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Connor Williams: "I'm Excited To Be A Part Of This" · Seahawks Press Pass

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Are y'all doing good? Good?
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: What are your.
• 0:04
  Speaker 3: First impressions of the coaching staff, the skating you're going
• 0:08
  Speaker 3: to be running.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: And Seattle And they're all awesome people. I mean, the
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: buildings made up a lot of great people, and so
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: that's been the most standout part. And the guys seem
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: like a great room of guys, hard workers from practice today.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: So just excited to get in there and get working
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: with everyone. I mean, and for Seattle, I mean, for
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: August weather. This isn't bad, you know, So this works.
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: I'm sorry, why did you choose?
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: I always like building, and so building with a new
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: team with a whole new program and everything, and then
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: how they pursued me and now they wanted me. I
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: think it made a great mutual fit and so just
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: excited to be part of it.
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: Your agents say it's one of the most miraculous recoveries.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: He had seen.
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: When did you know that you'd have a chance to
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: be back?
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: I think the whole time I felt like I had
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: a chance. You know. I took the off season slowly
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: and steady and just with my uh, with my methodical
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: approach to it, and I had believe in it all
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: the way.
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: Did it help you've been through it before, just know
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: kind of the process with an.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: ACLS like I'd say most definitely. I mean just knowing
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: the surgery, know how you're gonna feel after surgery, and
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: then building from there, you kind of know what to expect.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: How do you feel now?
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: What are you able to do?
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: I feel great, I'm probably about ninety five percent. I'm
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: getting there. Straints getting there pretty pretty symmetrical, honestly, and
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: so I think we're just devising a plan to slowly
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: work back in and slowly give me on the field.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: I got your playing weight right now, I am.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: For the surgery.
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: Were you able to start like ramping things up to
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: start making some of the games that you needed to
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: to get to this point?
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: I mean, obviously Doctrick Cooper did a great job and
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: followed his progression with it. And so I mean you're
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: walking about, you're walking without a crutch, two months out,
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: you're jogging three or four, and then you're slowly starting
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: ramping up from there.
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: Did you did you sort of want to wait until
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: the like this time to sign with somebody to kind
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: of see what everything was gonna happen, or was there
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: a chance to sign earlier or was it just kind
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: of the new situation.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we kind of just we wanted to make sure
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: we could get healthy. It just take a long approach
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: with the wife and just take a steady approach with it.
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: For people that are unfamiliar with your game, can you
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: tell Seahawks fans what kind of player are you?
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: I guess I tried to pride myself on being an aggressive, fast,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: physical player, and I think this is a great place
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: to do that.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: What would so well for you making the move to
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: center full time in Miami last year?
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: I think they gave me a lot of space and
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: opportunity to grow. And then with that, I mean I
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: had four years at guards or just knowing what the
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: center position entelled and what it took, and so it
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: was a smooth transition.
• 2:43
  Speaker 4: You talk about being with a wanting to be kind
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: of with a new program that by coming here. What
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: stood out when you came for your visit about sort
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: of those initial conversations you had with Mike and with
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: Coach grob and with Coach Huff.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: I'd say the people, I mean, the people were very
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: I mean it was different, it was it felt it
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: felt like home, and so just slowly built onto that
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: and it ended up being home so it was nice.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: Have you thought it all about facing your former team
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: a week three?
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: I did see that. It'll be it'll I'll have it
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: on the radar for sure. So excited for that.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: Is you're planning to play against Cleveland if you can't
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: make at least.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: Your belt we we haven't got into details about that,
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: I mean, first day on campus and so just attacking
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: it one day at a time right now and trying
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: to get me back to full Have you have you.
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: Got a sense yet this offensive if it's similar to
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: anything you've done before.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's definitely got some similarities around the league
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: and stuff, and it's it's got its own weapons and
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: its own own unique touch on it obviously, and so
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: just excited to get out there and be able to
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: be part of it.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: Oh, Steve, is this learning curve of a system now
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: you have about three weeks to get it down before
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: you have to start playing.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: I mean, obviously for center, you face your own challenges
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: with that of just having to be able to call
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: out and be sure and firm and the calls and everything.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, i'd say I've I've been through a lot
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: of oat line coaches and so schematically and call wise,
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: I mean it's a I mean seven years in the
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: league you kind of digest it.
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: Does it have a veteran center in that regard as
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: opposed to.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: I mean, I'd say there's definitely experience with that, and
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: I mean there there's definitely comes experience with the speed
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: of the game, with the knowing the teams, knowing players,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: habits and everything. I mean, you see tendencies, but at
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: the end of the day, I mean, it's a it's
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: an amazing sport, like it's it's level at the end
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: of the game, at the end of the day, you.
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: Played with any of the guys on the Seahawks before
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: and former.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: Teams, I the only one was Michael Dixon at college
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: and that was it. Yeah, so when you're contracted that
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: and then Baker last year, sorry you said.
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: When you're contract is kind of what you wanted to
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: do to kind of get to a place.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: And and see what happens or Yeah, I think that
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: our approaches, I mean, we we got the noise out
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: of the way, and we were just focusing on health
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: and focusing on on rehabilitation and getting stronger and then
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: once it was time to show myself to the teams,
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: it was time.
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: Connor, I don't think you were.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: Playing by that point in the season, But if you
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: guys played Baltimore last year with Mike mcconald there, what
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: stood out to you about that game when you when
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: you saw it and kind of how tough it was
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: to see the guys.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Go against that Yeah, I'd say even the last couple
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: of years playing them. I mean, they're they're known to
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: be a tough defense. I mean, you gotta respect them
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: when you walk on and uh, they'll give you different
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: looks and they'll change it up, and it's not a
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: typical defense around the league, and with that comes its
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: challenges and it's known to be physical.
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: What was your priority going into free agency? Come obviously
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: in a different situation than some guys who go in.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: To free agency. I'd say my number one priority was
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: getting healthy, and then it was finding a right fit
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: for me and my wife. Good cool, thank you, a
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: nice me and Oile