Funny NFL Films Reference to "The Big E"- Erik Williams...

[Juke99]

My favorite offensive lineman of all time...prototypical of what you want both in size and attitude..

His battles with Reggie White were awesome also

[rw54]

Big E also perfected the head butt. Nobody wanted to get close to him because he would square his shoulders and launch his head at the DE's head. Michael Irvin said he was the best player in the entire NFL. I can't imagine what a line of LA in his prime and Big E before the accident would have been like. Throw in Nate Newton and no line in the history of the NFL has ever had that much talent.

[Vertigo_17]

EW is the definition of a true warrior...laid it all on the line.

[Manster68]

As much as I am cheering for Rob Petitti's success, I sure wouldn't mind a 1992 version of Erik Williams right about now.

I know that is not possible though.

[Mansta54]

I love reading all the stories about Big E. He's my favorite Cowboy linemen ever and he and Irvin are my 2 ALL TIME favorite Cowboys, oh yeah, along with Dorsett.....

[The Curly One]

Eric Williams was the most dominant lineman I have ever seen. I remember seeing him club one guy down face first in the ground and go after another guy right behind him. He was evil and had no mercy. He manhandled and dominated every player every play right up until his car crash. He was never the same after that. Do not even mention Eric Williams and Larry Allen in the same breath they are not even close to the same and never have been.
I loved how Eric Williams got pissed off if anyone hit Troy Aikman and would literally go after them every play after that. You did not mess with his QB.
Big E was the best I have ever seen, right now nobody would even take Larry Allen and there is not one single team he would start for other than the Cowboys who have one of the worst lines in the league. Does that tell you anything? Four years ago the best we could get for LA was a 4th round pick and his stock is still dropping.
I really can not think of one single offensive lineman that dominated like Eric Williams. There have been many good solid players that protected the QB but none that I know of that beat the crap out of the opponents like that. Curly

[tyke1doe]

Originally Posted by Mansta54

I love reading all the stories about Big E. He's my favorite Cowboy linemen ever and he and Irvin are my 2 ALL TIME favorite Cowboys, oh yeah, along with Dorsett.....

I find your favorite Cowboys interesting, considering you've chosen another Cowboy great as your Internet handle. Or am I wrong?

[Manster68]

Originally Posted by tyke1doe

I find your favorite Cowboys interesting, considering you've chosen another Cowboy great as your Internet handle. Or am I wrong?

I know you were referring to the other Manster, but there have been so many great players on this team over the decades that there are probably many favorites.

Big E was one of my favorites also. If it wasn't for his accident, he would have been a Hall of Famer. That was his own fault though.

Come to think of it, I am surprised that Jerry Jones didn't try to take back some of Big E's salary after the accident. You know, the same way the Browns took back some of Kellen Winslow's.

Both accidents were due to negligence, right? Am I wrong?

[Jon88]

Originally Posted by Manster68

I know you were referring to the other Manster, but there have been so many great players on this team over the decades that there are probably many favorites.

Big E was one of my favorites also. If it wasn't for his accident, he would have been a Hall of Famer. That was his own fault though.

Come to think of it, I am surprised that Jerry Jones didn't try to take back some of Big E's salary after the accident. You know, the same way the Browns took back some of Kellen Winslow's.

Both accidents were due to negligence, right? Am I wrong?

So Big E was leaving a club drunk and then got into the accident? If so he definitely should've had his pay cut.

[Fmart322]

This was a great thread to read. Thanks.

[WoodysGirl]

Packers don't appreciate Cowboys' dirty tactics

By Mike Vandermause
Packer Plus Editor

January 17, 1996

Irving, Texas -- John Jurkovic's season officially ended late in the second quarter of Sunday's NFC Championship Game.

Jurkovic was flattened by a vicious block to the back of his left knee by Dallas Cowboys offensive tackle Erik Williams. The impact of Williams' 330-pound body snapped Jurkovic's medial collateral ligament and left the Packer nose guard writhing in pain on the Texas Stadium turf.

Jurkovic gamely walked off the field, but not before giving Williams a piece of his mind.

"I cussed at him. I swore at him. I tried to throw a water bottle at him," said Jurkovic. "I was outraged at the time."

Jurkovic had calmed down considerably in the Packer locker room after the game. But he was sporting a brace on his knee and said he wouldn't soon forget the questionable block by Williams.

"Things in football tend to even out," said Jurkovic. "Maybe one day hell get his."

Williams claimed his block on Jurkovic didn't break any rules. "It was a legal block," said the Dallas lineman. "It was a cut block. There are blocks like that every week. It was just unfortunate that he got injured on that play. I never intended for him to get hurt. I'm not like that."

Several Packers beg to differ.

"Since hes been injured, that's the way he plays now," Jurkovic said of Williams. "He puts his hands in peoples faces all the time. He cuts people from behind."

Packer center Frank Winters said of Williams' block: "Thats downright dirty. Thats bull(----). Thats dirty football right there. I have no respect for that guy at all for doing something like that."

