Dan Campbell believes Lions' WR Jameson Williams is more and more aware of the most important thing he needs to be aware of right now
There is no doubt that the Detroit Lions and their fans love receiver Jameson Williams as a player and as a man, but everyone, myself included, has to admit that there has been a lot of drama attached to Williams since the team took him 12th overall in the 2022 NFL Draft. The gambling suspension, […]
There is no doubt that the Detroit Lions and their fans love receiver Jameson Williams as a player and as a man, but everyone, myself included, has to admit that there has been a lot of drama attached to Williams since the team took him 12th overall in the 2022 NFL Draft.
The gambling suspension, the late nights in town, the performance enhancing substance suspension and now the business with the gun and the Detroit Police internal affairs investigation. That's just a lot and that's not mentioning a couple injuries.
Nobody wants this to happen and nobody really wants to say this out loud, but things like this can quickly kill an NFL career. We've seen first hand in Detroit how fast an NFL career can end with guys like Titus Young and Charles Rogers getting into things outside of football. Williams issues may not be the same as those guys, but the consequences could still match at the end of the day.
There's been a lot of talk about Williams from Lions' head coach Dan Campbell in the last few weeks, but one thing he said on Wednesday really stuck more than anything else. It was his response to the question about Williams knowing that stuff like this could potentially end his career early.
“I think he does. I think he’s become more and more aware of that over time, and I think he does." Campbell said. "Look, for me, I judge people over what’s in their heart and I know what this kid’s made of and he’s worth hanging with. So, he’s going to learn from this, he’s going to grow, he’ll be better for all of this.”
The second half of that quote is really great and it reaffirms that the Lions plan to stick with Williams through thick and thin for now, but it's the first part of the quote that means more than anything.
That part affirms that Williams is aware that what's happening with him and around him could potentially cause the demise of his career. It might sound dumb, but G.I. Joe wasn't wrong when they said "knowing is half the battle."
There's been a lot of athletes in my lifetime that just didn't wise up to what was going on and they didn't take the time to just know they were killing their career. It seems like Williams not only knows what's up, he's becoming more and more aware of it.
Now it's on him, not the coaches the team or the media, to go out there and make sure his life is in order and that he doesn't blow this big opportunity. From what I've seen, I fully expect that he gets on the right track and we all look back at this as early career stuff that doesn't matter anymore.