The VIIIth
2/24/2006, 10:45 PM
"INDIANAPOLIS - Move over Walt Patulski and Tony Mandarich. You have a new member to the list of the biggest busts in NFL history. " Buffalo News
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060224/1071279.asp
And my personal favorite:
Bills writer-"everything handed to them in Austin"http://buffalobills.com/blog/?post_id=123
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Once again another good decision by the Bills new front office with the release of Mike Williams. I was in favor of this anticipated move since the middle of last season when I talked about how he simply wasn't worth the money and listed a number of reasons why.
I'll briefly review them.
1. His cap number was too high. He was going to count $10.8 million against the cap in 2006. Even if the Bills wanted to negotiate with Williams on a new much cheaper deal there would likely be problems. Do they offer him guard money or cheaper tackle money? If they offered him guard money, his agent likely would walk feeling he could probably get him tackle money somewhere else.
2. His reputation amongst teammates was headed downhill. The players didn't have a ton of respect for him because he had a low threshold for pain. The highest paid player on the team has a standard to live up to and that's gutting it out and being available every Sunday. I realize there are some injuries that you simply can't play with, but Trey Teague played with a pulled muscle similar to the one Williams had that forced him to miss the last six or seven games.
3. The most important reason was Williams simply didn't have a passion for football. There was no fire in his belly to develop his vast physical talents and become one of the best tackles in the game. His physical capabilities could have enabled him to do that if he dedicated himself to improving his techniques, but it simply was non-existent. I say this with firm conviction after watching him on a daily basis, at virtually every practice and every game since he arrived in Buffalo. He just never seemed into the game of football.
Now before anyone goes blaming the scouting staff, which didn't undergo any offseason changes, know that the Bills did everything in their power to investigate Williams before making him the number four pick in the draft. They even sent Jerry Gray (A Texas alum) down to Austin to beat the bushes for a week to try and dig up any dirt on Williams. He couldn't.
Unfortunately a growing trend with Texas Longhorns players is they're very well taken care of in Austin by the University and the community. Everything is handed to them. They get spoiled, and then when they get to the NFL where nothing is handed to you and you have to work for everything, they're suddenly ill prepared. At the same time they easily remember how good they had it in Austin and some... and I stress some don't want to work to get better or excel at the NFL level. The results are players like Mike Williams. There's concern in this year's draft that Texas DT Rodrique Wright will have the same kind of problem in the pros among other Longhorns. Again there are exceptions, but I think it'll be a long time before the Bills tap the University at Texas for an offensive or defensive lineman any time soon.
The bottom line is the Bills made the right decision. At this level a leopard doesn't change his spots. More importantly the Bills stand a good chance of getting two good linemen in free agency for the price it would have cost to keep Williams.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060224/1071279.asp
And my personal favorite:
Bills writer-"everything handed to them in Austin"http://buffalobills.com/blog/?post_id=123
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once again another good decision by the Bills new front office with the release of Mike Williams. I was in favor of this anticipated move since the middle of last season when I talked about how he simply wasn't worth the money and listed a number of reasons why.
I'll briefly review them.
1. His cap number was too high. He was going to count $10.8 million against the cap in 2006. Even if the Bills wanted to negotiate with Williams on a new much cheaper deal there would likely be problems. Do they offer him guard money or cheaper tackle money? If they offered him guard money, his agent likely would walk feeling he could probably get him tackle money somewhere else.
2. His reputation amongst teammates was headed downhill. The players didn't have a ton of respect for him because he had a low threshold for pain. The highest paid player on the team has a standard to live up to and that's gutting it out and being available every Sunday. I realize there are some injuries that you simply can't play with, but Trey Teague played with a pulled muscle similar to the one Williams had that forced him to miss the last six or seven games.
3. The most important reason was Williams simply didn't have a passion for football. There was no fire in his belly to develop his vast physical talents and become one of the best tackles in the game. His physical capabilities could have enabled him to do that if he dedicated himself to improving his techniques, but it simply was non-existent. I say this with firm conviction after watching him on a daily basis, at virtually every practice and every game since he arrived in Buffalo. He just never seemed into the game of football.
Now before anyone goes blaming the scouting staff, which didn't undergo any offseason changes, know that the Bills did everything in their power to investigate Williams before making him the number four pick in the draft. They even sent Jerry Gray (A Texas alum) down to Austin to beat the bushes for a week to try and dig up any dirt on Williams. He couldn't.
Unfortunately a growing trend with Texas Longhorns players is they're very well taken care of in Austin by the University and the community. Everything is handed to them. They get spoiled, and then when they get to the NFL where nothing is handed to you and you have to work for everything, they're suddenly ill prepared. At the same time they easily remember how good they had it in Austin and some... and I stress some don't want to work to get better or excel at the NFL level. The results are players like Mike Williams. There's concern in this year's draft that Texas DT Rodrique Wright will have the same kind of problem in the pros among other Longhorns. Again there are exceptions, but I think it'll be a long time before the Bills tap the University at Texas for an offensive or defensive lineman any time soon.
The bottom line is the Bills made the right decision. At this level a leopard doesn't change his spots. More importantly the Bills stand a good chance of getting two good linemen in free agency for the price it would have cost to keep Williams.