Former Bills running back Karlos Williams is attempting a football comeback, but not before he discusses what happened with his absence from the sport.
The former rookie sensation recently opened up in an interview with The Athletic, and he had plenty to say about his time in Buffalo. He especially wanted to take time to talk about former Bills general manager Doug Whaley.
"You know what's funny?" Williams said to The Athletic. "When I was in Buffalo, I knew something was wrong when they drafted Jonathan Williams. I knew something was up. Y'all had alternative plans. Y'all bring Reggie Bush to camp and allowed him to practice? Reggie Bush went negative rushing yards for the season. And y'all release me?
"Doug Whaley can eat a d—. Doug Whaley can die in a hole and drink bleach. I'm dead serious. The reason I didn't play in the XFL is because Doug Whaley's name was on it. I'm dead serious."
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Williams had a promising rookie season with the Bills in 2015 after being a fifth-round draft pick out of Florida State. He finished the season with 93 carries for 517 yards (an amazing 5.6 yards per carry) and scored a total of nine touchdowns. But he never had another regular-season carry after that 2015 campaign.
Buffalo cut Williams in 2016 partly for showing up out of shape. He was also suspended for a substance-abuse policy violation, which eventually led to a one-year suspension in 2017.
"I've always said this is a performance-based business. The release of Karlos Williams was strictly performance-based. He came in behind the eight ball and never caught up. And there was other guys on the roster that moved ahead of him," Whaley said at the time. "In light of that, we thought, 'Why hold on to him? Why don't we give him a chance to maybe find another job out there in the league?' We weren't going to hold on to him to the end, knowing he wasn't going to make the team."
Williams then signed with the Steelers before being released only months later without every playing a down for the team. He has stayed out of football since but is currently attempting a comeback at 26. In November, Williams signed a futures contract for the 2020 CFL season.
While Williams seems bitter toward Whaley and the Bills, he also recognized his own faults in his NFL exit. He skipped the Bills' voluntary offseason conditioning program and admits he showed up to training camp "overweight." He said he didn't take the offseason seriously like he should have.
But he seems determined to come back now. He called out several teams and their current running back situations, including the Bucs, Dolphins and Rams. Williams also called out Melvin Gordon, saying he didn't deserve the money he got with the Broncos.
"I'm the most surprised that Melvin Gordon got a new contract in Denver," Williams told The Athletic. "Please explain to me what Melvin Gordon has done in his time in the league. Are you a rushing champion? No. Are you a touchdown champion? No. Do you have more receiving yards and catches out of the backfield than everyone? No. What have you done?
"And then you tried the Chargers like, 'Oh, I'm going to hold out.' You ain't done s—! What have you done to deserve this money?"
The 2020 CFL season was originally scheduled to start June 11 and end on Oct. 31, but the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is likely to impact those dates. If the CFL is unable to play, but the NFL is able to begin, then it'll be interesting to see whether an NFL franchise will take a chance on Williams.