Packer defensive end Reggie White had to put up with Williams' hands in his face most of the game. White was livid after the game when he heard that Williams called his block on Jurkovic legal.

"Reggie was pretty mad about the play, but hey, it's football," said Williams. "Every time a defensive lineman gets cut blocked, they think it's a dirty block. That's not true."

Several Packers believe the NFL has a double standard, both in its rules and in the kid glove treatment received by the Cowboys.

"The NFL calls that kind of thing legal," said Jurkovic. "You touch the quarterback in the head, they fine you a million bucks. A guy cuts a man and he injures his knee, thats all fun and games in the NFL."

Added Winters: "It's a play that shouldnt happen. Jurko wasnt even near the play and (Williams) goes out and does something like that. They can say all they want. Thats just the way they play. And they get away with it because theyre the Cowboys, and the refs let 'em get away with it and you cant do nothing about it."

Said wide receiver Anthony Morgan: "What Erik Williams did, I mean, that's not football. You're messing with someone's career. If you've got to do that to win a football game, you can go ahead and win as many games as you want to because I don't want anybody jeopardizing my career. For the referees not to see that, that's really bad."

The Packers repeatedly complained to officials, but to no avail. Cowboys offensive line coach Hudson Houck had a bit of advice for the Packers. "They ought to play football instead of arguing all the time," he said.

Defensive end Sean Jones admitted the Packers lost their composure for a while after Jurkovic's injury.

"That's the worst thing you can do is start screaming and yelling, screaming at the officials to get a call," said Jones. "You're taking yourself out of the game."

Jones said the Packers missed a few defensive signals because they were so worked up. "That's not playing the way we should have played," Jones said. "It's not our style of play. We just got caught."

LeRoy Butler conceded the Packers let their anger get the best of them for a little while. "Sometimes you can't concentrate and can't play as hard when you're upset," Butler said.

Williams wasn't the only Cowboy the Packers had a beef with. Winters and Leon Lett got into several scrapes during the game. Lett was flagged for a 15-yard penalty after he slapped Winters in the head after a fourth-quarter play.

"Hes complaining because we kept on blocking and getting after his (---)," said Winters of Lett. "He dont like to be blocked. I told him all game, 'This is football. Thats the way it's going to be. If you dont like it, you might as well get out of the game.' "

Winters said there was a big difference between the way the two teams blocked. "From the first snap to the last, we did it legal," said Winters. "We didnt do it like they did. We didnt cheap shot or chop block or anything like that."

Winters was reminded that he was flagged for a 15-yard late-hit penalty on Chad Hennings in the third quarter.

"The whistle didnt blow and he was standing by the pile," explained Winters. "If theres a guy standing by the pile, I'm going to hit him."

The Packer center maintained that Dallas players receive preferential treatment. "The Cowboys get away with (stuff) that nobody else gets away with in the NFL," he said.

Morgan said the NFL double standard has gotten out of hand.

"They want to fine somebody $50,000 for having their socks down," Morgan said. "When you see a cheap shot like that and you don't fine nobody? I think the NFL is a joke. I really do. The NFL is a joke to me. For them to go out there and try to jeopardize somebody's career, but worrying about somebody's pants being too long, you're worrying about your image. That's not football."

http://www.jsonline.com/packer/arc/0117/rev/cheap.html

[WoodysGirl]

'What happens out there is not nice'

By Ira Miller
SportsLine USA Pro Football Writer
January 24, 1996


This is a story about something that's big. Real big.

The Dallas Cowboys' offensive linemen.

You might have heard about them recently.


They have been in the news ever since the NFC Championship game, when Erik Williams' block from behind tore the knee of Green Bay's John Jurkovic and helped turn the game in the Cowboys' favor.

You might have been hearing about how Williams, in the same game, repeatedly clawed Reggie White in the face and never got called for a penalty.


YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN wondering what's going on here.



Let's face it. Football is not a game for the squeamish.

In every NFL locker room hangs a wall poster that shows and explains the legal way to hit an opponent. Some people call it the "Cecil poster" because Chuck Cecil, a veteran NFL safety, has been fined so many times for illegal hits.

With classic simplicity, Cecil once observed, "What happens out there is not nice."

When it happens with guys who, by themselves, could fill up a small country, it is even less nice.

"You could end someone's career doing that," Steelers nose guard Joel Steed said. "If they go after your knees or get a hand in the face, you've got to do the same thing. It's an intimidation thing."


DALLAS' LINEMEN CAN INTIMIDATE, that's for certain.

Thirteen years ago, the Washington Redskins rose to the top of the NFL behind an offensive line nicknamed the Hogs, beginning a long string of Super Bowl domination by big, powerful NFC teams.

Those Hogs averaged 258 pounds a man. The Cowboys' linemen outweigh those chaps by more than 65 pounds a man.

