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Leonard Williams: "Football Has Given Me Everything I Have" · Seahawks Press Pass

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: In your mind. Is it a big deal that all
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: the best for you and that the entire team was
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: here for these practices.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: I think it is a big deal because obviously this
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: part is mandatory. But I think throughout all of OTA's
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: the Vets have been doing a good job of like
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: showing up. You know, there's been times where they've missed
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: a few days, but I think overall, just the overall
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: vibe of the team, it just feels like everyone's locked
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: in and like wants to be here.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Like, let's talk about the connection.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: I'm sure you feel bad as a player. I mean
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: I feel it a lot. I'm obviously going into year eleven,
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: so I played a lot of football, been on a
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: lot of teams, and not only do we am, I
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: scene that we have a very talented team right now.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: One thing that stands out above the talent is just
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: the connection. And that's something that I've been trying to
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: talk to the guys that's like really gonna take us
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: to that next level where we want to go, because
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: I've told them I've been on tons of talented teams
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: that you know, we have great players and all positions,
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: but we just didn't have that same connection and you know,
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: we had a ten win season but didn't go to
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: the playoffs and stuff like that. And I'm telling them
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: how those small things like having connection and being able
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: to communicate on and off the field kind of helps
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: you get to that next level.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: What are you seeing with this table? The continuity? And
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: obviously the second year, like elteevens, are you seeing the
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: law would help them or seek out there were compared
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: towards just like this type of last year.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: I mean, I think there's a huge difference. You know,
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: the coaches got here first time on the staff together
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: last year, and obviously, you know, everyone wanted to be
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: bought in and things like that, but it was still new,
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: it was still fresh. I felt there was like a
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: learning curve where like the coaches were learning the players,
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: the players were learning the coaches. You know, coaches were
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: even learning each other. And I think this year we
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: kind of have a year under our belt. Now we
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: kind of know what to expect out of Mike, we
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: know what to expect out of Ad and like everyone else,
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: all the other coaches, and now we're able to actually
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: like just take turn it up a notch, you know
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: what I mean, And it's uh everything that we started
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: to integrate last year is kind of like we're just
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: building on that now. Some of my dallas for what's
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: impression of like Mark has coming here.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: In the apartment script.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: Uh. I mean we haven't been able to be in
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: pass and stuff like that yet, so you know, I
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: haven't been able to see him fully play, like we
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: haven't been able to play next to each other or
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: anything like that. But I think just the type of
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: leadership and like mindset that he brings to the team
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: is just like phenomenal. You know, he's a dog like
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: he he speaks a lot, he plays hard. He's going
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: into year like twelve and he's out there practicing harder
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: than some of the rookies. So we're getting on the
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: rookies like saying, okay, this is an example. This guy's
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: going into year twelve. He has nothing to prove, but
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: he's out there working his craft as hard as he
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: can every day. And you know, he's one of those
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: guys that shows up as an example and also as leadership.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: Going against the offensive line, obviously it means some changes
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: there of the sea and stuff like that. Kind of
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: I guess the difference in that and what you have
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: thought on kind.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: Of health that like, OK this year, yeah, I mean again,
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: it's gonna be hard to say until we get in
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: paths and uh in camp and stuff like that. But
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: so far, something that haste out to me is the
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: communication and just like the drive and want to I
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: could just see a different mindset and and uh it
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: starts with just even their approach to the line. I'm
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: seeing them like break out of the huddle and just
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: attack the line and that kind of puts pressure on
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: the defense and especially you know, me playing up front
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: as a D lineman, I have to like try to
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: hurry up and get in my stance when they come
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: out that fast. And uh, you know I've been trying
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: to encourage them to keep doing that and that it
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: puts pressure on defenses. Pressure. Brandon Feeler, oh pe Lely,
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: I mean he's been one of those guys throughout OTAs
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: that's like stood out for us because even in meetings
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: the other day, he uh he, I guess he put
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: on the most muscle, Like I guess we've been doing
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: like body skins and stuff like that, and he like
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: put on the most muscle out of everyone throughout OTAs,
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: And uh, you can just see like a huge jump
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: from my week one of OTAs till now. And you
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: can also just see like a confidence level growing them
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: growing in him. And he's been more vocal, just more
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: confident and just having fun out there. And I think
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: he's becoming a good player for us. There's one of the.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: Best seasons in your career. Last year helped get your sacks,
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: get the pick six against their Rodgers. This offseason, what
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: did you look at a film and look at that
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: in the season, what are a few things stood out
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: like this is what I'm going to attack this offseason
