THE CANADIAN PRESS
As Jonathan Williams bobbed and weaved and broke out into open field last week while turning in the single-most explosive offensive performance in Ottawa REDBLACKS history, there was one obvious question on the minds of 24,242 disbelieving and delirious fans at TD Place.
The question: Just where was this prolific running back in the weeks when the REDBLACKS offence couldn’t seem to find an end-zone in their new home, too often scoring in single digits, averaging just 15 points a game and frustrating even the most patient in their fan base?
The same fans were asking it again this week when the CFL selected Williams as the league’s offensive player of the week, which has to be considered something of a major award in light of the growing pains the REDBLACKS’s offence has experienced.
In just his second game in an Ottawa uniform, Williams ran roughshod on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, scoring two touchdowns while carrying the ball 21 times for 180 yards – his best, a lift-the-fans-out-their-seat scamper in the second quarter that had fans thinking maybe this was the night – and catching two passes for another 49.
So he was where?
Truth be known, less than a month ago the hard-running back was back home in Greenville, North Carolina, hoping his cell phone would ring with a team in need of help in the backfield.
“I was just on the couch…basically homeless,” said Williams, who speaks much softer than he runs. “I was doing (construction and landscaping) jobs here and there.”
“I was staying with family, going from house to house, sleeping on couches, trying to survive, maintaining.”
“The lowest of the low. Is it worth it? Being here right now? Yeah, definitely. This is a great feeling, to get back out here doing what I love to do.”
Williams may have been “basically homeless” in September but in short order, he’s on his way to becoming a household name in Ottawa.
The most excited person not in attendance for his breakout game was back in Greenville, his mother Evelyn following her son’s exploits on the internet. For one, she was happy her son had found work, and two, ecstatic for his performance.
Ma Evelyn, whose name is tattooed on her son’s neck, couldn’t even wait for Jonathan to call home. She let her fingers do the walking not long after the cheering had moved from TD Place and out onto Bank Street.
“(Ma) was yelling through the roof and, you know, once I talked to ma, everybody knew . . . if you know what I mean,” said Williams, who once rushed for 359 yards in a high school game. “My friends were smiling from ear to ear.”
“But I was just doing what I do and the credit goes to the O-line. Big ups to the O-line. It was a good feeling coming out in my second game and us winning.”
“I didn’t really know how many yards I had but I had a good feeling about it. I feel like I’m in my zone out there.”
It’s hard to imagine, Williams was nothing more than just another new face at his first REDBLACKS practice. In fact, he was one of six new faces at practice September 15th with the REDBLACKS coming off a bye week and a 7-5 loss to the B.C. Lions for their seventh straight loss with just 30 points to show offensively in their previous four games.
At the time, Williams had REDBLACKS head coach Rick Campbell in his corner after the pair worked together last season in Calgary and the REDBLACKS need for a back was great in that Chevon Walker has just gone down for the season with a broken arm.
But the REDBLACKS didn’t rush things and they gave Williams two weeks to learn the offence with the early results suggest he’s a quick study.
His 180-yard total in Week 15 was the second-highest, single-game total in the CFL this season behind only a 229-yard day by Edmonton Eskimos back John White.
The yardage easily surpassed his previous CFL best of 18 rushes for 82 games in the one and only game he started for Calgary last season, as a member of the Toronto Argonauts.
Now Williams heads west to BC, his fast-growing fan-base hoping for something of an encore despite not leaving himself an easy act to follow.
As for the rest of the squad, life around the Stadium is always a little more fun, coming off a win, which the REDBLACKS have only done twice this year.
REDBLACKS head coach Rick Campbell was even spotted leaving the field last Friday doing a low-key – as is his style – fist-pump before walking to shake hands with Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea, the former star linebacker who might have wished he were on the field trying to stop Williams.
“My wife sure likes hanging around with me more this week,” joked Campbell. “Really, I was glad to see the guys get rewarded. Give our guys credit…the effort and attitude have been real good. A lot of times we were close and couldn’t get it done.”
“We were thrilled to get the win and we celebrated a little and it felt good for the evening. But it’s on to BC.”
“(Williams) made the most of his opportunity. It sure helps everyone when you’re consistently making first downs and, not just that, but you’re eating the clock too.”
“Jonathan was able to extend runs. He’s very explosive. The line would create the initial crease and he took advantage of it.”
“But the thing about football is that you must have short-term memory whether you win or you lose. Now it’s on to BC.”
Campbell is right about turning the page. Just the same, Williams’ big game will be one of the long-lasting memories of Season One.
