Jets rookie defensive lineman Leonard Williams tackles some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: Are you in touch with your dad Clenon at all, or no?
A: Yeah, every once in a while.
Q: When was the last time?
A: [Thursday], actually.
Q: What did he tell you, what did you tell him?
A: He just told me that he’s proud of me, and he watches me play all the time, and hears about me, and he’s excited for me to get my first sack (laugh).
Q: How often are you allowed to speak to him?
A: Not that often.
Q: Have you ever visited him, at the Marion Correctional Institution in Ocala, Fla.?
A: I have before when I was in Florida, but not since I’ve been like to college.
Q: How long does he have to stay there?
A: I think he has like three more years.
Q: What was that like for you talking to him that night?
A: We talk pretty often. It’s not like this is my first time talking to him in a few years or something like that, but it’s always good hearing from him, and seeing how excited he is about me being where I am today. It’s unfortunate that he wasn’t able to be there in person, but he’s definitely one of my biggest fans, and I know that, and he tells me all the time.
Q: How do you feel about the predicament he got himself into — robbery with a deadly weapon?
A: I don’t know, I feel nothing about it anymore. I’ve had a lot of feelings about it when I was younger and when it first happened, but I made it where I am now with my mother and other family members and stuff like that. I obviously still care about him, I love him, but I don’t know. I really don’t feel too much about it anymore.
Q: You were how old when he was put away?
A: I was a freshman in high school.
Q: It was a shock, right?
A: Yeah. And that was my first time playing football, so he basically missed me playing football like my whole life.
Q: Have you ever been to London?
A: No, that’s my first time out of the country.
Q: Do you have any preconceived notions about London yet?
A: Nah, I’m just excited to go ’cause I want to travel one day.
Q: Are you recognized back in Morristown, N.J.?
A: It’s like everywhere I go, to be honest. It’s my hair, to be honest.
Q: Ever think of cutting it?
A: No, not yet.
Q: Will you?
A: Probably eventually, like when I’m older (laugh). Yeah, once it starts going gray.
Q: Do you have a guy that trims it up here?
A: No, I usually do it with my mom.
Q: Is she up here this week?
A: Yeah, she’s coming this week.
Q: She wasn’t here for the opener?
A: No, she wasn’t.
Q: How excited is she?
A: She’s really excited.
Q: Tell me what your mom has meant to you.
A: She’s meant everything to me. I had four siblings, and she was the only parent taking care of all of us, and made sure that I stayed in school and did the right thing, so she definitely pushed me to be here.
Q: Describe your 2-year-old daughter Leana.
A: She’s doing awesome, she’s talking a lot right now, I FaceTime her pretty often, and she kind of repeats like everything everybody says (smiles). She’s pretty fun, she likes animals and stuff like that. They take her to the zoo a lot.
Q: Who’s they?
A: My mom and her mom.
Q: She hasn’t come here yet, right?
A: She’s coming this weekend.
Q: What is fatherhood like?
A: It’s pretty crazy. It was harder in college, but it’s a lot easier now being able to see her more often and stuff like that.
Q: Does she have hair like you?
A: Yeah (smile). She dresses it up more, obviously, I just let mine go.
Q: How do you handle the lack of privacy?
A: I don’t know. … I really want to ask a vet like how do they handle it?, ’cause I’m sure they’ve been dealing with it for a long time, so they’ve found ways to deal with it. I love it when I’m on the field and when I’m in a football environment, when I’m in a uniform and stuff like that, when it’s time to like be recognized by fans. But when I’m just living my regular life, I just want to be regular, and it’s like you’re really not regular, so it’s hard.
Q: How good can this defense be?
A: Already we have 10 turnovers compared to last year we only had 13 overall. I’m new to the team, but just seeing those statistics so far, if we continue at this pace, we could be one of the greatest defenses. We all believe in one another. Our front seven is gonna trust our secondary, and then our secondary’s gonna trust our front seven.
Q: Personal goals?
A: Just play the best I can every game. Let my teammates know that I’m accountable and that they could trust me in big-time situations and trust that I’m gonna do my assignment every play.
Q: You don’t feel any pressure at all being a first-round pick. Why is that?
A: I mean, ’cause I feel like I’ve kind of been in the light all my life. I was a four-star [prospect] coming out of high school. I feel like if you’re a starter no matter what, if you’re a free agent or a first-round pick, there’s always gonna be pressure. I feel like I’ve just been used to playing under pressure, so it’s like just a normal thing now.
Q: What’s it like playing in front of these Jets fans at MetLife Stadium?
