“I’m Not A Quitter”
April 24th, 2010
The big issue with talented Bucs fourth round pick, receiver Mike Williams, is that he quit on his team last fall.
Williams is irritated with this label, writes The Mad Twitterer of the St. Petersburg Times. Williams contends that he did not quit on his team, that his absence for the final three games of the Syracuse season was a “miscommunication.”
Torrey Ball, Antwon Bailey, Andrew Tiller and Williams were in a Ford SUV that was rear-ended by a tractor trailer at 5:30 a.m.
No alcohol was involved and the truck driver was charged in the accident. Ball, Bailey and Tiller were suspended but Williams left the team.
“Oh, yeah, it bothers me a lot,” Williams said Saturday. “Because if anybody knows me, even coach Marrone would tell you I’m not a quitter. If anybody knows me, they know I don’t quit anything. If I was a quitter, when I got suspended because of my grades, I would’ve quit Syracuse then. When I got suspended for that game for my paper, I would’ve quit Syracuse then. I was never a quitter. I never, ever did that. That’s not my style. Tampa Bay will see that. They’ll see I’m going to go out there and fight hard for everything I do, everything I get. It does kind of get to me when people say I’m a quitter because that’s not a word that I even use.”
Joe’s not trying to bag on the kid. Not at all, but BS is BS.
If a player did not play the final three games of the season that means one of three things happened: He was either injured, he was told by someone with the school or team he couldn’t play or he chose not to play, meaning he quit.
Williams by all accounts was healthy. That means he was either thrown off the team or he quit. There’s really no gray area here. You don’t miss three games because of a “miscommunication.” Come on.
Look, Joe hopes this guy Williams is a future Hall of Fame receiver. But trying to con people like this isn’t the way to try to clean or polish your image or endear yourself to your new fanbase. If you made a mistake (which Williams told Dominik he did), you made a mistake. We’re all human. We all make mistakes (Joe drinking a non-Caybrew product last night was just such a mistake),
Either man up or don’t talk about it.
April 24th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Agreed, but he only talked about it because he was asked. He’s looking for a clean slate and start. I’m willing to give it to him. At least he isn’t beating up girlfriends or punching cabbies.
April 24th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Ohhhhh this kid sounds like he has a chip on his shoulder – I LIKE IT!
Don’t let him spend too much time around Michael, money in the bank, Clayhands….
April 24th, 2010 at 3:46 pm
Hey Bucs draft Blount – Talib needs a workout partner.
April 24th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
It’s pretty clear he left the team rather than be suspended.
April 24th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
All the cabbies in Tampa are thinking, “Please don’t draft Blount; Talib is enough”
April 24th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
Are you kidding,Blount’s a big boy.Cabbies won’t even stop.
Two picks into the 7th and no Blount.
Now we,re on a LB kick.
April 24th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
What the hell happened to all the 7th round picks?
April 24th, 2010 at 6:15 pm
In his defense , the story I heard was that he knew he was going to be suspended for the rest of the season anyhow …so he quit , because it meant the same thing essentially.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWnTiF-qekg
April 24th, 2010 at 7:46 pm
here is troy nunes’ take on mike williams:
“He might just be one of the worst decision-makers in the draft. For all of his talents, there’s a humongous red flag positioned over his head right now. Quitting the team after his multiple violations was just the latest in a string of immature decisions Williams has made and it has to reflect poorly with NFL scouts. Throw in that he was caught cheating, that he’s prone to violating rules and takes to public forums to vent his frustration and you’ve got a mix that makes NFL teams very nervous.
It’s all going to come down to his interviews and his demeanor during workouts. If Williams can prove to teams that he’s not a malcontent, he’s still got a shot at the 2nd round. If he doesn’t make anyone feel comfortable enough to risk it, he’s looking at 3rd or even 4th round. Williams cost himself a lot of money when he quit on the Orange in the middle of the season, we’ll find out just how much on draft day.”
April 24th, 2010 at 10:26 pm
If he had not quit he would not have fell to us in the draft and some other teams fans would be talking about him. I sure hope he has grow up a little and we’re all happy for years to come.
April 25th, 2010 at 6:33 am
It doesn’t look good. His suspension would likely be longer than his teamates due to his previous suspensions. Its plausable that he believed he would be suspended the remainder of the season. If he planed for that to be his final season he may have seen a suspension as kicking him off the team.
April 25th, 2010 at 9:03 am
It may give rival defensive backs some ammo for trash talking, saying he is a quitter and all. But hopefully it will provide him with motivation to prove everyone wrong. He certainly seems to have considerable talent.