Now that the draft has concluded and rookie mini-camps have began, Ravens fans will begin to familiarize themselves with the team’s freshest faces. During the week since Brandon Williams was taken off the board by the Ravens in the third round (94th overall), no one on the roster has received more attention.
Even though most haven’t heard of Williams before last week, the 335 pound defensive tackle has found himself routinely standing out in small places. While in school at Missouri Southern State, Williams played his way into being named an All-American three times. In the same uniform, he also did something while standing on the field that received more attention than when he was actually playing on it.
After the Ravens selected Williams, head coach John Harbaugh called the media’s attention to an impressive video on YouTube of Williams walking on his hands for nine seconds.
“There’s a YouTube video out there of him walking on his hands,” Harbaugh said. “For a big man, he’s really an athletic guy.”
Within minutes, William’s video was broadcasted on ESPN and NFL Network for the whole country to witness. Even though walking on your hands is common for many physically fit people, seeing someone of Williams’ size accomplish this feat is an entirely different story. Before Williams got his first in-person taste of the Baltimore media, I lobbed up a softball question talking about the elephant in the room – his hand stand.
Apparently Williams’ talent has been requested by a few of his new teammates.
“A couple have [asked], but I don’t think I can do that anymore,” Williams responded while laughing. “I’ve been doing it since I was a kid – just something I picked up, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
In person, Williams’ arms are clearly bigger than the legs of most individuals; however, it appears that he’s going to save his strength for more productive exercises. I just hope that the Ravens have enough weights in their training facility so this guy doesn’t get mad. At the combine, Williams tied Bengals’ second round pick Margus Hunt for the most reps at the combine – lifting 38 reps at 225 pounds and I just saw this video on YouTube of Williams benching 500 pounds.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_kc-4omcNQ[/youtube]
If for some reason Williams doesn’t beat out Terrance Cody for nose tackle, I surely wouldn’t want to be the one to tell him.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIpo1xF7IhI&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
