You think Mario Williams is feeling pressure after signing a deal with the Buffalo Bills to become the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history? Think again.
Williams knows pressure. He knew it 2006 when he was a 20-year-old kid coming out North Carolina State, drafted by a Houston Texans team with a fanbase furious the team chose Williams over both the hometown hero (Vince Young) and "the next Gale Sayers" (Reggie Bush).
Williams faced a nearly impossible challenge there, and obviously came out just fine. Everything else is a cake walk for the two-time Pro Bowler.
"I know what this city wants and needs and that's fine with me," Williams said of Buffalo, according to the Bills' official site. "That's not pressure. I play football. That's what I do. My main goal is to play football that helps us win. This city also embraced me."
Williams hasn't forgotten how difficult it was to play in a city that wasn't behind him. Neither has Charley Casserly, the NFL Network analyst who drafted Williams during his run as general manager with the Texans.
"In Houston the poor young man was booed," Casserly said. "He was ridiculed. There was a lot criticism of myself, and I purposely tried to put as much on me and take it off of him because at 20 years old and just being drafted this wasn't his fault. From there everybody was against the kid."
Williams got off to a slow start with the Texans, leading many to prematurely label him as a bust. He will face the same challenge in Buffalo, a much more supportive fanbase that will expect instant results nonetheless.