A: Oh, it’s great. I love the atmosphere, I love the stadium, I love the fans … and I can’t wait to play in there again this week.
Q: You’ve only played one regular-season game there. Was it electric?
A: Yeah it definitely was. When we were on defense it was really loud.
Q: Who’s the most intense guy on gameday?
A: I’ll say [Damon] Snacks Harrison gets pretty intense sometimes on gamedays before we go out to the field. He tries to hype everyone up.
Q: What is your gameday routine?
A: I don’t really have a routine. I’m not like superstitious or anything like that, like I don’t have to do the same thing every game to like feel like I have to play well or anything like that. I basically just make sure I have my headphones because I like to just zone out and listen to my music and visualize the game and focus on my plays and stuff like that.
Q: What do you think it’s going to be like when you get your first sack?
A: I got some in the preseason, but they didn’t count. So now that it counts, it’s gonna feel great.
Q: Do you have a sack dance?
A: I do the Ultimate Warrior (smile). I’ve been doing that since college.
Q: Do you consider yourself an ultimate warrior on the field?
A: Yeah (chuckle).
Q: You seem like too nice a guy to play this sport. Tell me about the transformation you undergo when you put that uniform on.
A: Oh yeah, my coach told me that quite a few times, too. He says it’s crazy to see me on the field being like aggressive and stuff like that. He says like off the field I’m just a nice chill guy. It’s just something about competing, and hitting someone. I don’t know. … It’s a different feeling. You can’t just go out and like hit somebody on the streets or you’re gonna go to jail, but like when you’re on the field, you could just take your aggression out on someone, and I don’t know, it’s pretty cool.
Q: How much stronger have you gotten since you were drafted?
A: I’ll say I got a lot stronger, because our program here is pretty good. We do bod pods pretty often — it tests your like body fat percentage and stuff like that.
Q: What’s yours at now?
A: I have 19 percent body fat, and I weigh 310.
Q: And how about when you got here?
A: When I first got here I was like 22 percent body fat, and I weighed 320.
Q: Have you been subjected to trash talk yet?
A: So far, it really hasn’t been much. There was a lot more in college.
Q: Do you ever initiate it?
A: (Chuckle) Sometimes.
Q: Give me an example.
A: I can’t give examples (smile). It’s bad.
Q: You do it for what purpose? To get inside the other guy’s head?
A: Yeah.
Q: Does it work?
A: It works sometimes, yeah. I usually don’t initiate it though.
Q: If someone else starts it, does it get you riled up?
A: Yeah.
Q: Describe Muhammad Wilkerson.
A: Usually he’s a real laid back, quiet dude in meetings and stuff like that, but he’s always giving me tips and stuff like that every once in a while. But in a game he’s a lot more vocal when we’re on the sideline. And just watching him on film, he’s a great player.
Q: Darrelle Revis.
A: He comes to work humble and quiet every day and just works hard. He’s just really consistent, like probably the most consistent guy on our team.
Q: How are you going to handle it when Sheldon Richardson comes back from his four-game suspension?
A: I don’t know, I haven’t really thought about it. … I don’t know what’s gonna happen, so I can’t assume anything.
Q: Have they started calling you “Big Cat” yet?
A: They do it every once in a while.
Q: What do they call you, Leo?
A: Yeah, they just call me Leo. I mean, none of my friends really call me Big Cat, it’s mostly like fans and stuff.
Q: Who are athletes in other sports you admire?
A: Muhammad Ali, Kobe Bryant.
Q: Do you have a car yet?
A: No.
Q: When are you getting it?
A: It was supposed to be here sometime this week, but I have to do some more car insurance paperwork, so I have to wait till after I do that.
Q: What kind of car was it?
A: Jeep.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: “Troy.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Will Smith.
Q: Favorite actress?
A: Angelina Jolie.
Q: Favorite entertainer/singer?
A: Drake.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Steak, baked potato, asparagus.
Q: Who’s the biggest eater?
A: (Pause) Snacks (laugh). It fits his nickname. I’m assuming they gave it to him for a reason.
Q: What do you miss most about college?
A: I feel like it’s a lot more people together in college. In the NFL, people have lives and families that they have to … you know, everyone just comes and goes their own separate ways kind of like after you leave here. … That’s why having dinner with the D-line [Thursday night] was a big thing for me, and I feel like it brought us closer together. I feel like being in college, that’s one of the biggest things was that we were just close.
Q: Anything you want to say to Jets fans about Leo?
A: Be there this week. I expect to see some of you all wearing No. 92, and Big Cat’s ready to play! (laugh).