All season long we’ve told you how much of a fighter Cary Williams is both on and off the field. During Super Bowl XLVII, Williams let his emotions get the best of him, and it almost cost him a chance to finish the game on the field with his teammates.
Following Ed Reed’s interception of Colin Kaepernick, 49ers and Ravens players were fired up. While Williams was laying on the ground, 49ers fullback Bruce Miller came over and pushed Williams’ helmet off of his face while his chinstrap was still buckled. Williams, being the aggressive player that he is, began pushing everyone in his way to get to Miller, including an official.
Offsetting personal foul penalties were called on both teams. Williams was not ejected from the game even though a player placing his hands on an official is immediate grounds for removal from the game.
To help clarify what had happened, Williams appeared on The Sports Junkies, a once popular radio show in Baltimore which can now be heard on 106.7 The Fan in Washington D.C.
“It was in the moment, man,” said Williams with a transcript from SportsRadioInterviews.com. “It was one of those situations where you let your emotions get the best of you. As far as I’m concerned, I remember my helmet getting ripped of by a No. 49 or whatever, and I just reacted. I didn’t see the ref; I didn’t realize he was there. I just pushed whoever tried to get to him.”
Video clearly shows the shove:
“I just think that with the Baltimore Ravens, I feel like we play aggressively but we play between the whistles. There was a lot of things that was going on outside of the whistles or whatever, and it was frustrating. But at the end of the day, it happened. The ref saw that I wasn’t trying to intentionally get him or hurt him or harm him in any way, and I think he played it the right way. He made the right call, he made the right decision.”
Had Williams been ejected as the rule book states, it could have potentially changed the outcome of the game as the 49ers began to make a comeback and the Ravens would have been without their top cornerback. At the time where the referees were letting both teams loosely play within the confines of the rules, the referee made a judgement off of Williams’ intentions, not action.
Williams has yet to hear from the league office about a possible fine.
“The league hasn’t contacted me,” he said. “I don’t know if I need to contact them or whatever, but it’s a situation, and I just gotta deal with that. So whenever it comes, I gotta cross that bridge when we get there.”
As Reed knows, Williams will most likely be sought by the league and will have a bridge to cross. Regardless of the fine amount, Williams was able to help his team win the Super Bowl and will have a championship ring to show for it for the rest of his life – a ring he and his teammates may not have if he had been ejected from the game.
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