The state of the LB corps (Willie Williams)

What's his story? Why is he a FORMER UM product?

Miami could have the deepest linebacking corps in the league and they would still be sending scouts to evaluate draft eligible linebackers.

The stats he has are ridiculous.

"Brown42000 wrote:

Miami could have the deepest linebacking corps in the league and they would still be sending scouts to evaluate draft eligible linebackers.

Not this one. He has a rap sheet longer than your arm.

Willie Williams, 2008 NFL Draft Prospect

He single handedly changed recruiting rules in 2004.

Willie Williams' recruiting diary for The Miami Herald included accounts of flying on private jets and dining on steak and lobster during his campus visits. One legacy of his recruitment is that the NCAA has since enacted limits on what perks colleges can provide prospects who visit their schools. The NCAA approved the following reforms in the summer of 2004:
• Underage drinking, sex, drug use, gambling and the use of strippers are prohibited on campus visits.
• Schools can provide recruits with meals and rooms, but they can't take the prospects to five-star restaurants and hotels. Only school vehicles or standard-equipped vehicles can be used to transport a recruit and his family.
• Charter flights and private planes are prohibited on recruiting trips.
• Schools can't use "personal recruiting aids," including the distribution of personalized jerseys or the use of a scoreboard presentation featuring the prospect.

"Zod wrote:

Not this one. He has a rap sheet longer than your arm.

Willie Williams, 2008 NFL Draft Prospect

Yeah, this guy has the potential to dwarf Pac Man Jones' troubles since entering the NFL. This kid is an idiot. Give him a couple million dollars and you're going to have a great show to watch. I certainly hope he goes elsewhere.

"Coral Reefer wrote:

Yeah, this guy has the potential to dwarf Pac Man Jones' troubles since entering the NFL. This kid is an idiot. Give him a couple million dollars and you're going to have a great show to watch. I certainly hope he goes elsewhere.

I took a look at the Barry Jackson report and I thought "Wow! We are desperate." Is it just me? Does the fact that we even sent a scout not wreak of desperation?

"Zod wrote:

Not this one. He has a rap sheet longer than your arm.

Willie Williams, 2008 NFL Draft Prospect

Don't see how any team will take chance drafting him, what a screw up he is.

His numbers are outrageous though.

I would bet you my choppers that there is a HC out there saying, right now, I'm just the guy to turn this kid around!!

Pacman, L. Phillips, C. Collins, the list goes on forever.:shifty::no::yes:

Willie Williams was one of the highest rated recruits ever coming out of High School. Kid was physically a man with freakish athletic ability before he ever even stepped foot on a college football field. Unfortunately he has shown an inability until this last year to keep his head on straight and stay out of trouble. I would highly doubt the Dolphins head office would spend even a 7th rounder on him, maybe as a potential FA since he is from the area.

"Zod wrote:

Miami Dolphins' draft picks progressing well - Sports - MiamiHerald.com

Per the draft recap article....

"Among players taken within 10 picks after Merling, Falcons linebacker Curtis Lofton (67 tackles) and Broncos receiver Eddie Royal (58 catches) have been very good, but ''Lofton wouldn't be a great fit for Miami's defense, and Miami doesn't like small receivers like Royal,'' Green said."

LOL....we may not like them, but we have a roster full of them.

Yeah, the kid is kind of a legend. We had local radio guys talking about how much of a screwup this kid was on the east coast. Again, not a national radio show, but a local one, which usually consist of never ending hype and slurping over the terrible Bay Area sports teams. For them to dedicate any time to a kid from the east coast who plays college ball in the east, should tell you something about how bad this kid is.

Willie Williams is notorious in most UM circles. Microcosm of Larry Coker's failures.

"Coral Reefer wrote:

Yeah, this guy has the potential to dwarf Pac Man Jones' troubles since entering the NFL. This kid is an idiot. Give him a couple million dollars and you're going to have a great show to watch. I certainly hope he goes elsewhere.

to be fair, i don't think he's had an arrest since he was 14. (except the time he and other recruits, in a hotel hallway, ran through fire extinguish smoke to reinact the hurricanes on field entrance)

"#1 fan wrote:

to be fair, i don't think he's had an arrest since he was 14. (except the time he and other recruits, in a hotel hallway, ran through fire extinguish smoke to reinact the hurricanes on field entrance)

He transfered to Louisville (after a Junior college stint) and got kicked off the team. He was pulled over downtown and the cops found pot on him and arrested him.

"MS4FINS wrote:

He transfered to Louisville (after a Junior college stint) and got kicked off the team. He was pulled over downtown and the cops found pot on him and arrested him.

damn that sucks. i always liked him because he was from carol city.

If Pacman is still in this league, then there's hope for any loser to get in.

Hell, if the Patriots drafted Williams, Goodell would probably put him in a commercial for the league.

