RENTON — In his long and distinguished football career, not much is missing for Kevin Williams. One of the game’s top defensive lineman since his rookie season of 2003, he has been chosen for six Pro Bowls and been named a first-team All-Pro five times.
Indeed, Williams has accomplished almost everything imaginable in his NFL career, including four playoff appearances in 11 previous seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. About the only thing left undone was the chance to play in the Super Bowl.
A week from now, the 34-year-old Williams will finally get that opportunity.
“To be able to play in the Super Bowl, that’s the ultimate goal,” said Williams, who signed a one-year free-agent contract with Seattle back in June. “And being able to do that with this great group of guys is huge for me.
“I’ve played a long time and I’ve been to the Pro Bowl, been an All-Pro and made pretty good money. But I think this is the top for me, to go to the Super Bowl. And to win would really take the cake.”
When Williams became a free agent after last season, the chance to play for a championship was foremost in his thinking. He came close once before as the Vikings reached the NFC title game in 2009, only to lose in overtime to New Orleans, the eventual Super Bowl champion.
Ironically, one of the other teams Williams considered during free agency last year was New England, which will face Seattle in Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
“But (the Seahawks) had a good nucleus coming back from last season,” he said, “and I just thought it was the best fit for me to come here. … My thoughts were on having a chance to go to the Super Bowl, and I thought these guys had a chance to do it. And I think I made a great decision.”
Williams’ role changed midway through his first Seahawks season, and for an unfortunate reason. Starting nose tackle Brandon Mebane was placed on injured reserve after tearing a hamstring muscle in a Nov. 9 game against the New York Giants. The absence of Mebane, who had been playing exceptionally well, created an apparent void in the middle of Seattle’s defensive front.
Into that void stepped Williams, sort of. Though Mebane was specifically a nose tackle, Williams has been like most of Seattle’s defensive tackles and ends, lining up in different positions depending on the situation.
“He’s all over the field, whether it’s (tackle), whether it’s end,” said Seattle defensive end Michael Bennett. “He knows the game. It was hard for him to come in here and have to play at the (same) level that Mebane has been playing the last couple of years, but Kevin’s done a great job.
“It’s not very often you get to play with a legend like Kevin,” Bennett added. “(It’s special) getting a chance to play with someone as great as him. … I told him it was about time he stopped playing for the losing teams and started playing for the winning teams. But it’s good for Kevin to get a chance to be in this situation (of going to the Super Bowl).”
In the aftermath of Seattle’s 28-22 overtime victory against Green Bay in last Sunday’s NFC championship game, it took a few minutes for Williams to absorb the feeling of finally reaching the Super Bowl. But others in his family caught on at once. Williams was headed to Seattle’s locker room at CenturyLink Field with his young son, who had joined him on the field, when he noticed tears of joy in the boy’s eyes.
“But I thought about it a little more that night,” Williams said. “Once the initial shock (of the dramatic win over the Packers) wore off, I told my wife about three times, ‘Wow, we’re going to the Super Bowl.’”
The Super Bowl is a prize for great teams, but not always for great players. In almost 50 years of Super Bowls, some of the game’s top stars never had a chance to play in the NFL championship game. Among them, elite running backs like Barry Sanders, Eric Dickerson and LaDainian Tomlinson. And for the Seahawks, three NFL Hall-of-Fame players who played for the team — Steve Largent, Cortez Kennedy and Warren Moon.
“When you’re a young guy coming into the league,” Williams said, “you’re always thinking, ‘I’ve got next year, I’ve got next year.’ But then the next thing you know, 10 years are gone and you haven’t seen a Super Bowl.
“So you have to take advantage of the opportunity you get,” he said, “and I’m just enjoying this one right now.”
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