Steve Serby takes time for a Q&A with running back Kyren Williams, whose Rams travel to Detroit to take on the Lions on Sunday night:
Q: What were your emotions when you weren’t drafted until the fifth round?
A:. That s–t had me going through a roller coaster. I was crying, I was all different type of stuff. I wasn’t expecting to go that late, and so when I did drop to the third day, that second day was hard for me. I was beating myself up. I was crying. I was wondering like, “Damn, this s–t really might not be for me.” That’s kind of that deep hole I went into. I was in the laundry room of the Airbnb [in Las Vegas] I was at; I was just crying. I was just like, “Man, God help me.” When I was able to get called that third day, it changed everything for me. It lit a spark in me. I was like, “This is a team that wants me. All them other teams that passed on me. They didn’t want me, but this is a team that wants me. This is where I need to be,” and so once I realized that, I was good. I felt whole again.
Q: The Combine didn’t help you.
A: I ran a 4.6, so that’s kind of what put me down the drain.
Q: Fill in the blank: I’m proud of myself because …
A: I overcome what I thought I couldn’t.
Q: What did you think you couldn’t?
A: My rookie year, I got two surgeries right off rip. Another thoughts of like, “Damn, am I really for this game? Is this where I really should be?” I had two surgeries, and I haven’t even really played a down of real live football yet in the NFL, and so that’s kind of what made me, though. That situation right there, it was either a make-you-or-a-break-you type of situation, and I didn’t let it break me.
Q: What drives you?
A: My motivation to be great. I want to be one of the greatest to ever play this game. The will of wanting to be great and being able to take care of my family.
Q: What is your on-field mentality?
A: It’s kill or be killed, honestly. I feel as if I’m a running back where everybody’s trying to get me, so I’m going to get them before they try to get me. My mentality is either kill or be killed, so I’m not trying to be killed, so going out there just staying under control and staying poised but making impact plays.
Q: You’re 194 pounds, right?
A: Nah, not no more, that’s the old me. I’m about 208 now.
Q: Why do you think you’ve been overlooked most of your life?
A: I don’t know … probably because of what I look like. Like you just said, I’m a little guy. I feel like a lot of people look at me like that and kind of go off of the way I look and not how I play.
Q: You didn’t understand why you weren’t getting college offers in the beginning?
A: Yeah, I was confused for sure.
Q: Once they started rolling in, you started feeling better about yourself?
A: I don’t think it’s feeling better about myself, no. I think it’s more as, “What am I doing wrong?” I was going two workouts a day. I think it was more of, “What do I got to do now?”
Q: What is your running back style?
A: I feel like I’m a do-it-all type of guy. If I need a third-and-1 or fourth-and-1, I can run behind my pads to get the first down but also in space can make somebody miss for an explosive, so I feel like I have all different type of traits when it comes to running the ball. But being decisive and being efficient are definitely the biggest two.
Q: Did you see yourself as a running back or a wide receiver?
A: I was playing a lot of slot receiver in high school. I can really do both. Going to Notre Dame, I thought they were going to really give me the option to do both until they told me I was a running back. But I still try to bring those wide receiver things and those slot receiver things that I learned to the position of running back.
Q: The devaluation of running backs in the NFL.
A: I think it’s bogus, obviously. I think you need a running back (laugh). I would like a team to try to play a game without a running back. [Christian] McCaffrey, if he’s able to win MVP, he’s going to definitely break that stigma. Hopefully guys like myself and him and the guys who are able to be like these all-purpose backs, all-down backs, are able to get that name back up for the running backs.
Q: Whatever comes to mind: Matthew Stafford?
A: I’d say a dog. He’s able to overcome and withstand anything.
Q: What makes Cooper Kupp unique?
A: I would say his knowledge and skill for the game. His route-running ability, his releases and being able to get in and out of the breaks is what separates him from most receivers and it’s the way he runs his routes, not being able to show when he’s going to make the next cut or something like that. If I was a young receiver, I would definitely watch Cooper Kupp.
Q: What makes Puka Nacua unique?
A: Another guy I think is a dog. He has the vibe and ability that you could feel.
Q: What makes Aaron Donald a future first-ballot Hall of Famer?
A: You see what AD does on the field and whatnot, but you don’t see what he does in the weight room or how many times a week he’s in the weight room. His work ethic and his dog mentality of not wanting to be denied by anybody.
Q: Sean McVay?
A:. When you have a good guy like Coach McVay, it’s not all about the Xs and Os. He’s able to relate to his players, he’s able to talk to his players, he’s able to find a common ground with his guys and the people on this team and just being able to see him as one of us instead of like a head figure. I think Coach McVay keeps it a very work-like environment over here where it’s OK to make mistakes; it’s OK to I guess mess up.
Q: What do you like best about this Rams team?
A: How connected we are and how much fun we have when we’re playing the game. It kind of sets you back to that we’re just in the backyard playing football again.
Q: You wore 23 in college and now.
A: 23’s a great number. All the greats have worn it. When I first got to Notre Dame and they gave me that number, my jaw dropped, I’m like, “OK, alright, I got some shoes to fill.” I’m trying to be the next great to wear No. 23.
