RENTON — The road to redemption started this week along the shores of Lake Washington.
For a pair of receivers who were once can’t-miss prospects, the past three days of Seahawks minicamp have been the beginning of a potential career resurrection.
Reggie Williams, the No. 9 pick of the 2004 draft, and Mike Williams, the No. 10 pick a year later, both went from college stars to NFL washouts, and now both are trying to get back into the game. Invited to Seahawks minicamp as tryout players, both got a taste of the league once again, hoping familiar settings can help them get back into the league.
For Reggie Williams, this week was a return home. He played high school football at Lakes High in Lakewood, and starred as a receiver just across the lake at the University of Washington.
When he arrived in town Monday, he cracked the window on the drive from the airport just to get a whiff of home.
“It smells good,” he said. “… It’s just home. It smells like home. Like when you walk into your mom’s house.”
Mike Williams, meanwhile, is back with a coach he knows well having played under Pete Carroll at USC.
According to a report on the NFL Web site, Mike Williams was signed by the team after Thursday’s practice. The team didn’t announce the move, but a team spokesman said the signing was expected to happen. Reggie Williams may very well have done enough to get signed before the team’s next minicamp as well.
“I’m just so elated to be back out here playing football again,” said Reggie Williams. “It’s a blessing from God.”
Reggie Williams struggled in Jacksonville with injuries and consistency, and also faced legal troubles. He was arrested for DWI and marijuana charges, though in both cases the charges were dropped, then in 2009 was arrested for cocaine possession, leading to an eventual guilty plea. When his rookie contract expired, Jacksonville, and the rest of the league, decided not to sign him last offseason.
During his year away from the game, Reggie Williams said he has grown as a person. In the past year, he has gotten engaged and had a son, Rush.
“I became engaged in the last year, became a father in the last year,” he said. “A lot of change, good change… I’ve definitely in the last year learned a lot. I’ve learned from my mistakes and become a better person, a better man, because of those mistakes.”
And for both players, any cockiness that might have come with being a college star or a first-round pick has been turned to humility caused by their time away from the game.
“In my early years I was more focused on fighting the system, fighting coaches that I thought didn’t like me or I thought were out to get me, and now I’m just trying to control what I can control, and that’s just being in great shape and working hard,” Mike Williams said. “Everything else will take care of itself.”
Mike Williams showed some promise as a rookie, but his numbers quickly declined and he was out of the league after just three seasons. One issue he admittedly battled was weight, and the 6-foot-5 receiver came into this minicamp a fit-looking 235 pounds.
Asked what he weighed a year earlier, Mike Williams said with a laugh, “A lot … Night and day from where I am now. I feel good, I feel explosive.”
Both players have the size — Reggie Williams is listed as 6-4, 212 pounds — and talent to still be productive in the NFL, and both showed flashes this week of the pass-catching ability that made them first-round picks.
“I’ve been playing football since I was five years old, so it’s kind of like riding a bike,” Mike Williams said. “The bike’s just a little bit rusty right now.”
Despite not finding a team last year, Reggie Williams said he stayed confident that he would get back into the game while spending the last year in Houston. Mike Williams admits, however, that he had his doubts.
“Yeah there was concern,” he said. “Concern maybe the ship has sailed.”
Three sign tenders
Seahawks general manager John Schneider confirmed that receiver Ben Obomanu and center Chris Spencer signed their restricted free agent tenders, and linebacker David Hawthorne signed his exclusive rights tender.
Seahawks concerned for Hill
Linebacker Leroy Hill was not at this week’s minicamp having been told to stay home by Carroll and Schneider following Saturday’s arrest for domestic violence. Asked Thursday about Hill’s situation, Schneider didn’t give a lot of details, but admitted he wasn’t happy about the situation.
“We’re very concerned,” he said. “We have to wait for some guidance from the league office on it. Other than that I probably shouldn’t comment on it any further.”
Hill, who pled guilty to a marijuana possession charge stemming from a 2009 arrest, could be facing a suspension from the league.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
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