NFL teams
Mike Rodak, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

Aaron Williams' drive to play again not shaken by devastating hit

The hit cost Jarvis Landry about $25,000. It cost Aaron Williams millions and possibly his career.

Williams, a former safety for the Buffalo Bills, has not played in the NFL since Landry, the Miami Dolphins' top receiver, launched his left shoulder into the front of Williams' helmet during an Oct. 23, 2016 game at Hard Rock Stadium.

The NFL fined Landry for his illegal crackback block, but he was not ejected nor suspended. A woozy Williams was walked to the locker room by medical staff and taken to the hospital for an MRI on his neck. He previously injured his neck in 2015, resulting in his being taken from the field in an ambulance because of numbness in one side of his body.

The Bills placed Williams on injured reserve as a result of Landry's block, and after hiring coach Sean McDermott in January, they released Williams in March. He reportedly made visits to the Jacksonville Jaguars in May, the Houston Texans in June and the Kansas City Chiefs in September, but he has yet to sign with a team or play another down since Landry landed his blow during a second-quarter run by Jay Ajayi.

Williams, 27, has told inquiring teams he remains interested in playing football despite the two neck injuries that caused him to miss 22 games between the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

"My answer has always been the same: It's yes, or else I wouldn't waste people's time," he told Buffalo radio station 1270 The Fan in September.

Williams did not respond to an ESPN interview request last week, but his willingness as recently as early this season to continue his career is notable in light of Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier's potentially life-altering back injury last week and the startling concussion symptoms experienced Sunday by Houston Texans quarterback Tom Savage. The risks of playing football have been on display with each high-profile injury.

"The game hasn't changed at all," Williams said on "The Tim Graham Show" on 1270 The Fan. "It's always been very much what we call 'a man's game.' A very aggressive game. It's just now that everybody is getting this information [about player health and safety risks] where it's now concerning because it's out there and it's in front of people. We as players understand what we go through and what we put our bodies through week in and week out. That's just the sacrifice that we do [to] entertain people on the outside.

"Knowing what people know now as far as how dangerous football can be, I can understand how people are second-guessing why players like myself, who want to go back to playing the game. But with that, we know. We understand that this game is very brutal on our bodies.

"We do it because we love the game and we know the fans give us a lot of pride, joy and support that we don't want to let them down at the same time. So it kind of goes both ways."

Williams once was an up-and-coming player for an improving Bills defense. Drafted as a cornerback from Texas in the second round of the 2011 draft, he converted to safety in 2013 and flourished. Williams signed a four-year contract extension in 2014, but his career was derailed when he attempted a diving tackle during a Sept. 20, 2015 game against the New England Patriots, requiring him to be placed on a stretcher and transported to the hospital.

He played three weeks later but experienced further numbness, resulting in season-ending surgery to shave vertebrae in his neck. Williams returned to the field for 2016 training camp but collided with wide receiver Dezmin Lewis in practice, suffering a concussion.

The final blow to Williams' playing career might have been Landry's block two months later.

"Half of me says it's a dirty hit, but then again, half of me says you're just playing the game of football," Williams said in September. "I'm not one to really make excuses. The play happened. It is what it is. The league fined him what they thought was a considerable fine.

"But my opinion doesn't really matter. I can say it was a dirty hit, but at the end of the day, hits like that are not going to stop. Could he have did it in a different way? Absolutely. He could have definitely gone lower or slowed down. Something. I didn't see him, so I feel like -- I think he was just trying to make a highlight for ESPN. But if I ever get a chance to ever go in Miami, I would definitely like to see [No.] 14 again."

Known as a hard-hitting safety, Williams believes there is a limit on how much tightening the rules on tackling can impact player safety. If defenders hit high, there is a risk of head and neck injuries. If they hit low, knee and ankle injuries can result.

"You're not going to stop injuries like this from happening; the game is just too violent," he said. "It's kind of hard to just say, 'Let's put this game like football and try to make it the safest sport' when since the game started, it's been one of the most violent sports in all of the world. So I don't really think you can protect players.

"Players are just going to have to learn how to change the way they play. You don't always have to go for the kill shot every single play. You don't always have to go for the head to make some type of noise or let your presence be known. There's other ways of doing so. Now I feel like it's the coaches' responsibility to show how or what not to do in certain situations."

Williams represents the NFL's dilemma in striving to make the game safer. He has twice suffered significant neck injuries, but his love of the game keeps him wanting to come back regardless of the risks.

Not only did Williams' release in March prevent him from earning about $8 million remaining on his contract, but life as a free agent has been difficult. He misses waking up early and the lengthy hours in meetings. He longs for the camaraderie he had with his teammates and the weekly grind of preparing for an opponent.

Williams' family urged him to consider the ramifications of his choice to continue pursuing a career playing football. He did and came to the conclusion he still could play at a high level. Until every team denies him that opportunity, he said in September, he will continue to wait for a call. Williams has told teams he is 100 percent healthy.

"We all know that one play can end your career," he told 1270 The Fan. "It sounds so cliché because I've been hearing it since I was a little kid, but it doesn't really hit a player until it happens to you. A lot of players before me said, 'Enjoy this experience because it doesn't last forever. You can lose everything you have in one play.' Sometimes I took that for granted until it happened to me."

Landry apologized to Williams immediately after the hit and wished he could take it back, acknowledging that "a guy's livelihood" was at stake.

Apology or not, Landry's hit might have ended Williams' career. More than a year after the play, Landry continues his career as the Dolphins face the Bills this Sunday at New Era Field.

"I don't think any player would want to go out of a game that they love, deep down in their heart, [not on their own] terms," Williams said. "You think about it -- you're working your whole life to get to the highest level. You get to the highest level, you're playing at a high level. You're doing all the right things. And then next thing you know, you're out of the league because of someone else. If you think about it, anybody in my position would feel some type of way about it."

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