OUTSIDE THE HUDDLE WITH TRAMON WILLIAMS
Each week, azcentral sports NFL writer Bob McManaman spotlights a member of the Cardinals for a series of on-the-spot, off-beat questions.
This week: Tramon Williams, cornerback Question: OK, so what can you tell me about your hometown of Houma, La.?
Answer: Hey, you pronounced it right. Good job, man.
Q: Thanks. Well, it’s little but it’s famous. I didn’t realize how many movies were shot there. Were you aware of that?
A: Oh yeah, a lot of stuff was filmed there.
Q: Can you name some of the movies? A: Not really, but I know there’s always something going on back there.
Q: Well I did a little research. Did you know parts of the "Skeleton Key" were shot there? Same with "The Apostle"? "Fight Club"? Did you know Houma was also the setting for the comic book "Swamp Thing?"
A: "Fight Club." "Swamp Thing." Yeah, crazy, huh?
Q: What was it like growing up there? A: It’s really country. I used to do a lot of fishing. Me and my dad. Every weekend from 5, 6 in the morning until 4 in the evening we were out there fishing.
Q: What were you pulling up?
A: Oh man, some bass, perch. We were pulling up a lot of stuff. You ever heard of choupique?
Q: No. Yuck. Does it taste like a shoe? A: (Laughs) No, no, no, no. It’s choupique. They love it out there. It’s one of them fish that’s kind of a seasonal fish. When it’s finally in season, people go crazy over it.
Q: You went to Assumption High School with Brandon Jacobs, the former Giants running back. Who’s had the better career?
A: Out of who?
Q: Between you and Brandon? He’s got a Super Bowl title, right?
A: He’s got two titles. I got one. But I got Pro Bowls, too. Nah, I think we’re right there.
Q: Were you buds?
A: Oh yeah, most definitely. We grew up together. We started playing football together probably at the age of 5 and we stuck together since that point. We’ve been close since then.
Q: You were a walk-on at Louisiana Tech? Why was that?
A: Well, we was in a little small part of town that not a lot of scouts come to. I mean, it wasn’t hard to find Brandon Jacobs, though. When you got a 6-4, 6-5, 245-pound back, that’s who they came to scout. I mean, we were very good, though. We were 13-1 and went to state.
Q: Well in 2007, you made it to the NFL and were a rookie with the Packers. That was Brett Favre’s final season in Green Bay. Can you give me a Brett Favre story that’s fit to print?
A: Well, Brett was a jokester pretty much most of the time. I can remember one time in practice he was running the ball – and he was running behind me – and I had my back turned so I didn’t know what was behind me. Well, he screams in my ear, "Ball coming down!" and then he runs on past me, laughing. I’m a rookie so for a guy like that to be joking with me, well, that was Brett.
Q: You won a Super Bowl with Aaron Rodgers. Which quarterback did you like the best?
A: Well, I spent more time with Aaron. … He would come out with a bunch of us and we would eat together. We would do a lot of things together as a team. I got a chance to do a lot of those things with Aaron and he’s always been that kind of a guy. It was kind of hard for Brett to get out back then. He was so well known, it was just hard for him to get out on the town. But he was a great teammate. The players he played with would do anything for him.
Q: How tough was it playing in Cleveland the past two years?
A: Oh man. … It was tough, man. But it was a learning experience. I didn’t like the taste of losing like that, but who does?