Damien Williams “called his shot”
 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300...ption-in-miami

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- After the Chiefs rallied from 10 down in the fourth quarter to defeat the 49ers 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV, Damien Williams expected tears to fall as softly as the confetti.

But as the running back stood in the middle of Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday night, strips of red and gold Mylar at his feet, a gray sweat-stained "CHAMPIONS" T-shirt over his torso, his eyes were dry and clear. That made it easier for him to look back and reflect on a journey whose road has been pock-marked by struggle, much of it of his own doing.

"I've come a long way," he said, "from starting out at junior college, going to Oklahoma, getting kicked off the team, not getting drafted, not getting re-signed by the Dolphins, then joining the Chiefs. I've had a long road, a long road."

The Chiefs likely are not Super Bowl champions for the first time in 50 years without Williams, who accounted for 133 yards from scrimmage, 104 of them rushing, and scored the team's final two touchdowns, his 5-yard catch-and-run with 2:44 to play giving Kansas City its first lead since late in the second quarter and his 38-yard run with 1:12 remaining sealing the outcome.


"He told us in the huddle, 'I'm not going to be stopped,' " right tackle Mitchell Schwartz said of the second score. "He told us, 'You guys do what you do, block and finish, and I'm going to [score].' He literally called his shot. Unbelievable."

So much of Williams' story could be labeled unbelievable, if only because he always seemed to apply the brakes just when he was expected to take off. He ran for more than 2,000 yards one season in high school, but he did not have the grades to attend a major college. He attended Arizona Western College before transferring to Oklahoma, but he was dismissed from the team in his second season for violating team rules. The Dolphins signed him as a rookie free agent, but he did not extend his contract after four seasons in part because of concerns about whether he was mature enough to handle the trappings of success.

He never established himself in Miami as a position player, rushing for only 477 yards and three touchdowns over four seasons, instead earning his keep on special teams. He remained a role player for his first season and a half with the Chiefs, but he finally got an extended opportunity to showcase his skillset the last three games of 2018, when the Chiefs released Kareem Hunt for shoving and kicking a woman.

To that point, Williams had rushed for 53 yards on the season, but he gained 203 yards on 34 carries to end the regular season, then accounted for 250 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns over two postseason games. But just when the clouds appeared to part, after he signed an $8.1 million, two-year extension and was named the starter in training camp, Williams injured a hamstring and was, shall we say, slow in regaining his form. The Chiefs sent a message by giving his reps and his starts to other players.

"In this game, the only day you're going to feel perfect is that first day," said offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who played nine seasons and 142 games in the NFL. "At some point in time, you have to fight your way through that, and he fought his way through it. He found a way to get back into the lineup, and that just goes to show you the character of who he is and what he was able to overcome. I'm happy and I'm proud of him, because you guys just don't know. The kid has come a long way."

Williams has been at his best with the Chiefs when it has counted most: in the postseason. He has scored at least one rushing touchdown in each of his five career playoff games and has added a receiving score in three as well. His 10 touchdowns from scrimmage are a franchise postseason record. Including his one playoff game with the Dolphins, his 11 playoff touchdowns are tied with Hall of Famer Terrell Davis for most from scrimmage in a player's first six games.

"He has some sort of chip on his shoulder, and we love it," said left tackle Eric Fisher. "One of the toughest dudes I know. I love blocking for that guy. You know when he gets the ball, he's going to give you everything. That's something special and someone special to have around."


Playing in a Super Bowl is special by itself, but the fact that the game was in South Florida made it even more significant for Williams, because it was taking place in the same stadium, on the same field, where his pro career began. With the exception of his departure, he loved everything about playing in Miami: his teammates, the coaches and the fans who showed him love.

He was determined to put his fingerprints on the Vince Lombardi Trophy as a way of closing the book on his Miami tenure, and he served notice in the first quarter, rushing five times for 32 yards. He had 47 at the half and 57 through three quarters, before ultimately taking charge in the final 15 minutes with the two touchdowns. While the scores and one or two other plays earned highlight recognition, the little things were just as important, such as his ability to extend drives by converting 11 of his 21 touches into first downs, eight of them rushing. He also converted on two fourth-and-1s, the first of which set up a 1-yard scoring run by quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

"We felt like we executed better as the game went on; we made the right calls," said 49ers safety Jimmie Ward. "But in the fourth quarter, it kind of fell apart. On his touchdown run, I've got to make that play. I've got to make that tackle. In the biggest game of the season, I didn't get it done. But credit to him. He's a really good back."