Q: What was your favorite Notre Dame moment?
A: Beating [No. 1] Clemson [in double OT in 2020].
Q: Ezekiel Elliott was one of your boyhood idols.
A: Being able to see Zeke and seeing his career and his success coming from St. Louis, that only made me go harder.
Q: Who are some of the other running backs that you like watching now?
A: I like Christian McCaffrey. I’ve always liked watching him. I really only watch C-Mac and myself, honestly. I like guys that are shifty and like to make people miss.
Q: The biggest obstacle or hardship you had to overcome.
A: My parents getting divorced.
Q: How old were you?
A: I was a junior in high school, I think.
Q: What was that like emotionally at that time?
A:. It was hard.
Q: What is your relationship with your father now?
A:. It’s good. It’s not as close as it used to be, but it’s still good, I still talk to him. It’s not anything distant or anything like that. We’re getting back to what it was.
Q: Describe your mother.
A: I’m going to give you the easiest description: You ever see somebody try to take a bear’s cub? That’s my mom. She’s a mama bear, for real. You could tell just from the video when she took away that ball (from a Giants fan) and looked at the dude like he was crazy. We’d be in the mall, and people would be following us because we’re Black and they think that we’d be stealing stuff, and so my mom would snap on people. I just remember her always having our back. As a mother, that’s what you should be, and I think she demonstrates that very well for her kids.
Q: Do you have your (anthropology) degree?
A: Not yet. I got 21 credits left. I told my mom, I said, “I promise you I’ll go back and get it.”
Q: The origin of Kyren the Siren.
A: That’s something that I kind of made up when I was in middle school because I needed an Xbox Live account name, so I did the first thing that my name rhymed with that I knew at the time and that was a siren.
Q: Your “Dora the Explorer” wig.
A: For Halloween, when I was younger, my whole dream was to be in the NFL. That’s all I wanted to do, and my idol growing up was Steven Jackson because he was obviously playing for the St. Louis Rams; I’m from St. Louis. My sister, she had a “Dora the Explorer” wig. I said, “I want that, and I need that for my costume,” so I put the wig on, I do the whole Rams uniform, and I thought I was Steven Jackson.
Q: What is the key to this game against the Lions?
A: Just being who we are, playing connected, playing as one, having great communication in that environment that we’re going to go to.
Q: Do you like being the villain on the road?
A: Yeah. You don’t really realize that, but you got a lot power once it starts going your way, once you start playing the way that you play, you can control a whole lot of momentum and whatnot when you play ball. We got a great opportunity to be able to showcase our skills and our abilities in front of the world.
Q: This is where legends are born or made.
A: I just hope to come in there and be the same guy I have been the last 18 weeks. It’s a higher-stake game, we know that, but it’s still four quarters, it’s still 10 yards for a first down. Me, myself and I, I’m excited, I’m ready to go. I’m staying locked in but I’m not trying to get too excited, because got to let the game come to me still.
Q: What is about big games and pressure that you like?
A: Once you can go through the fire, once you come out of it, you’ll be able to realize what type of person you are … who you really are.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A:. LeBron James; Ray Lewis; Jay-Z.
Q: Why Ray Lewis?
A:. That was my favorite player really growing up. Just the way he played the game. You can’t replicate it. There’s a passion and love that he played with and you could tell. I loved Ray Lewis growing up.
Q: You played safety.
A: I think I had 12 picks my senior year. I liked the plays where they came across the middle.
Q:. Why Jay-Z?
A:. I’d just have him there so that I can get a blueprint of making some money.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: “Shawshank Redemption.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Denzel Washington.
Q: Favorite actress?
A:. Sandra Bullock.
Q: Favorite rapper?
A:. Future.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Vietnamese Pho soup.
Q: Will your mom be at the game?
A: Yes, she’ll be there.
Q: You handed her a ball behind the end zone after one of your touchdowns against the Giants. If you score a touchdown, what’s going to happen?
A: She’s probably going to be in the nosebleeds, so nothing really, I’m just going to celebrate with my teammates.
Q: Career goals?
A: I just know that I want to play 10 years. I want to do this until I can’t no more. This is all I love, this is what I want to be. I’m going to cherish it for as long as I can and live in the moment and be present for what it is.
Q: What would you want your legacy to be?
A: Like I said, one of the greatest to play the game. I don’t do it for accolades, or what’s to come, the Hall of Fame, none of that stuff. I really just want the respect. Like you said, everybody’s overlooked me in this game, and my whole life, that now I just want people to be like, “Damn, you are good, you are a dog, you are special.” I’ve known it ever since I was little that I was special in this game. I just had a different feel from a lot of other different people that I seen play this game. Growing up, I just knew I was different from other kids ’cause, when it came to football, I was just better.
Q: What’s it like being Kyren Williams today?
A: I’m a workaholic, that’s for sure. Right now I’m on a mission with my head down trying to get to where I want to be in life, and I feel as if I’m not even close to where I want to be. Everything that’s going on with all the good stuff and the yards and whatnot, I’m not satisfied at all. What do they call when a caterpillar’s going into a butterfly? That’s what I’m doing.
Q: A metamorphosis.
A: Yes. I’m still metamorphosing.