of the players, Williams is disappointed with the Broncos’ 6-8 record, which will keep them out of the playoffs for the second year in a row. For Williams, though, this has been a season of learning and developing.
An outside linebacker at the University of Miami and in his first three seasons with the Broncos, Williams shifted to the middle this season. In the offseason, the Broncos parted ways with Al Wilson, a five-time Pro Bowl middle linebacker from 2001-2006, and decided Williams would take his place.
“We thought from the very beginning that D.J. has the athletic ability that you’re looking for in the position,” Broncos linebackers coach Joe Baker said. “What we’ve seen through the course of the year is him growing into being a mike linebacker.”
Williams’ transition to the middle has been met with criticism. He’s viewed by some as a great outside linebacker playing out of position in the middle. Baker doesn’t see it that way.
"I feel good about where we are right now with D.J. in the middle,” Baker said. “I’m not sure where the criticism comes from of what is a true middle linebacker. I’m not sure what that means, that typecast.
“I think the tackles are one indication. He’s obviously been very productive in the position. It’s one of those positions where once you get it down you can play it for years and years.”
After a rough start, Williams believes he does have it down, and hopes to be in the middle for years to come.
“I think around Week 3 or 4, I had it down pat and I had everything going with it, as far as being comfortable with the position,” he said. “The biggest thing is, you’re in the middle so you’re in a different position (from the outside) — the spaces, the angles, everything is different. After about the third or fourth week, I was comfortable with it.”
One of the biggest differences between the middle and the outside is that the middle linebacker has more responsibility in terms of calling plays and making sure he and his teammates are in the right spot on each play.
“You control everything,” Williams said. “Once you get that down, it’s just playing ball once the ball is snapped.”
Baker said Williams had no trouble adjusting to the responsibilities of a middle linebacker.
“He’s done great,” Broncos veteran cornerback Champ Bailey said. “We look at him as the leader of our defense and he’s taken that role step by step. Every day it grows, and I think he’s getting more and more comfortale with what he has to do on defense.”
Added Baker: “For D.J., that was one of the easier parts of it, in terms of running the defense. He’s pretty good at recognizing formations and making calls and getting everybody lined up. He really has got no hesitation that way.”
Coming out of high school, Williams had some hesitation about what position to play. He was named the USA Today prep defensive player of the year as a senior at De La Salle, but also ran for 1,974 yards and scored 42 total touchdowns. Some colleges wanted him to play linebacker, others to play running back.
“That was always my first love,” Williams said of playing running back. “I enjoyed running back. I played defense for fun. If I had another life, I’d probably play running back and see how that played out.”
Williams actually began his college career as a fullback at Miami, but switched to linebacker as a sophomore. He wound up being a two-time semifinalist for the Butkus Award, given to the nation’s top linebacker.
“After talking to people and just thinking about the longevity and the injuries and things like that, linebacker seemed like a better choice of career,” Williams said.
So far, things are going well for Williams. Despite the challenges associated with each step up in his career, he’s met them all and become better.
I was always confident that I could succeed at the next level,” he said. “You’re there for a reason. You know you have to work a lot harder, because the talent level and the mental part of it gets a lot more difficult, but everybody in this locker room, they have some kind of talent in some way. Anybody that makes an NFL roster should be confident.
“I’m enjoying my career, I’m healthy right now, so I’m good."
http://www.timescall.com/Sports_Story.asp?ID=5404