The opportunity to show it on the biggest stage possible humbled Williams. As he stood amid the confetti, two teammates walked up from behind, minutes apart, and whispered into his ear: "I love you." He repeated the words back to them. It is debatable which felt better, hearing the words or repeating them.

As he bounced from interview to interview, his biggest supporter, his mom, Virleanna Alexander, stood back and took it all in. Pride didn't adequately express what she was feeling.

"It has been a long journey, a very long journey, that started, let's say, back in Pop Warner all the way through high school," she said. "It was not easy. I never doubted it could happen; I knew his capabilities from Pop Warner. But I also knew the only person who could get in his way was him. As long as he didn't get in his way, I knew this could be possible."

"It's amazing," Williams said. "Honestly, I thought I was going to be crying after this. I started on this field. I had fun on this field. I made a lot of plays on this field. To have this accomplishment in the Super Bowl, here? It means a lot to me. Now I'm going to enjoy it with my kids. I've had all my fun. This was all I needed. It's time to relax with the kids."

With that, Williams began a much more memorable journey, through the confetti, away from his past heartaches and hardship and out of the stadium. He may have been departing, but in reality, he had just arrived.

That guy ****ing delivered this year.

Insane. Dude is a post season juggernaut. Watkins shines brighter in the big games too.

I love him as our RB. He’s a mini version of Hunt. Can catch and run

I really don't understand the clamor for a new RB. This dude did nothing but produce points at an insanely high level all throughout the postseason for us. He's the perfect RB for this offense.

For sure. I know there were some of us thinking we overpaid Watkins, and I would tend to agree with that.

But Watkins and Williams delivered in the post season. That's the real season right there.

Overpaid or not, that's money well spent there and nothing will convince me to change my mind.

Saw an interview this morning with Williams where he said that Sausage talked to him in the huddle and told him “Follow me. Whatever you do...follow me.”

should have been MVP

Damien The Omen Williams. What a beast.

Well, it's likely that McCoy is going to be gone. Thompson, while has good potentional, is still an unknown. Spencer Ware likely may be gone as well.

So there's likely a need there. Basically, we'll need some depth, which you could find in the 3rd rounds or later.

Look at the blocking on this play. Beautiful.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">DAMIEN. WILLIAMS.<br><br>38-YARD TOUCHDOWN. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChiefsKingdom?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ChiefsKingdom</a><br><br>📺: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SBLIV?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SBLIV</a> on FOX<br>📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app <a href="https://t.co/vfeysZKipJ">pic.twitter.com/vfeysZKipJ</a></p>&mdash; NFL (@NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1224166366049161222?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 3, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Yes, depth is a very real need, but I've seen talk that we need a new starting RB, which is baffling to me. Not much of that on here, though.

Love our running back history. This dude is on top of that mountain. **** the season long individual numbers. Did what none of our other great backs over the past few decades has done, which is absolutely ball the **** out on the biggest stages.

I love hearing quotes from the offensive line point of view.

And on that note, I'm sure glad we drafted Fisher.

He sure did. That said I'd still like it if we got a power back to complement him. I like Darwin Thompson, I really do, but I'd still like us to get someone else.

The days of thinking you have a bell cow guy even in Reid’s offense is long past. RBs are hurt. That’s just the end of it. Hell Seachickens got Lynch off the couch.

Going by what I've seen, I would agree with this line of thought. Unless a blue chip RB falls to the Chiefs at 32 (that has to sound nice) I'd put trying to find a new starting RB on the back burner.

Williams is looking pretty solid.

****ing awesome

He called his shot- that is pretty cool. It was an amazing TD run to ice the game.

Wow Sherman laid the wood on that block.

Here’s the thing. One of Dobbins/Swift are absolutely going to make it to 32 barring a trade up. If you look at the teams drafting ahead of us, only the Dolphins need a RB and they have so many needs they still might pass in the 1st despite having 3.

Rarely has a player - especially a CHIEFS player - stepped up so huge in the postseason.

Brass freaking ballz.

My favorite part is that the dolphins didnt extend/resign him because they didn't think he was mature enough to handle the trappings of success lol. reeruned Dolphins, you guys always suck.

Love Dobbins.

Won't happen and we have more pressing needs, but he'd be a beast in our offense.

He blocked Kwon Alexander and then threw him into Fred Warner, effectively taking both out of the play.

Shit, you ain’t lying. ****ing wham-o block.

