– Some say the collision sounded like a shotgun blast.
Marshall Faulk had made a nifty 15-yard run. But at the St. Louis 35, he collided with Roy Williams.
Faulk's body crumpled. The ball flew out. Dallas recovered.
Faulk wobbled to the sideline. Smelling salts jolted his senses.
Williams, the Cowboys' rookie safety, had arrived.
"When he first hit him, I thought Marshall was seriously hurt because of the way his leg buckled and the way he went backward and fell to the ground," linebacker Dexter Coakley said. "That was a nice hit. I've never seen anyone get a clean lick like that on Marshall because he's so fast and elusive."
Williams derives much of his explosion from his ample rear end and thighs. That's where he generates the power to uncoil like a cobra.
"He's very deceptive. When he hits somebody at close range, he just explodes into them," Woodson said. "A lot of safeties, myself included, can hit you hard, but a lot of times we generate that type of power by getting a 10-yard head start.
"Roy doesn't need a head start. He can do it in a 1-yard range. That takes someone special. When we have tackling drills at practice, I'm always counting the people in line, so I don't have to go with him."
Coakley said that's the skill that allowed Williams to TKO Faulk.
"When he gets you in a 5-yard area, you can't escape," Coakley said. "And there's no fighting for extra yardage. When Roy hits you, you stop going forward and fall backward."
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