Steve Serby sits down to talk some football and philosophy with Giants rookie running back and fourth-round pick Andre Williams. The Heisman finalist also discusses why it’s important to be a well-rounded person.
Q: When you were 2, you had a near-death experience?
A: Yeah I got hit by a car when I was 2. I just remember getting picked up by the helicopter. My mom said that my heart had stopped for around 10 minutes and they had to resuscitate me. I remember being strapped down in the stretcher and opening my eyes and seeing it was a red helicopter that was landing in the field, it was like an athletic field of a high school. I just remember seeing it land, and then the next thing I remember is riding into the hospital in one of those, it was like a cage stretcher, and just had tubes everywhere. … I had like a tube in my urethra, and it just hurt. My mom told me after that, I was different, that’s when I started using big words.
Q: Sports Illustrated called you a Renaissance Man.
A: The way I think about it, back in the day, the kings and the queens, what they did with their kids is just made them learn how to do everything. They wanted them to learn how to sword fight, how to ride horses, read and write math, as well as understanding politics and what it was going to take for them to take over the kingdom one day, and that was called being an aristocrat. So, I think of life as the same way, I want to be an aristocrat, I want to learn as much as I can. I don’t want to just fit myself into one little box and say that that’s life, because I think life is bigger than that.
Q: What’s your favorite book?
A: Ayn Rand wrote a book called The Fountainhead, and she also wrote Atlas Shrugged.
Q: If you could go back to any point in history, where would you want to go?
A: I don’t think I want to move backwards through history at all, I think I like where I am (chuckle).
Q: What is your running style?
A: I think I was blessed with a unique combination of size and speed. I’m over 230 pounds. I’m still moving like I’m maybe 210 pounds. I can be agile at times, but I don’t shy away from contact. I’m best when I’m moving north and south and I’m violent with my shoulders and my hands, I use them as weapons.
Q: What is your on-field mentality?
A: I’m really not a talker. I’m calm. I like to stay cool and collected and just run through the game in my head, and just watch it unfold. I never really get too hyped. My on-field and off-field personalities are similar, I think. I’m just really mellow. On the field I might just look really focused, like you’re going to look at me, it’ll be like, “What is he thinking about?” but I’m just calm.
Q: You’re mellow, but you like delivering punishment.
A: Yeah (laugh). I guess that’s a little odd…That’s true (laugh).
Q: Why do you like delivering punishment so much?
A: I’ve always just been the bigger kid. I like to roughhouse people, I like to abuse the DBs. I feel like that contributes to success later on in the game, like in the fourth quarter, I’m going to be stronger than my opponent.
Q: So when you look in the eyes of some defenders in the fourth quarter, what do you see?
A: You see that sometimes they don’t want it anymore, they’re tired or they lost a step, or you hit them a certain way and as they’re going to the ground you just hear them making a grunt, just like a defeating sound, and that’s satisfying.
Q: How deadly is your stiff-arm?
A: (Laugh) Sometimes I feel like the stiff-arm thing got blown out of proportion after that Maryland game. My body is built differently, I think. People look at my arms and think I’m putting up 350, 400 pounds and it’s not true. But my arms are so long, that once I get that extension, they do hold power… How deadly is it (chuckle). I mean, if I catch you right, you might go down.
Q: At Boston College, you had 42 carries for 339 yards against N.C. State.
A: I grew into the role of being a workhorse and carrying the ball as many times as necessary and…it was fun. It was a lot of fun.
Q: Your impressions of Coach Coughlin during the Combine interview?
A: Coach Coughlin, he’s good at reading personalities…I don’t know him all that well yet, but I just understand that whatever it is about him, people like to rally around him, not just the team, but his coaching staff, they rally around him as well. There’s just a real cohesive factor to what we have going on here, and that’s good for team morale. I really like and respect Coach Coughlin. He’s about winning, but he’s about winning the right way. He’s got a real honorable spirit about him.
Q: Which running backs do you admire?
A: A.P.’s [Adrian Peterson] got a violent style. Marshawn Lynch, he’s something different too. He’s a little shorter, he’s got a little lower center of gravity, so the way he runs is different than A.P., but they’re both real violent runners. I like how fluid Arian Foster is in the open field.
Q: Your teammate, Rashad Jennings?
A: Rashad, he’s a cool guy. You could tell that he likes to think outside the box. He’s got a real good business mind, you can tell that he articulates himself well, and likes to think about the big picture. I like that about him ‘cause I feel like I’m similar in a lot of ways.
Q: What’s his style as a running back?
A: Rashad kind of reminds me of Arian Foster, I feel like they run kind of similar. He’s just smooth like…I don’t know if he has the greatest feet, I think out of the running back group, the person that has the best feet is Mike Cox. But Rashad is just a little less explosive than Mike, but more controlled, and he knows how to use that to his advantage.
