| Texas ORT Mike Williams has been projected to be drafted as high as
former teammate Leonard Davis, who was selected by the Arizona Cardinals with the second
overall pick last year. During an interview at the NFL Scouting Combine, Williams
discussed why he does not read into draft projections, the sacks he allowed against Kansas
and how he transforms into the Incredible Hulk on game day. Q: Can you discuss the
report that doctors found something wrong with your knee (at the combine)?
A: Really, I think that is a lot of speculation. I have never had any problem. When I
hurt it in September, I went back into the game. They are getting freaked or whatnot, but
I have never had any problems with it. It’s not even the ligament. What I was told is
that it is hyperextended and from then on, it doesn’t even bother me. It’s not
even an issue. I have taken MRI’s yesterday. I had people pull on it, check it out
and I’m just like, ‘My knee feels fine to me.’ They asked me if it buckles.
I said, ‘No, I don’t know what you are talking about.’ My knee’s fine,
but I guess when you are investing in somebody, you want to know every detail. So I
don’t mind.
Q: Do you think they are being overly cautious?
A: I expect them to be overly cautious. You know, you don’t want to invest that
much money in a player and then he comes in and his ligament is messed up. I just told
them I have never had any problems with it. I played basketball on it and it has been
fine.
Q: So we’re not looking at another Shaun Rogers?
A: No, we’re not looking at a Shaun Rogers’ situation. The tests are
medically required, but there is nothing there.
Q: There’s no future surgery coming up?
A: Oh, no. No, no, no. Surgery hasn’t even been mentioned. Not even rehab.
Q: Is the ligament not there?
A: No, it’s there. (laughs) I mean, I looked at the MRI, because I had one done on
my other knee when I had it scoped. I can look at the MRI, tell where my ACL is and tell
where my PCL is and it’s there, because I looked at the film yesterday. I know
it’s there, it’s nothing. You have somebody saying it’s torn, it’s not
there, and I don’t know what they are talking about.
Q: Do you worry about this affecting your draft position?
A: I don’t worry about that because there is nothing wrong with my knee.
Q: Most right tackles don’t get picked as high as teams are talking about
picking you. What do you think that says about your ability? Has anybody talked to you
about moving to the left side?
A: There’s been a lot of people talking about, ‘Can you play left? Do you
want to stay on the right? Or play guard?’ It depends on which team wants what.
I’m fine with it. Left tackles generally have to play in space. They don’t have
the tight end there to help them out. And I have played in space before and have protected
the quarterback’s blind side, so I know what it’s like to be on the island. So
wherever they want me, I’ll be there.
Q: Scouts say you are better than former teammate Leonard Davis, who was picked
second overall in the draft last year. You can’t be picked much higher than that.
A: You’re right. Leonard is a good guy, and I talked to him last weekend about
what to expect, what they are going to say, just how it is the NFL. We talk, and he has
been a good inspiration. He said, ‘Mike, do this, do that, keep a smile on your face,
and you’ll be fine."
Q: Have you ever played left tackle?
A: I have never played left.
Q: Why in the world could Texas, with you and Leonard on the offensive line and the
talent down there, not win a national championship?
A: (Laughs) A team game is not about the bookends. Football is generally thought of as
a team game, so no matter what kind of talent we had up front with the running backs, the
quarterbacks and the receivers, guards and centers, they all had to do their job.
It’s a team game, so we didn’t win a national championship.
Q: Can you be better in the NFL than you were in college and if you say yes, why?
A: Yes, because I feel that I set my bar so high. I completed the college level, and I
still have many more goals to reach and accomplish and that’s why I think I could be
good in the NFL.
Q: Who has talked to you about moving inside?
A: There’s a lot of teams I talked to, so I couldn’t even remember who I
talked to that said that. So many have talked to me over the last couple of days that I
couldn’t pinpoint a team.
Q: Word had been getting around that you have a ligament problem in your knee.
A: That’s kind of like the telephone. You know, you hear one thing. I
hyperextended it. And then you run to the last person and I have an ACL injury, so we play
telephone but I’m here to tell you my knee is fine.
Q: Which knee did you hyperextend against Texas Tech?
A: My right knee.
Q: Did you play the rest of the season with it?
A: Yeah, no games lost.
Q: You did play with a brace though, correct?
A: I played with a brace basically because the medical staff said I needed it. I hate
the brace. I actually bent it playing in a game so I took it off against Oklahoma. If you
want to go back on film and look at it, you will see me one half with a brace on, and I
took it off trying to tackle (Oklahoma S) Roy Williams. I took it off and played with it
all year with no problem.
Q: Was there one team that was more concerned about it than others?
A: I think that’s what it was. Going to different stations. All of the doctors had
their own opinion. I feel this. I feel that. You never know which one is right. I talked
to them. Some say, ‘Oh well, it’s fine. It doesn’t feel different from the
left.’ But you get that one that says ‘I feel this, go get an MRI.’ So you
have to do it.
Q: Does it make you nervous that they thought there might be a problem?
A: No. I know my body, and I’ll tell you if my knee hurts, and I’ll tell you
if it’s not hurting. So whether it is to go get an MRI, I’ll do it to make them
feel comfortable. And I did it.
Q: Have you had any problem line dancing? I hear from one of your agents that you
are pound-for-pound the best dancer in the draft. What do you think about that?
A: I’ll tell you this. I can cut a rug. I can cut a rug for a guy my size. I can
get down if you want me to get down.
Q: Where did that come from? Have you always been a dancer all of your life?
A: I look at myself as 250 pounds. I’m an athlete, let me tell you. With big
linemen, I am an athlete. I am a specialty.
