by Paola Boivin, columnist - Sept. 17, 2012 10:03 PM
azcentral sports
A day after the Cardinals recorded the biggest upset of the young NFL season, an indelible image remained with fans who watched the game on TV: tears spilling from the eyes of running back Ryan Williams after the New England Patriots missed a field-goal attempt, securing a victory for the Cardinals.
"I was just trying my best not to cry on the field, national TV," Williams told reporters after the 20-18 victory, "and I end up crying anyway."
To appreciate that moment is to understand where the tears were rooted. It's a story line of adversity that began three years ago and came to a head in the final minutes of Sunday's game in Foxborough, Mass.
It was just Williams' third NFL game after missing his 2011 rookie season because of a severe knee injury. He gained much respect within the organization for the work he put into his comeback.
"He means the world to us," Cardinals President Michael Bidwill said Monday. "Those of us who were around the training facility saw how hard he rehabbed during those 12 months."
Williams was feeling good as he returned to the field with 2:06 remaining in the game Sunday and the Cardinals up by two. Minutes earlier, defensive lineman Darnell Dockett had looked over at Williams and saw him talking to running back Beanie Wells.
"Beanie was telling Williams, 'Hold onto the ball,' " Dockett said. "He was doing a little signal (with his hands) like 'grab onto the ball, hold onto the ball.' "
The Cardinals were trying to eat up the clock and preserve the victory. Williams ran for five yards, then 13 yards, doing exactly what he was supposed to do. He lost four yards on his next carry and then gained one, setting up a 3rd-and-13 at the Cardinals 35.
"Then I just pitched it (to Williams)," Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb said. "You're kind of taught as a quarterback late in the game like that to trail the ball, trail the runner in case something happens. I was just pivoting around to get back in line and I saw the ball pop out."
During the carry, Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes had barreled toward Williams and used his helmet to pop the ball out.
Now the Patriots had the ball at the Cardinals' 30-yard line with 1:01 remaining. With Tom Brady, most interpreted the moment as a sure New England victory.
"He fumbled and I'm like, 'You got to be bleeping me, right?' " Dockett said. "I was thinking, 'Is this how lucky the Patriots really are?' Like, really? We'd been beating them all game and it comes down to a play and they kick a field goal and win the game?"
Williams walked to the sideline in disbelief. He was crushed.
Kolb approached him.
"Man, the guy put his helmet right on the ball," the quarterback said. "There's nothing you could do."
Wells shared how, during his rookie season in 2009, he fumbled four times.
Bidwill told him to keep his head up and that he would be winning a lot of games in the future for the team.
"He was just nodding," Bidwill said. "He was devastated, still grappling with what happened."
Cornerback Greg Toler found him and said: "Hold your head up. We're all professionals in the NFL, and guys make mistakes. We're a team and we're your brother's keeper."
Williams shook his head.
"Man, I cost us the game," he said. "I lost the game."
Williams surely had a difficult flashback.
In 2009, as a redshirt freshman for Virginia Tech, he fumbled with two minutes to go in the fourth quarter that allowed North Carolina to kick a game-winning 21-yard field goal as time expired.
History didn't matter to the Cardinals defense.
"Everyone's looking at each other and saying, 'Let's go,' " said Cardinals linebacker Quentin Groves, who blocked a punt earlier in the game. "We have to make a stand and we have to pick him up because he's our brother. We didn't get mad. We don't do that here."
The Cardinals defense did make a stand, aided by two New England penalties. That set up a 42-yard field-goal attempt by Stephen Gostkowski, the most accurate kicker in Patriots history.
Groves couldn't watch.
"My head was down and I was praying, 'Please miss this field goal, please miss this field goal,' " he said. "Then I hear someone say, 'He missed! He missed!' It was the best thing."
"I was watching," Kolb said, "but I didn't believe it."
Gostkowski's kick went wide left. He dropped to the ground. As the Cardinals went onto the field to shake hands, one player remained on the bench for a while, his head hanging. It was Williams.
The TV cameras caught him crying.
Afterward, several players and team executives hugged him.
"There were no tears of joy, not at all, even with the win," he told reporters.
Later, Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt sought him out and told him a story about Jerome Bettis.
In 2006, the great Pittsburgh running back fumbled in a playoff game against Indianapolis with 1:20 remaining. The Colts' Nick Harper scooped it up and would have found the end zone except that Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger made a game-saving tackle. In subsequent weeks, Bettis was key in the Steelers' run to the Super Bowl.
"That's the kind of mentality you have to have," Whisenhunt told him. "You have to learn from it and you have to go forward."
There were plenty of encouraging words for Williams going around Monday at the practice facility.
Williams wasn't there. He had just learned of the death of his grandfather.
"It kind of puts things in perspective," wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald said.
Reach Boivin at paola.boivin@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter at Twitter.com/PaolaBoivin. Listen to her on "Big Guy on Sports" every Monday at 12:30 p.m. on XTRA Sports 910.
18 Sep, 2012
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Source: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/articles/2012/09/17/20120917tears-relief-arizona-cardinals-running-back-ryan-williams.html
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