And look at Pringle out there sealing off his man as well. Just beautifully executed.

Too many other potential picks there. IOL, DL, I'm not taking a RB.

Well, all it takes one play to have a RB hurt. Remember, Williams had a bad hammy and he was sidelined for close to a month, if I am not mistaken.

So I would not be opposed to getting that RB from Wisconsin, since we could use a bruiser to help out, but at the same time, I also want us to draft some fatties, particularly the interior line.

My preference (in no order) would be a RB, OL, LB, and depth in key spots.

Oh yeah, I’m REALLY liking that... outstanding :clap:

His block was incredible.

i was a hater early on but as the season progressed i think it was as much the line as our backs that were under performing.

This... Sausage's block was key.

Sherman will be here next year. His annual 1/1 contract

You can hear the pads pop when Sherman hits that block.

:thumb:

Sherman is one of my favorite non big name players so I loved that block live, but I didn't even notice Pringle locking up and sealing out.

He's showed some flashes here and there. I hope he keeps developing even if it's just as depth.

Pringle's block was textbook.

Richard Sherman does absolutely ****-all on that play. Gave up as soon as he saw it wasn't coming to his side. Tyrann would have ran his ass over there and tackled. It's just funny because for all his talk, Sherman's a quitter.

Don't forget about Big Fish stoning then pancaking Bosa.

Big Fish made Bosa cry.

Fisher straight up destroyed Bosa here. Made up for it because Bosa was getting to Fisher every single play

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">With this game-sealing TD, <a href="https://twitter.com/PatrickMahomes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PatrickMahomes</a> and Damien Williams became legends in the <a href="https://twitter.com/Chiefs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Chiefs</a> Kingdom <a href="https://twitter.com/insidetheNFL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@insidethenfl</a> <a href="https://t.co/UI0hmtoq2W">pic.twitter.com/UI0hmtoq2W</a></p>&mdash; NFL Films (@NFLFilms) <a href="https://twitter.com/NFLFilms/status/1224467602090659842?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 3, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The man.

The ****ing man.

**** you ya little bitch. Any body who doubted this guy after the 2018 postseason needs to gtfo! Dude is clutch in big moments and that's the only thing that ever matters. **** each and every one of you who doubted this man. I bet you were the same folks who wanted to chase Dirty Dan out of here. KILL YOURSELVES

What kind of a semi-reerun poster is this?

Go **** yourself. I was a huge Damien Williams supporter after we cut Hunt and I got shit on for it. Only one of those dudes helped us in multiple championship games. The other did nothing.

Saw that too, said the run wasn't supposed to go outside but he followed him out there.

Know I am going to get shat on for this, but my instant thought was after Williams ran that touchdown in was "should he have done that?" - turns out the Chiefs win chance actually went down by him not taking a knee after getting the first down (they probably have a 100% win chance if he takes the knee and 97% win chance if he takes it in so really no difference, but it still caused my anxiety live)

I was standing in front of my TV, arms crossed, just hoping for a 1st down. when he turned the corner, I literally fell to my knees; and when he scored, I put my face in my hands and my head went to the floor, and I cried like a baby.

it was amazing.

you should get shat on for feeling that way IMO, i think this fan base NEEDED that TD. it exorcised the demons

Mahomes is here the bad men can't hurt you anymore.

yep; that's how I felt.

YEARS of demons

Technically our win percentage did go down, but personally I like him scoring there. Puts us up two scores with 1 minute left. They'd need a quick TD , 2-point conversion, an onside recovery and then a FG.

If he had gone down after gaining the 1st, they'd have needed a scoop and score off a muffed snap exchange, which is probably even more unlikely, but I like having the extra cushion the TD provided.

Hah! Same here. Was standing up a few feet from the TV, arms crossed. It was all business at that point; just hoping for him to gain another 2-3 yards to make it a manageable 3rd down.

When I saw him bounce it out I was just like "OMG, that's it! It's over".

I ran around my section at the game hugging each and every stranger I could find who had anything Chiefs on. And the most amazing thing is it didn’t seem odd at all and everyone reciprocated.

We were all feeling the same at that moment.

Though for me, the real euphoric moment in the game was the pass to Watkins. We’ve seen Mahomes make magic so many times before (really, the only time he failed in that situation was against the Rams and maybe the Colts), so I knew we were winning at that point.

on the surface, I knew the Chiefs had basically won it after they had got the ball back on the drive of the Williams run. but deep down, I was nervous.....because chiefs / battered fan.

when I saw the play develop, and saw everyone blcoked and he ran through his whole/gap, my eyes lit up because I knew he was gone. all of it happened so fast. I could almost see the play shaping up in slow motion....it was weird.