Q: What did you measure in at (at the combine)?
A: 6-5 1/2, 375.
Q: Is that heavy for you?
A: No, I played at 370.
Q: How much attention do you pay to draft analysts like Joel Buchsbaum and Mel
Kiper? Kiper just moved you up ahead of Bryant McKinnie recently. Do you pay attention to
that? Were you aware of it?
A: People tell me and I’m like "OK." I don’t listen to that because
I don’t ever want to catch myself getting a big head and coasting through something I
need to be working on.So I don’t listen to that. I don’t try to read it just to
keep myself humble. I’m ready to go out here and work hard for the scouts.
Q: Did you give up any sacks last year?
A: I gave up one sack to a guy from Kansas.
Q: Kansas?
A: That’s what everybody says: Kansas? It couldn’t be someone from Florida
State or Oklahoma. It was just really — I misidentified him, and it was really not a
physical thing. It was just a mental mistake.
Q: How about the year before?
A: One, from Kansas? (Laughs) For some reason, I don’t know. It just got me.
Q: So you are going to get fired up when you play Kansas City?
A: I might be down there. You never know what’s going to happen.
Q: You are more athletic than Leonard Davis?
A: That’s what they say.
Q: Did you lift today?
A: Yeah. I didn’t do as well as I should have. I got 29 (repetitions at 225
pounds) in. I should have got at least three more.
Q: What size sport coat do you wear?
A: About a 58, 60.
Q: Who is the best player you have ever blocked?
A: Justin Smith, the defensive end from Missouri. Good player.
Q: How did you do?
A: I did good. It was a battle. I didn’t give up a sack against him. Golly, I gave
up a sack against Kansas and I went up against him and I didn’t give up one. But
yeah, he is a good player. He keeps his motor running. He has a very quick first step.
Q: Can you talk a little bit about the Mike Williams Show (on the Texas web site),
your personality, turning orange like the incredible hulk?
A: Oh, it was the Texas Hulk. You know how the hulk turns green? I turned bright
orange. That’s just a little fun and show. The players go up to the media and
can’t really be themselves. They have to watch what they say, watch what they do. So
that show right there allowed the players to be loose, to have fun and just get a laugh.
It was a good show.
Q: Have you met with Cleveland?
A: Yes, I have.
Q: How did it go?
A: It went well. I hope they were real interested, but a lot of coaches keep that stern
face on. So I just hope my interview went well and that’s about all I can hope for.
Q: Can you discuss your first coming-out game when you drove a guy back 15 yards?
A: That was the first play when I got in there as a junior. I did not start that game,
but when I got in there, I was going to make something happen. I tried to demolish that
guy.
Q: What was your major?
A: Social work.
Q: How are you different personality-wise from Leonard Davis?
A: Leonard, once you get him talking, it’s kind of like you bring out his best
side, but the hard part is to get him to talk. Even in person, he’s like, "Yeah.
Yeah." But that’s my man. That’s my man. Me, it doesn’t take much to
get me talking. I’ll talk to you until you tell me to stop.
Q: How high do you expect to go?
A: I don’t know. I really don’t know. I’ve been told from No. 1 to 20.
Q: Most scouting services mentioned your consistency and how you show up in every
play in every game and didn’t just go through the motions against weaker competition.
Can you talk more about your game face, intensity and the mindset you bring to the field?
A: My mindset is to go out there and dominate whomever I touch. So God bless if I touch
one of my teammates. It would be on accident. I’d pick them up and pat them on the
back. But that’s my mindset — go out there and just dominate. To play at the
level that I told myself I should play at.
Q: What kind of questions have NFL personnel been asking?
A: They all ask the same kind of questions. It’s like, how do you approach the
game, what is your GPA? How much do you have left in school? Where did you train? What do
you think is your strong point in the game?
Q: What is your strong point?
A: Run-blocking.
Q: Can you tell any stories about your past?
A: My dad was a lieutenant colonel in the Army. We were sword fighting with sticks and
I did something to hit him on his cheek. And the stick wasn’t little. He threw it on
the concrete and broke it. I was scared to go in that house for a while. I only had one
brother. He always tried to pick on me and then he started to become my friend when he saw
me getting a little bit bigger. So, I have played soccer, I have practiced tae kwon do, I
swim, I play golf. I need some longer golf clubs, but I think my dad has taught me,
"Football is your thing. That’s what you are really, really good at. But
I’ve always tried to do different stuff, especially to keep me busy because I was
hyper. I used to put holes in the wall all day long and we’d get in trouble.
We’d be wrestling and get a little too rough and put a big ol’ hole in the wall.
Q: Is your dad as big as you?
A: See, that’s going to get you all. My brother is 5-foot-11 and my dad is 6-foot
and they are about 160-185 pounds. My mom is about 5-foot-1.
Q: How did you get so big?
A: It’s all about the genes. My mom’s side of the family has the real broad
shoulders. The height is on my dad’s side. They didn’t get it for some reason.
Q: You played tailback at one point in your football career. Did you have a huge
growth spurt at some time?
A: Ohhh, I did play tailback in seventh grade. I think it hit me between my eighth- and
ninth-grade year. I grew about 3-4 inches, so I was a big ol’ klutz. I was growing
out of my clothes. My mom was like, ‘If you keep growing, we’re going to have to
do something. We’re going to have to start sewing your clothes because this is
getting hectic.’ I started eating up everything. I wasn’t a big kid when I was
little. I was a little, fast tailback, but little junior finally kicked in.
Mike Williams feature:
Feet of strength
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