http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/news.cfm?id=3ABC7B31-F1E2-3F7C-7CBA562281704A71
IRVING, Texas - He came to Dallas thinking he would be the other guy, at least for a while.
And not only the other receiver, but even the other Roy Williams, too.
That lasted only 10 games. Now, Williams is not only the only Roy on the team, but he's the No. 1 wide receiver as well. While there were several reasons for the big roster move earlier this month, even Cowboys owner Jerry Jones stated that having Williams in the fold, along with a host of other younger receivers, made it easier to part ways with one Terrell Owens, which occurred on the same day the club waived the safety Roy Williams, too.
Just like that, arriving here to be just another piece in the Cowboys' puzzle, receiver Roy Williams is now front and center.
That's his new role, like it or not. But a good thing for Roy and the Cowboys, he likes it.
"Of course you want to be the guy," Williams said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. "I'm a football player. I love to play this game. I love to play it at a high level. This isn't the most important job on earth or anything, but it's my job. There are only 1,686 football players in the NFL. It's a privilege to be playing in this league. So I'm not going to take it for granted."
And Williams said he finds it rather humorous when he hears critics doubting he can indeed replace Owens as the Cowboys' No.1 receiver.
"I'm not sure why I can't do it all of a sudden," Williams said facetiously. "I (was the No. 1 receiver) at Texas. I did it in Detroit, although no really saw me all the time. And now I'm here in Dallas. Every time I've come to Texas Stadium, I came in there and had big games. So now I'm not sure all of a sudden why people don't think I can do it here with the Cowboys. I know what I can do.
"It's just funny to me. I look forward to hearing people say 'I'm sorry for saying that he couldn't.' That's what I want to hear."
And that's why Williams is heavily involved in the Cowboys' off-season workouts for the last month, which include passing sessions with quarterback Tony Romo and now newly-acquired Jon Kitna, a teammate of Williams in Detroit.
"I think he gets in (Wednesday) or so, or sometime this week," Williams said Tuesday. "Yeah, I can't wait for that. Me and Jon, he can throw it to me wherever I am. He knows where to put it and I know the ball is going to be there. That's where every quarterback-receiver duo needs to get to."
That being said, Williams, like Kitna, is fully aware of the situation. He knows Romo is the Cowboys' starting quarterback and he understands that getting on the same page as No. 9 is his biggest off-season priority.
"It's going to be very important. We had a safety net with T.O.," Williams said. "Romo and T.O. had some good chemistry together. But he's not here anymore. So now, we're trying to work on the chemistry. And if I'm going to be the No. 1 guy, you have to have chemistry with your quarterback."
Williams also knows just because he's working with the quarterback all summer doesn't ensure the offense will be clicking right off the bat.
"Oh yeah. It takes time. We may not even have it in the off-season," said Williams. "It could be all the way through training camp before we really get it all down."
But it doesn't sound as if Williams is too concerned about meshing with Romo, or even reuniting with Kitna.
What does have Williams somewhat disturbed is the foot injury that bothered him all last season. Williams didn't miss a game last year after being traded from Lions, but he did say the Lisfranc injury (a fracture of the midfoot) still lingers a little - more in his mind than physically.
"I'm pretty healthy. I'm running around with the other guys," Williams said. "I haven't cut yet. I'm just running straight. I'm kind of scared a little bit to cut."
However, Williams said he believes that's just natural.
"Oh yeah, anyone who is coming off an injury, would be scared to do something you haven't done in a while," he said. "If you have ankle surgery, you're going to be scared to cut for a while, until the first time you do it, and then you say, 'OK, it's fine.'"
Clearly, the Cowboys as an organization aren't too concerned that Williams will return to full strength.
That was evident in the decision to release Owens earlier this month, a move that shocked several players, including Williams, who admitted he was "a little disappointed" in not only seeing T.O. cut, but signing with the Bills.
"I was very surprised. I felt we could be that 1-2 duo," Williams said. "I thought we were going to be able to work on things in the off-season. But that's not the case. He's going up to Buffalo now and he's going to have a pretty good duo with Lee Evans. He's a pretty good receiver, too. I'm probably going to look at how they do up there and figure we could've done the same up there."
With that 1-2 punch in mind, Williams added that he wouldn't mind seeing the Cowboys take a chance at another established veteran, such as Marvin Harrison or even Torry Holt.
In fact, Williams was a teammate in Detroit of safety Terrence Holt, the younger brother of the former Rams All-Pro receiver and has
"I played with Torry's brother and I called him and asked him if he would come to Dallas," Williams said. "I certainly wouldn't mind playing with one of those two Hall-of-Famers."
But don't mistake Williams' welcoming of players such as Holt or Harrison as a lack of confidence for the younger Cowboys receivers such as Patrick Crayton, Miles Austin, Sam Hurd or Isaiah Stanback.
Williams knows the Cowboys will need those players to perform at a high level.
"No question about it. I know what these guys can do," said Williams, who signed a five-year, $45 million extension after his trade last October. "(Crayton) has shown what he can do opposite of T.O. as the No. 2 receiver. Now it's time for Miles to step up and be the guy. It's going to be a good competition. In fact, I don't even know if you can call myself the No. 1 guy. I'm going to have to come in and work for it."
Whether he calls himself that or not, the Cowboys are certainly banking on him, both literally and figuratively, to be that guy.