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: to get better at the last year.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: I mean, for me, I made a lot of big
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: players out of power, which is never going to go
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: away from me. That's, you know, my bread and butter.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: That's my game. That's something that I rely on, you know,
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: playing and play out is just being able to power
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: guys when I want to. But I think something that
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: me and Ad are working on is being able to
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: learn when I can like do more for next stuff,
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  Speaker 2: taking edge and you know, really keep the old lineman
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: guessing on what type of moves I'm going to give them.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: And I think last year I was doing a lot
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: of like bull rushers power moves and stuff like that,
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: and I want to try to integrate some type of
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: counters off of when the offensive lineman is trying to
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: sit on my power. I mean huge. Uh. He actually
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: just talked to the defense today and we made a
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: big emphasis on how he came the middle of the
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: season last year and how you know, we were struggling
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: with the run game, you know, kind of pretty much
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: the whole beginning part of the season, and somehow as
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: soon as EJ got here, you know, we kind of
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: turned that run game defense around. And you know, he
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: was had a lot of expectations on him coming in,
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: like starting at middle linebacker. He clearly hadn't learned a
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: whole new defense, a whole new city, whole new team,
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: and there was a lot of pressure on him, and
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: you know, he answered it. You know, he was the
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: leader of the defense, called the calls with confidence and
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: played hard, made plays and it was awesome to see
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: him get a new contract and I'm excited to keep
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: playing with him. Get tea today. Yeah, I think something
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: that's been cool and a part of the like connection
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: that's been like helping helping us grow that connection throughout
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: OTAs is like in the defensive room, coaches have been
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: having some of the guys that go up to the
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: front of the room and like pretty much like talk
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: about their why, like why they like playing football, why
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: they like showing up every day, and uh, you know,
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: they put up some pictures of their family and pictures
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: of them when they were young, and just talk about,
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: you know, what they're driving for us. Yeah. Today, I
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: think it helps a lot because you get to hear
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: from guys sometimes that you might not always hear from,
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: and then you get to hear, you know, like someone's why.
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: Like there's times where you know, obviously going through camp
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: is gonna be hard. Everyone has tough days, hard days,
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: And if I see somebody having a hard or tough day,
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: I could I understand that guy a little deeper now
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: on a human level, and I can like talk to
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: him and let him know, like, hey, I know his
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: why now and I know how to push him a
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: little better now. Was that? I mean, I haven't been
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: able to talk to the defense about my why yet,
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: But for me, I think it just football gave me
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: everything I have in life. I grew up you know,
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: homeless at times. I grew up living in in and
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: out of hotels, motels, and you know, kind of unstable
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: lifestyle as a as a young kid. And when I
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: found football in high school, it gave me stability, It
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: gave me a good male role models in my life,
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: and it just gave me something to like kind of
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: distract myself from everything going on at home. So for
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: me after that, like just learning from coaches, good male
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: role models in my life, I just like fell in
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: love with it, fell in love with the camaraderie, the
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: family aspect of my teammates and stuff like that. And
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: I'm sure you could ask every single person at this point.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: It's never was about the money. The money ends up
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: coming with it, obviously, but for every single person that
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: talks about their wives because they had some type of
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: lifestyle like that growing up and then it kind of
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: brought them to this point. Is the coach in high
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: school with yat you at the football? Uh? Yeah, Coach
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: Kenodo Hudson. He was actually a dB coach at Illinois
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: when Spoon was there too, So me and Spoon both
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: know him pretty well. And Spoon was like joking when
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: I got traded here about how we both had him
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: as like one of our you know Malero model figures
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: and h I had him in high school and I
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: had him at USC as well, and he definitely helped
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: me when I like didn't like going to class and
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: didn't like doing school work and all that stuff, because
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: he understood my why and he kind of helped push
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: me when I was going through hard times growing up.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: Leadership seems being part of the leap All when did
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: you get that awayness that you have.
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: Such an un pam Honestly, since like high school, like
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: I just started playing football and I didn't understand like
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: how to be a leader necessarily. I didn't understand like
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: what that role meant and how to how to be
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: a leader. But you know, every year I was like
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: voted as a leader. Every year I was voted as
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: a captain, like since high school, college NFL years, and
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: I was always like one of those type of guys
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: on the team where I just had like an infectious personality.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: And I think my type of leadership is I make
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: people like feel safe, so I'm able to like actually
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: get people's why, like in a one on one setting,
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: and I'm good at like holding them to that
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: Thank you