"If the Redskins were the Hogs, what on earth are these guys?" asked Randy Cross, broadcaster and retired San Francisco offensive lineman who was taking in the scene the other day.

No one outside the Dallas organization knows what the Cowboys' linemen really weigh. Their listed weights average 323. But the weight of linemen in the NFL is a little like a woman's age, artificially reported low for vanity's sake.


CROSS PLAYED IN THE Pro Bowl three times, though he never approached 300 pounds. He played on a 49ers' team that prizes undersized, nimble linemen. What Dallas has are oversized, nimble linemen.

"The happiest guy on that team is (left guard) Nate Newton because he is the smallest offensive lineman they've got," Cross said. "He's probably 330 pounds, and he's a piker."

Said Newton, (photo) "Weight is not the issue. What's the issue is you're dealing with athletes. You're dealing with a lot of guys that happen to have big parents that produce big kids, and they can dance, they got good feet, they know how to get great leverage.

"The coach teaches the proper technique. A lot of people have 300-pound linemen. They just don't make as big an issue because their line is not as athletic as ours."

Yeah, Cross says.


YEAH, IT'S NOT THE weight. And the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue is all about fashion.

"I think people underestimate the athletic ability of most sumo wrestlers, too," Cross said, "but I don't think they're much of a threat in the high jump or long jump."

Whatever the case, Dallas throws its weight around pretty well. The Cowboys have not only the league's biggest line but its also the best. The Cowboys wear opponents down by beating on them. Emmitt Smith tends to get more yardage as the game wears on because defenders get tired from the pounding they take. In the fourth quarter of the NFC championship game, Smith scored two touchdowns and averaged 8.3 yards a carry.

In general, the Cowboys' big linemen -- tackles Erik Williams and Mark Tuinei, (photo) guards Newton and Larry Allen, center Derek Kennard (photo) -- give Smith plenty of running room and Troy Aikman plenty of time to throw.

But lately, the Cowboys are getting as well as giving. What they're getting is plenty of criticism ever since television replays repeatedly showed Williams in the NFC championship game.

"We play on the edge," Newton admitted. "We do shove sometimes extra. We do play hard. We do play physical."


OF COURSE, THEY DO. Dallas relies on basic, in-your-face kind of stuff. Newton says the Cowboys have "a very simple offense" because they rely much more on knocking people down than faking them out.

Newton and Williams are Dallas' best-known linemen. Newton because he is popular and accommodating with the media. (Newton says of himself, "I'm the glue. I keep this ship going.")

Williams because at one time he was considered the NFL's best lineman. That was before he drove his car into a retaining wall at high speed midway through the 1994 season, nearly killing himself. He still hasn't made it all the way back.

Perhaps more than the others, Williams also sets the tempo for the Cowboys' linemen with his nasty streak, as he demonstrated against Green Bay. In the first game he played after his accident, an exhibition against Houston last summer, he belted an Oilers' lineman across the back of the neck with a hard forearm.

"That's how I play," Williams said. "I have to play like that. I couldn't play any other way. I have to be aggressive."

Pittsburgh players say Williams has turned more to borderline tactics to compensate for what he has lost since the accident.


IT'S A LITTLE REMARKABLE the Cowboys' line has maintained its strength as long as it has because of all the players the unit has lost the past couple years.

In the three years since the Cowboys won their first Super Bowl, they lost offensive linemen Mark Stepnoski, Kevin Gogan and John Gesek to free agency. In November, center Ray Donaldson, who replaced Stepnoski, was lost for the season because of a broken ankle.

Kennard, a 350-plus pounder whose most notable asset is a huge rear end, replaced Donaldson and is considered the weakest of the Cowboys' linemen. His role in the Super Bowl is significant because he'll be asked to block Steed, a 300-pounder, one-on-one. The more often Kennard can do that, the more successful the Cowboys will be.

In fact, Dallas' favorite running play depends greatly on the ability of the Cowboys' linemen to execute one-on-one blocks. Smith might run this play, the lead draw, as many as 10 times a game, especially against a 3-4 defense.

With only three linemen, the 3-4 suffers even a greater size disadvantage against the Cowboys' line than the 4-3, which most teams now play.
On the lead draw, everyone in front of Smith simply blocks the nearest defensive player, and Smith looks for the hole. It usually is there.

"The lead draw is nothing but raw power coming at you," Newton said, "and that's basically what it is -- one-on-one blocking and seeing who's the best man."

Usually, the Cowboys win those battles, and that's why they usually win their games. In this case, bigger really is better.

http://ww1.sportsline.com/b/page/pre...lleri12496.htm

[Cbz40]

Thanks for the memories....WG

[WoodysGirl]

Originally Posted by Cbz40

Thanks for the memories....WG

anytime.

I was actually researching articles on his accident and found those instead. Thought they were perfect for this thread.

[Fmart322]

WG, thank's for putting the pic up for me.
What good is a thread about Erik Williams with his pretty face.