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BY RICK GOSSELIN • DALLAS MORNING NEWS • September 24, 2008
ALLEN PARK — Ask Roy Williams about his losses in high school at Odessa Permain, Texas, and he can remember each and every one. There were 19 in four years.
Ask Williams about his losses in college at Texas and he can remember each and every one. There were 10 in four years. He can even offer up details.
But ask Williams about his losses the last five years with the Detroit Lions and his memory becomes a blur.
“I started counting them up last off-season,” Williams said, “but I lost track.”
Easy to see why. The Lions have played 67 games since drafting Williams and have lost 46 of them, including all three this season.
“Losing has always bothered me, here or anywhere else,” Williams said. “I went to the Pro Bowl two years ago, and to see those other guys — winners, guys who went to the playoffs — to see their faces. . . . They’re excited. I’m 3-13 and I’m feeling out of place. I’d just like to win one year just to see what it feels like.”
Williams may get that chance in 2009. He’s finishing up his five-year rookie contract and could be eligible for free agency this off-season.
“Everybody would like to stay where they are drafted,” Williams said. “But at the same time, everybody would like to go back home as they get older. My home is Texas.”
Talk radio has been crackling with his name as a potential addition for the Cowboys to give them a younger, deeper, more talented corps of wide receivers. Williams knows there’s a yearning for him back home.
“My brother keeps me informed,” said Williams of Lloyd Hill, a former NCAA receiving champion at Texas Tech who lives in Grand Prairie.
But there’s no guarantee that Williams will leave Detroit in 2009, even though the two sides are not talking contract at this point. It’s not that the talks have broken off. They never started.
“They say this organization waits until the last minute,” Williams said. “It doesn’t bother me. I really don’t care. If I’m here, they’re going to pay me. If not, I’ll be somewhere else.”
The Lions can prevent Williams from leaving by slapping a franchise tag on him. That would guarantee him a one-year contract at an average salary of the five highest-paid wide receivers in the NFL.
But the Lions also could send him packing early. If the losses continue to mount, the NFL trade deadline looms on Oct. 14. A team suddenly building for the future such as the Lions may be swayed by a premium draft pick or two.
“It’s always in the back of my mind,” Williams said. “What’s going to happen? Am I going to get franchised? Are they going to pay me, or am I going to end up somewhere else? Or are they going to trade me in the middle of the season like Chris Chambers last year?”
Williams is a proven commodity. He caught 82 passes for 1,310 yards and seven touchdowns in his Pro Bowl season in 2006, then lit up Philadelphia for a nine-catch, 204-yard game in 2007. But a knee injury last December cost him the chance for back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. He spent the final four games on injured reserve.
Williams is only 26 with plenty of quality football years left in his body. He could see himself spending those years in Detroit.
“When I got drafted, the first thing I said was I want to be the one who turns this franchise around,” Williams said. “So far that hasn’t happened. But that’s still my goal, to turn this place around.”
But Williams may need a little help. The Lions, who have a bye this week, are one of six NFL franchises that have never been to a Super Bowl.
“I think this place is cursed,” Williams said. “I asked our chaplain if he knew anyone who could christen Ford Field to get it right for us.”
ALLEN PARK — Ask Roy Williams about his losses in high school at Odessa Permain, Texas, and he can remember each and every one. There were 19 in four years.
Ask Williams about his losses in college at Texas and he can remember each and every one. There were 10 in four years. He can even offer up details.
But ask Williams about his losses the last five years with the Detroit Lions and his memory becomes a blur.
“I started counting them up last off-season,” Williams said, “but I lost track.”
Easy to see why. The Lions have played 67 games since drafting Williams and have lost 46 of them, including all three this season.
“Losing has always bothered me, here or anywhere else,” Williams said. “I went to the Pro Bowl two years ago, and to see those other guys — winners, guys who went to the playoffs — to see their faces. . . . They’re excited. I’m 3-13 and I’m feeling out of place. I’d just like to win one year just to see what it feels like.”
Williams may get that chance in 2009. He’s finishing up his five-year rookie contract and could be eligible for free agency this off-season.
“Everybody would like to stay where they are drafted,” Williams said. “But at the same time, everybody would like to go back home as they get older. My home is Texas.”
Talk radio has been crackling with his name as a potential addition for the Cowboys to give them a younger, deeper, more talented corps of wide receivers. Williams knows there’s a yearning for him back home.
“My brother keeps me informed,” said Williams of Lloyd Hill, a former NCAA receiving champion at Texas Tech who lives in Grand Prairie.
But there’s no guarantee that Williams will leave Detroit in 2009, even though the two sides are not talking contract at this point. It’s not that the talks have broken off. They never started.
“They say this organization waits until the last minute,” Williams said. “It doesn’t bother me. I really don’t care. If I’m here, they’re going to pay me. If not, I’ll be somewhere else.”
The Lions can prevent Williams from leaving by slapping a franchise tag on him. That would guarantee him a one-year contract at an average salary of the five highest-paid wide receivers in the NFL.
But the Lions also could send him packing early. If the losses continue to mount, the NFL trade deadline looms on Oct. 14. A team suddenly building for the future such as the Lions may be swayed by a premium draft pick or two.
“It’s always in the back of my mind,” Williams said. “What’s going to happen? Am I going to get franchised? Are they going to pay me, or am I going to end up somewhere else? Or are they going to trade me in the middle of the season like Chris Chambers last year?”
Williams is a proven commodity. He caught 82 passes for 1,310 yards and seven touchdowns in his Pro Bowl season in 2006, then lit up Philadelphia for a nine-catch, 204-yard game in 2007. But a knee injury last December cost him the chance for back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. He spent the final four games on injured reserve.
Williams is only 26 with plenty of quality football years left in his body. He could see himself spending those years in Detroit.
“When I got drafted, the first thing I said was I want to be the one who turns this franchise around,” Williams said. “So far that hasn’t happened. But that’s still my goal, to turn this place around.”
But Williams may need a little help. The Lions, who have a bye this week, are one of six NFL franchises that have never been to a Super Bowl.
“I think this place is cursed,” Williams said. “I asked our chaplain if he knew anyone who could christen Ford Field to get it right for us.”
