Williams thrives outside the spotlight
Andrew Fischer
Issue date: 4/3/08 Section: Sports
I'm sorry, I am not sure if you two have been properly introduced yet.
Thomas Williams, everyone. Everyone, this is Thomas
Williams.
Wait, are you sure you haven't been acquainted? You two should have crossed paths by now.
It's a shame. You see, Thomas Williams played football at USC for the last five years and was just on his way out the door so I thought this would be as good of a time as ever for some face time.
He spent his time roaming the field as a linebacker (as long as you don't count that one time he was asked to moonlight as a fullback). But he wasn't the next Seau, Del Rio or Claiborne - one of those players that the coaches scour the country to anoint the next incarnation of No. 55.
The Vacaville, Calif., native is simply a football player, in the purest sense of the word. Something about the game just resonates with Williams: The crushing sound of helmets, the smell of sweat mixed with dank locker room air. He understands the breakdown of the game on a level at which a fan mistakes for improvisation and flow.
"Anytime you have a player like Thomas, you can see it on the film. You watch him play all the positions and see his ability to see the field and play the game," said Williams' linebacker coach, Ken Norton. "You can't really play the game in all the testing."
Wednesday's Pro Day - where Williams along with a dozen other Trojan hopefuls were poked, prodded and measured to scientifically determine how many Super Bowl victories they will deliver their prospective team in the future - was the culmination of a sprained knee that sidelined him in 2005, a frustrating redshirt year spent on the sideline, a highly productive senior year recording 56 tackles under relative anonymity and a pair of national championship rings.
But combines and diagnostic tests don't always flatter people like Williams who are more football players than athletes. Ticks of a stopwatch can only say so much about a player unless the NFL starts playing touch football in shorts and T-shirts.
Thomas Williams, everyone. Everyone, this is Thomas
Williams.
Wait, are you sure you haven't been acquainted? You two should have crossed paths by now.
It's a shame. You see, Thomas Williams played football at USC for the last five years and was just on his way out the door so I thought this would be as good of a time as ever for some face time.
He spent his time roaming the field as a linebacker (as long as you don't count that one time he was asked to moonlight as a fullback). But he wasn't the next Seau, Del Rio or Claiborne - one of those players that the coaches scour the country to anoint the next incarnation of No. 55.
The Vacaville, Calif., native is simply a football player, in the purest sense of the word. Something about the game just resonates with Williams: The crushing sound of helmets, the smell of sweat mixed with dank locker room air. He understands the breakdown of the game on a level at which a fan mistakes for improvisation and flow.
"Anytime you have a player like Thomas, you can see it on the film. You watch him play all the positions and see his ability to see the field and play the game," said Williams' linebacker coach, Ken Norton. "You can't really play the game in all the testing."
Wednesday's Pro Day - where Williams along with a dozen other Trojan hopefuls were poked, prodded and measured to scientifically determine how many Super Bowl victories they will deliver their prospective team in the future - was the culmination of a sprained knee that sidelined him in 2005, a frustrating redshirt year spent on the sideline, a highly productive senior year recording 56 tackles under relative anonymity and a pair of national championship rings.
But combines and diagnostic tests don't always flatter people like Williams who are more football players than athletes. Ticks of a stopwatch can only say so much about a player unless the NFL starts playing touch football in shorts and T-shirts.
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Phil Testa
posted 4/03/08 @ 2:49 PM PST
Thomas Williams was always one of my favorite players. He gave his all, 120% per game, and was all over special teams play. His trademark black eye shadow will not be forgotten, nor his style of play- which was to crush every opponent. (Continued…)
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