Miles
Well-known member
- Mar 18, 2019
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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. —On Dec. 24, 2016, defensive lineman DeShawn Williams dressed for the Cincinnati Bengals in their Christmas Eve matchup with the Houston Texans.
Williams, who went undrafted out of Clemson in 2015, had appeared in the Bengals' previous three games, as well. It was the culmination of two years of hard work, as Williams had spent much of the 2015 season on the Bengals' practice squad. With four games to go in the 2016 season, it appeared Williams had turned the proverbial corner in his career.
He wasn't getting much playing time, but he'd been efficient. Leading into the Christmas Eve game, he had tallied three quarterback hits and half of a sack in just 49 defensive snaps.
Against the Texans, he added another quarterback hit in just eight snaps.
But Williams wouldn't play in Week 17 — or any time soon.
After his limited success, Williams didn't appear in another regular-season game for 1,373 more days.
That streak finally ended Sunday, as Williams played the most snaps of his career in the Broncos' Week 3 loss to the Buccaneers. Only three players this season — Aldon Smith, Bruce Miller and Woodrow Hamilton — went a longer time between appearing in a regular-season game.
"It's one of those things that, you just smile and all you do is just laugh," Williams told DenverBroncos.com on Tuesday. "All the hard times that you went through, all the early morning workouts that [you do because] you want to show people that you're more than worthy of playing in this league — and it's a great league to play in — but it's just one of those things where you can't lose your confidence. And [Sunday] was just one of those 'Wow, it's finally here' moments."
Williams tallied two tackles and a pass defense against Tom Brady — and he also capped an unlikely path back to regular-season football.
At times, Williams wasn't sure he would return to football's biggest stage. In the years since his final appearance with the Bengals, he's spent time on the practice squads for the Broncos, Colts and Dolphins. Most recently, he signed with the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeders in December of 2019, but COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the 2020 season.
His biggest moment of doubt likely came in 2018, when he spent the offseason program with the Broncos and felt like he turned in the best training camp of his young career.
"I feel like I had probably one of my best camps that I ever had, and just to come up short again, it was like one of those [moments], like, 'Dang. Why me? Why am I always coming up short?'" Williams said.
After he was waived, Williams had an offer to join Carolina, and he boarded a plane, ready to leave Denver International Airport for Charlotte. That's when Denver called him and asked him to stick around on their practice squad.
"They called right when they were about to shut the door," Williams said. "They was pulling out onto the runway, and they called. I had to tell the pilot, 'Hey, is there any way you [can] stop this plane? I need to get off.' And he was like, 'Why?' And I was like, 'The Broncos want to sign me.' I had to apologize to everybody that was on that flight. I was like, 'I'm sorry if you miss your next flight, but I have to get off this flight.'"
Williams, whose wife coaches at Rock Canyon High School in Highlands Ranch, said the decision to get off the plane was a "no-brainer" — and he was able to convince the pilot to led him de-board.