Q: Do you play with a chip on your shoulder?
A: I don’t think so. I play because I just revel in the idea that God created me as a superior athlete. I just want to build myself and grow myself and just explore what that really means to be an athlete at the professional level.
Q: What drives you?
A: That same idea, just wanting to know how good I can really be. It’s crazy because everybody looks at athletes like they’re something more than human, but the way I see it, like, we’re all so finite. We’re just finite creatures. We only get to see life through little 24-hour lenses, and you only have a certain amount of hours to get better in a day. And it’s just a struggle to use every one of those hours when there’s so much other things going in the world. That’s the struggle, just to use that little bit of time you have to get better, and keep building yourself, because you’re either building or breaking yourself down with the time you have.
Q; Who is your biggest influence?
A: My older brother (nicknamed Danique) in terms of football. I started watching A. P, in high school, and he really influenced my game a lot.
Q: How so?
A: Just the way he goes from 0-60 when the ball is snapped, there’s no low gear for him. The way he uses his arms and his body to gain yards after contact, he’s just a violent runner.
Q: How much do you squat?
A: The last time I squatted, it was around 550, I think.
Q: You’re proving everyone wrong that you can’t catch passes out of the backfield?
A: I’m trying to. I’m trying too (smile). It’s not something I’ve done in the past, but it’s definitely something that I’ve worked on. I know that I can’t be a well-rounded running back without being able to catch the ball so that’s something that I’ve been working on.
Q: Was that your idea to hire the sports psychologist?
A: It wasn’t my idea. I met somebody at the Walter Camp Retreat Banquet thing, his name was Bobby Brown, he was a receiver out of Notre Dame, I think he played in the league too for a little while. He had suggested it because he knew Dr. Bill (Thierfelder) and he said that “he would definitely have some words and some drills that would benefit you.” I was in Georgia anyway, and he was in South Carolina, so I went and drive up there and saw him. He had little ping ping balls where you have to throw it up and catch it with two fingers. He had some other balls (racquetballs) that he would hold them and then drop one and I would have to use my opposite hand to catch it before it hit the ground. These were like drills to really just train your eyes and calm your hands down.
Q: What are your favorite hobbies?
A: I like to read, I like to write. I really just like to explore my business mind, I’m working on a couple of different ideas right now. I’m writing a book, and I’m working on a patent for something that I invented. It’s really just something that’s going to facilitate my run style, protect my shoulders. … It’s like a compression shirt with a shoulder stabilizing apparatus built into it.
Q: Do you still like milk the way you did as a kid?
A: (Chuckle) Not quite as much. I picked up ice cream now. Haagen- Dazs. Or maybe Ben & Jerry’s.
Q: What’s it like playing for the New York Giants in this market?
A: I grew up here (Schnecksville, Pa.), this is where I’m from. I’m around my family. My girlfriend and her family are from Connecticut. I’m just comfortable here. Blue was always my favorite color too (smile). It just feels right.
Q: Did you go to Giants games as a kid?
A: The thing is, the first time I step onto a field at a professional football game, I’ll be playing in it.
Q: What do you think it’ll be like for you Sunday night?
A: (Chuckle) I mean, it’s going to be football, that’s the way I think about it. It’s another game of football with bigger, better players and I’m one of those bigger, better players so let’s play.
Q: Do you think as a rookie you can make an impact?
A: I think that the Giants drafted me because they respect my game, and they think that I could contribute to success towards winning a championship. And I know that I am a rookie and that I have a lot to learn in terms of building experience, building technique, and just getting stronger. The best thing I can do is just make sure that I understand what the philosophy as an offense is, and just learn and absorb as much as I can, so that when it’s time for my name to be called and to put what I know into practice, I’m capable of it.
Q: What’s your message to Giants fans?
A: I’m not going to do too much dancing, I’m not going to do too much talking. I’m focused, I’m going to run the ball, I’m going to run the ball hard, I’m going to punish the defense, and try to daze one of those D- Backs, so Victor Cruz could get shiggiddy on ‘em.
Q: How would I use shiggiddy so I can impress my colleagues?
A: If somebody’s got you in man coverage, you got to get shiggiddy if you’re trying to get open. You got to do something special.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: I’m not a politician, but I want to sit down with John F. Kennedy. I want to know why they wanted his life. I think that there was more to that than what they tell us on TV. I guess I would want to talk to my grandfather (Alfred), I never met him, he died when my dad was young.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: Watchman.
Q: Favorite entertainer/singer?
A: I like John Legend’s voice. It’s real soulful.