Running into glory
Williams shines on NFL’s biggest stage, scores two late TDs to seal Chiefs’ victory in Super Bowl
MIAMI GARDENS — Damien Williams openly talked about bottling up all the pain, anger and emotion he’d experienced in life and then unleashing during Sunday’s game at Hard Rock Stadium, the venue he called home for his first four NFL seasons.
The Kansas City Chiefs tailback, who spent his first four seasons in the NFL playing for the Miami Dolphins, did just that during Sunday’s 31-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.
Williams has always had a habit of making the first defender miss.
Whether it was a pass caught on an outlet pass, or a rushing attempt between the tackles the Kansas City Chiefs’ starting tailback had a way of skirting out of tackles.
That ability was on full display during Sunday’s big game as Williams made a couple of big plays that determined the outcome.
Williams, who joined the Chiefs after the Dolphins decided not to make him an offer as a free agent two years ago, scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
His first score came on a 5-yard touchdown catch, proving the Chiefs a 24-20 lead, which closed a 20-10 third-quarter deficit.
And on Kansas City’s very next series, which followed a three-and-out from the 49ers, Williams bounced a run outside to the left, made a Chiefs defender miss, and sprinted 38-yards along the sideline for the game’s final score.
Williams had spent all week talking about his South Florida homecoming, and his desire to show the Dolphins fan base, his University of Oklahoma supporters and the Chiefs coaches and fan base how much he’d grown up.
He did just that with his two-touchdown performance, finishing the game with 104 rushing yards on 17 carries, and catching four passes for 29 yards.
Williams was an intricate part of the Chiefs’ scheme all season. Whether it was getting out of the backfield for a dump-off pass and making the first defender miss, helping set up protection for quarterback Patrick Mahomes, or grinding out tough yardage on the ground.
While Williams has spent the past two seasons becoming a major contributor on a title contender, understand that the 27 year old credits the four seasons he spent with the Dolphins for helping him get there.
It was his journey in Miami — on and off the field — that pushed Williams to become more of a professional. And it was the disappointment he experienced when the Dolphins discarded him — opting to replace him with Frank Gore — that encouraged him to get serious about that journey.
“At the end of the day it hurt,” Williams said when asked about not being offered a contract from the Dolphins. “I take those days and put them in a box and moving forward, kept playing hard. Sometimes I open that box up.”
That would be his moment to show the world — South Florida included — how far he’s come.
Let Williams tell it, he was immature and easily distracted during his Dolphins days.
“Everything is timing. It wasn’t my time,” said Williams, who rushed for a career-high 498 yards and scored seven touchdowns in the 11 regular-season games he played this season. “I was just here playing football. Being a young kid, and [leaving Miami forced me] to grow up a little bit.”
Williams said the Dolphins moving on form him, and going to Kansas City forced him to get serious about his career, and maximizing his ability. That was on full display during the Super Bowl considering the Chiefs made former Pro Bowl tailback LeSean McCoy inactive for the game, and the only player who carried the ball more than once was Mahomes.
“Damien has matured over the past two years tremendously. First of all, his knowledge of the game has grown. He has a unique skill set. He’s been blessed with a tremendous amount of speed, and great vision,” Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy said this past week. “The thing I love about him is he’s a tremendous football player who happens to play the running back position. The guy can catch. He can run it and he can block.”