Check out Jonathan Williams. He’s a FA who was in Indy this year. Exact type of player as Damien Williams. Same size, same quickness, little bit slower.

I think we could get him very cheap like we did Damien. Would love having him in our stable.

Should he have scored a TD inside of 2 minutes to make it a 2 score game? no, of course not...

....geez dude...:rolleyes:

Imagine being a Dolphins fan.


Or Bears.


Or Bills.

D Will providing motivation!!

https://youtu.be/vH9TykjVwxw

D Williams has a lot of heart, on and off the field.

Or Chiefs fan after the 1984 draft.
We don't have to feel sorry for anyone. =)

Bills fans have convinced themselves of two things:

1. That Mahomes wouldn't have been any good if they'd drafted him.

2. That Josh Allen will turn into an elite QB.

Number one is absolutely ridiculous. Mahomes is a transcendent talent, not a ****ing system QB.

Number two is also hilarious. That dude put on a ****ing clown show in the wild card round. I almost feel bad for them. Almost.

Josh Allen did improve a lot and they have a good RB. He's not Mahomes but I'd rather have him then, say, Trubisky

Agreed. Allen will end up 2nd tier IMO.

I don’t know what kind fuzzy math was used to determine those percentages but according to my calculations after that TD our win percentage jumped to elevtybillion!!!!1111

Everyone knew the 9ers weren’t coming back. They knew as soon as the Chiefs took the lead, and probably suspected it when they made it 20-17.

Good call Pringle was angry out there


Yep. We needed it. Williams needed it. ****, look at Kelce.

I’m a proponent of always taking points. I get it they could get the ball and score and onside but I doubt that’s anymore likely than peeling the ball out of the victory formation.

Always score.

Sausage jacked up that LBer, #56.

Nonsense! I don't know who comes up with these percentages but they really need to take a look at their formulas because it's stupid. You always score when you can score, period.

If he gets the first down and takes a knee, they can kneel down to run out the clock and the Chiefs only lose if they somehow fumble a kneel down.

If he scores the touchdown, the 49ers get the ball. Sure, their chances of winning are low from 11 points down with one minute left and two timeouts but they are higher than the chances of messing up a kneel down. If they get a field goal first then you have to sit through the sweatiest onside kick of your life.

We couldn't have run the clock out any more than we did when we got the ball back at the end. So that leaves us kicking a field goal and only leading by 7 and kicking the ball back to them. That is much more scary than giving them the ball back down by 11,

Exactly. They still had two time outs left, and there was over a minute remaining. A field goal, if it was made, only puts us up by 7. That wasn't a garbage time TD, Williams slit their throat and bled them dry with that run.

If he takes the knee, its 1st and 10 and the 49ers have to use their 2nd time out. Then a knee, 2nd and 11 and the final time out is gone. Now you can run out another 80 seconds on 3rd and 4th down, and there was only 76 seconds on the clock when he passed the first down marker.

Basically because the touchdown stopped the clock, it gave the 49ers 1 more time out and made 40 seconds of difference.

Sure, that's good technical football, and makes sense on paper. But at game speed, with him running to the sidelines, and the pursuit of the SF defense it probably wasn't going to happen. Trying to worry about taking a knee when he's already hit full speed and making it work without fumbling would be problematic at best.

How do you run out 80 seconds on 3rd and 4th down? Once the play is over on 4th the clock stops on change of possession...you certainly don't want to take the chance of kicking the FG...

Loving this team more & more.....

They also use the "We got Tremaine Edmunds!" line all the time.

"Would you rather have Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen + Tremaine Edmunds? Two pretty good players instead of one great player? I'd say we did just fine!"

Mother****ers deserve all those Super Bowl losses

he's a big time player in big time games. I remember he pretty much was benched early in the season when he had a 2 YPC. But when it's late in the season and in the playoffs, the guy just delivers every time.

It’s 2nd and 3rd down. They would use their final two timeouts before our 1st and 2nd downs. We’d run out the clock in victory formation on 2nd and 3rd.

Let’s not act like it hasn’t been done many times before on both the pro and collegiate levels. I remember Gurley doing it recently and pissing a lot of people off because he would’ve hit the over if he had scored.

For me, I liked the punctuation of the score at the end, but I also understand the rationale of never even letting your opponent touch it.