FRISCO, Texas — Like many NFL rookies, Sam Williams’ debut campaign with the Dallas Cowboys saw him impersonate a sponge to absorb all he could from coaches and veteran teammates to ease his transition to the league. Williams, 24, appeared in 15 games and finished with 22 tackles, four sacks, three fumble recoveries, and one forced fumble.
But his most important lesson happened off the field.
“I learned patience. When I first got here, I wanted everything to happen so fast. My coach always reminded me to enjoy the process,” Williams, who played at Ole Miss in 2020 and 2021, said.
“That’s one thing I failed to do my first year. Now, I’m learning in baby steps because we have a long time before the first game.”
He also credits former UM teammate Donterio Drummond, who signed with Dallas as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and spent last season on the Cowboys’ practice squad, for helping ease his transition. “You’re talking about a familiar face, a familiar voice to kick it with,” Williams said. “When I was new [here], I didn’t know a lot of people, but I knew him, so we hung out a lot.”
Of course, being a rookie carries with it certain responsibilities, but Williams’ rookie duties weren’t terribly taxing. His main rookie rite of passage was to buy meals for his fellow defensive linemen for the plane ride to Dallas’ next destination.
“We’re in a group chat and everybody will agree on something like [Raising] Cane’s,” he said. “They send what they want, and I go pick it up.”
“With the Cowboys, it’s a brotherhood. The older guys, they’re like big brothers. They wouldn’t make me do stuff they couldn’t do. I’d make sure the d-line room [was stocked]. Every plane trip, I’m carrying nine meals to the plane plus my bag and my stuff. It wasn’t bad.”
Another aspect of coming to Dallas which Williams has enjoyed is working with Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, Atlanta’s former head coach.
“He’s an honest guy. He’s all about the process, the winning, the culture, the standard,” Williams said. “I got to respect that because a coach that doesn’t let you slip, that’s one of those coaches you want to be around.”
Williams has taken every lesson learned as a rookie to heart and is now applying that knowledge to his first full offseason as a professional. Prior to the start of Organized Team Activities (OTAs) and minicamps in May, he settled into a nice routine, but still ventured out of his comfort zone.
“It [my offseason] was so boring. If you’re not spending money or working out, there’s nothing else to do,” he said. “I’d work out in the morning about eight o’clock, so I’m done by 11.”
“Some days I’d have my son and some days I didn’t but the days I didn’t, I didn’t know what to do. Then, I got into bowling. I’m averaging about 170 a game. I just started a month ago. Sometimes [I go with teammates] or by myself. If I just want to chill, I go by myself.”
However, bowling isn’t the only new activity he has embraced. At the behest of Cowboys defensive line coach Aden Durde, Williams also jumped into the ring.
“I also got into boxing. These hands are fixing to get certified,” he joked. “Coach AD, he put me on to one of his guys. [Boxing helps my] hands, hand quickness, reaction, hand-eye coordination, the way you move, the way you defend. It’s all going to help better my skills.”
As a second-round pick in the 2022 draft, Williams realizes that everyone-fans, media, and even his teammates, expect great things from him in 2023. However, the affable defensive end has already made a career of exceeding expectations at his previous stops.
In 2018, his second and final season at Northeast Mississippi Community College, he logged 75 tackles, a school-record 17 ½ sacks, 28 ½ tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. Williams then starred at Ole Miss for his final two seasons as a collegian, tying the single-season school record for sacks in 2021 with 10 ½.
“Yeah, mainly I look at those years [at Ole Miss] as some learning years. Did a lot of maturing,” Williams said. “Of course, I had my son [Sam Jr. while I was there]. Life in Mississippi was just a learning experience. Yeah, I do [have the Ole Miss sack record]. It’s cool but [now] I need a sack record for the Cowboys. I got one for Northeast [Mississippi CC]. I got one for Ole Miss. Now I got to get one for the Cowboys. Might as well [complete the trifecta].”
And like many professional athletes who are also fathers, Williams looks at his son, Sam Jr. or SJ, who is now three, and realizes how much becoming a dad has changed his life for the better.
“To be honest, [before I became a dad] everything was Sam first. Every decision I made, every dollar I spent, everything was about Sam [me],” he admitted. “When I had him, all my decisions were based on would this put my son in the position I just came from?”
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