Williams ready to start after ‘terrible’ offseason
Vince Williams became the starter at inside linebacker in March when veteran Lawrence Timmons left the Steelers to sign as a free agent with the Miami Dolphins. Not that Williams was in a celebratory mood. The previous day the Steelers released his younger brother, Karlos, who was serving a 10game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abusepolicy.
All of that happened in the middle of rehabilitating his shoulder after postseason surgery for an injury that happened late in the regular season.
“It was kind of terrible,” Williams said of his offseason. “I had shoulder surgery. That was hard. That’s a difficult thing to overcome. And obviously, we had the offseason things … that was a little distracting. But I think I’m better for it.”
Other offseason “things” included the Steelers going hard after Patriots inside linebacker Dont’a Hightower in free agency. Hightower eventually re-signed with the Patriots for $35 million over four years, but the news was therefor everyone to see.
The public courting of a star player who plays the same position might have been disconcerting for some, but Williams said he took it all in stride.
“Do I notice it? You can’t not notice it,” Williams said. “You guys do a great job putting that stuff everywhere. But do I pay attention to it? No. No matter what happens you still have to come here, put your hand in the pile and contribute no matter what position you play and no matter what your role is. You can’t let it shake you or faze you.
“I’m humbled really, because we had opportunities to get some linebackers in free agency. We had an opportunity to draft a firstround linebacker, and we didn’t. It shows the organization has a lot of confidence in me, and that’s the first time I everfelt that way.”
Williams certainly didn’t feel that way in the spring of 2014. He started 13 games as a rookie in 2013 after veteran Larry Foote was injured early in the season. But when it came time to replace Foote on a permanent basis, the Steelers selected Ryan Shazier in the first round of the 2014 draft and immediately inserted him into the starting lineupahead of Williams.
Over the next three seasons, Williams dutifully served as a reserve and spot starter. He started just two more games over the next two seasons, but he showed the Steelers enough in that time that they signed him to a three-year, $5.5 million contract last summer when negotiations with Timmons on a long-term deal stalled.
What did Williams do to convince general manager Kevin Colbert and the coaches that he could handle the starting job on a full-time basisthis time around?
“I don’t really know,” he said. “I just knew I had to prepare myself and do everything I could so the next time the opportunity arose I’d be better for it, and I think I did.”
Williams knows he has big shoes to fill. Not only was Timmons a productive player for a decade, but he a;sp was reliable. He played in every game from 2010-16, a stringof 112 in a row.
“That’s a huge role to fill,” Williams said. “Because of Timmons’ quiet demeanor I don’t think he gets enough credit for being the leader he actually was. He’s the guy who is the definition of consistency.”
The Steelers rarely re-sign a player once he hits free agency. The writing was on the wall for Timmons in August 2016 that he was going to be playing his final season for the Steelers once they came to terms with Williams. And it was common knowledge Williams was the most likely replacement.
Williams, however, never viewed it from that perspective.
“Not at all,” he said. “When I signed my contract I just wanted to be a part of the Steelers organization for an extended period of time. That was really the only thing that was on my mind, how I can contribute and win a championship. Me and Kevin, we didn’t even talk about Lawrence’s contract or anything like that. That’s not the type of person I am. I don’t focus on anyone else. I just focus on myself and what I can do to contribute.”
Now the pressure gets ratcheted up another notch or two. Williams will be starting alongside Shazier on a team that finished last season one step short of the Super Bowl. And they will be counting on him to step in and be as productive as the former ProBowler.
“If you’re a professional football player, there is always going to be pressure on you no matter what,” he said. “It just depends on how you look at things. You can have pressure on you from a multitude of standpoints. I look forward to it. I embrace it.”