He has talent, no doubt about it imo. Ran a 4.42 at the Alabama camp when he was coming out as the top LB and I've seen him listed now at around a 4.6 which is understood considering he has spent more time in a court room than a football field. I believe he's about 6'3", 230 lbs and can play all LB spots as well as defensive end. However, as mentioned, he has a long list of troubles. Came to UM on probation for something like 30+ months but got it reduced for whatever reason. Had 11 juvenile arrests including marijuana possession and burglary. Then, I think he blew out his knee and then the following year spent some time on ST's as well as backup OLB and MLB *(backed up Jon Beason). Got arrested again, transferred to UL, Pearl River CC (where he had nine sacks in three games), got denied a transfer to another division one school and eventually ended up at NAIA Union. He's (clearly) played well there and I think I know why teams might be looked at him. Recently, he had done a few interviews in South Beach and at NAIA Union, speaking on his troubled past and how he has changed his life. He says he's leading a new, better life. As I said in another thread, if he can do a good job convincing in the interviews, there's chance he gets drafted in the late rounds. He has the talent but the red flags will fly high once teams look at his past. I, personally, would take a chance on him as a seventh rounder or FA. Not because I'm a UM fan but I think that the risk is worth it because he's a good talent. He knows how to get to the QB, he can play coverage and he's versatile as mentioned in my post earlier. The question is if he can shed blockers while putting on weight. Take a chance on him in the seventh or snatch him up as an UDFA. Give him one shot. He blows it, he's done.

"alen1 wrote:

Take a chance on him in the seventh or snatch him up as an UDFA. Give him one shot. He blows it, he's done.

Sadly, I think the last thing one would want to do is bring him back home.

"Zod wrote:

Sadly, I think the last thing one would want to do is bring him back home.

That may be true but I say why not? As an UDFA, pick him up and see what he does. As I said, give him one shot, he blows it and he's gone.

"alen1 wrote:

That may be true but I say why not?

Okay, this goes to a personal feeling. I have said it to my son. I have said it to any troubled youth that will listen. The young man needs to stay clear of Miami as he may have changed but many of his friends (that he went to jail with) have not. Here is half of my lecture. Call me butthole (edit: had to clean it up). :up:

"When you graduate you will know a feeling that you have never had. You will know that you are free to do whatever you would like. There is a price that comes with that freedom. The price is decision making. The first tough decision that you will have to make is that of your friends. You see, your friends are losers and I know for a fact that most of them will waste AT LEAST three years of their life wandering aimlessly through those three years. 'Loser' doesn't have much to do with the wandering. It just adds to the problem. When you combine loser with too much time on his hands, you get trouble. The best thing that you or any of your friends could do is leave this town and make your own way. I would prefer that you join the military. That career choice will almost guarantee that you will not waste any of your life. But if you do not, you and all of your friends who stay here run the risk of wasting three years of your life at minimum."

:( your speech describes me to a heartbeat minus the troublemaking

I think someone stole my decision making or I got screwed by the price.

I agree about the speech in a football context, though. If he changes who's to say the crowd he hangs around with does? There's no way to tell. Look at Sean Taylor. He was trying to turn his life around. Had a wife and a kid and ends up getting shot.

"anlgp wrote:

:( your speech describes me to a heartbeat minus the troublemaking

Uh, that was the shortened, just for the internet version. It fits the age and therefore it fits more people than it does not. I wasted three years in college (failing some, passing some) and never attained a degree. My only saving grace is that I was working for the company that I would eventually make my career. 18 years later I can say that it wasn't all a waste.

I settled on three years in the speech only because by 21 most people know whether they are college material or not. It just saddens me that they had to waste 30,000 dollars of their parents money (and risk their lives in overconsumption a hundred times) to discover as much.

The best advice I could give any youth would be:

1. Serve 4 years in the military.

2. Make it a career and attend college while serving.

3. Get out and go to school on the GI bill.

4. You are 22, hopefully you are alive, and you have some clue as to what life is all about......

Sounds like a profession change would do him good, he would do well for a rock star it seems.

Pass on him being brought to the phins , we don't need that crap.

"Zod wrote:

The best advice I could give any youth would be:

1. Serve 4 years in the military.
2. Make it a career and attend college while serving.
3. Get out and go to school on the GI bill.
4. You are 22, hopefully you are alive, and you have some clue as to what life is all about......

What if between #s 1 and 2 you get shot and die? :offtopic:

I think Miami will look for an individual with a less troubled past. Of course DeSean Jackson fell to round 2 because of his attitude (I think) but he's turned out okay. Minus that whole "I'm going to celebrate before I get into the endzone" thing.

"anlgp wrote:

What if between #s 1 and 2 you get shot and die? :offtopic:

You are dead. Does it matter?

Edit:

I think it was irresponsible of me to provide such a terse response. Anyone too young to remember should realize that this country (including me) gave too warm a welcome to a fight from anyone after September 11. All that they had to do was cross a line in the sand. Saddam Hussein was stupid enough to cross that line. We were stupid enough to fight for crossing that line. Whether it was neccessary or not is worthy of debate but it's not the point I wish to make here. The point that I will make RIGHT NOW is that we will not be welcoming the fights anytime in the near future. It's not the fight that will cause any reserve. It's the nation building afterwards that will fulfill all the reasoning neccessary for this country to stay out of war.