Former Raven Wally Williams On Suggs' Injury; Bounties In The NFL
Wally Williams, a former Baltimore Raven's Offensive Lineman, called into the Norris and Davis show and talked about Terrell Suggs' injury and bounties in the NFL.
Williams spent ten seasons in the NFL, two with the Ravens, and like Suggs, suffered an Achilles injury. He explained the kinds of feelings Suggs might be going through post surgery.
"Doubt. That's the first thing that comes to mind when you have a significant injury. Especially Achilles. It is a part of your body that you definitely miss when it's not working," he said.
However, unlike Suggs who only has a partially torn Achilles, Williams had a fully torn Achilles. He gives Raven's fans hope when he explained his recovery time.
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"I was back, from the day I had surgery, to on the field in six months," he said.
Williams also said that Suggs' injury will allow a younger player to have an opportunity to show of his talent.
On the show Williams also discussed the Chris Carter situation in which Carter admitted to having a bounty on Linebacker Bill Romanowski to protect himself. Williams played against Romanowski and said he was a really intense player.
"He was as intense of a player as you wanted to see. If he could get under your skin, whether it be an extra punch here, a shot in the back there, he was gonna do it," he said.
Williams also said bounty or not, as a player your objective was to shut down the best players on the field.
"If you were a good player the objective was to try to shut you down by any means necessary. You learn that mentality in high school," he said.
Williams goes on to say that he does not think this type of mentality will change.
"The mentality is not going to change. Look, you don't go into a game saying we are just going to tackle and block you and do the best we can. No. We are here to impose our will on the opponent and if you understand the definition of that you know that this is a rough and tough gladiator mentality type of sport and you're there to take the King down." he said.
Also making headlines recently is the concerns over the long term effects of concussions. Williams said as a player you have an idea of the risks you are facing but not necessarily the long term effects.
"What you may not know is the long term effects of all these things. A lot of people don't. We just learned a lot of this research." he said.
Williams says the NFL should be more conscious of this research and do more to help provide health benefits for NFL players.
-Sarah Davis
