EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) -After a slow start to the season for Minnesota, Pat Williams is playing strong.
His optimistic plan is to ride this surge all the way into retirement if the Vikings can get that elusive Super Bowl victory.
“I’m just having fun,” Williams said. “Everybody is on the same page around here, and I just feel it’s close. I just come to work every day and smell that trophy.”
At 37 years old, Williams is the only guy on the roster younger than that gray-bearded 40-year-old the Vikings persuaded to play quarterback for them, Brett Favre. Kicker Ryan Longwell is 35, making Minnesota’s three oldest players also three of the most important.
Favre might not be the best at deciding what he truly wants when it comes to retirement, but Williams claims to have his exit from the game figured out if the Vikings can go all the way this season.
That’s how you want to end it.”
Even with one year left on his contract, at $4.25 million?
“It don’t matter,” he said. “That’s all I want is that trophy.”
He then paints a picture of his celebration:
“I’ll walk off the field with my tights on, because I’m throwing everything to the fans: shoulder pads, helmet, everything,” Williams said. “I’ll walk off with tights and socks. That’s how I’m walking off the field. I’ve been thinking about it all year.”
Williams frequently engages in playful trash talk about opposing teams, so it’s difficult to discern whether he’s serious enough to carry all this out. But the image of this big-bellied behemoth – who usually plays well over his listed weight of 317 pounds – stripping down to his skivvies in celebration would be one of sport’s most memorable sights.
Williams literally sits in a rocking chair in front of his cubicle, the result of a locker-room prank. Not that he minds.
“Body feels good right now,” Williams said, acknowledging he didn’t feel normal after his recovery from minor knee surgery last winter until three weeks into this season. “Right now, we’re rolling.”
Heading into Sunday’s game at Carolina, Williams’ leadership and run-stuffing ability at his defensive tackle position has become even more critical with middle linebacker E.J. Henderson out for the season.
im on pace for the most he’s had in four years. He has two sacks, eight tackles for loss and four quarterback hurries, his playing time in passing situations reduced to maximize his stamina. The coaches prefer to limit him to 35 plays per game.
“At this juncture, does he need every snap and every drill? He doesn’t,” coach Brad Childress said.
All-Pro defensive end Jared Allen balks at being asked to take a rest, but Williams won’t hide his appreciation.
“I’m good coming off the field,” he said, laughing. “I ain’t lying. Jared ain’t coming off. He’s still young, but once he gets those years, he’ll be like, ‘OK, coach, I’ll take this break.”’
Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier steered the change to help keep Williams at his best physically.
“I think a combination of him getting his body and legs in football condition along with what we’ve done with his reps in practice has improved his play, which in turn has made us a better defense,” Frazier said. “The second half of the season he’s really taken off and played like the Pat of old.”
The Vikings need the entire line to play that way if Williams is going to get his chance to walk off the field a winner. This is as tight of a position group as there is on the team, a boisterous group of alpha males including end Ray Edwards and tackle Kevin Williams that has dubbed itself “The Outlaws.”
for the ends.
“We have to be up front riding the horses and the rest of them riding behind us. That’s how outlaws ride,” Williams said.
Add A Comment