Raised in St. Louis, Jameson Williams rocks with Detroit. When he scores touchdowns at Ford Field, he likes to leap into the crowd. He's been part of the crowd at Little Caesars Arena and Comerica Park, delighted to learn that they give out "free goals" at the end of Red Wings games when the opposing team pulls the goalie -- "like no safeties in cover zero." He's participated in turkey drives and coat drives for families in need. He considers this "part of our job and what we do it for, it’s for the city."
"We’re just trying to put smiles on people's faces," Williams said.
These people are his people. But other people, says Williams, "tend to forget where we came from." As the Lions prepare to embark on a playoff run Detroit will always remember, outsiders "just think everything's been easy," he said, like the best team in the NFC wasn't once the punchline of the NFL, like the Lions didn't have to crawl "through the sewer," as Dan Campbell once put it, to escape the dungeon of their own division. But inside the walls of Allen Park, "everybody's got the same mindset," Williams said.
"We don’t look at it like, 'We the No. 1 seed, oh, we the best team.' We still go out and practice and play like we nothin," he said. "We’re still trying to go out there and get a win and play hard for our brothers next to us. I feel like people use this season to forget that we still got that grit in us. And it’s the playoffs, so you gotta go out there and get a win, or you gonna be on the couch."
He grinned at that last line, funny because it's true. And because Williams lives for these stakes on this stage, an Alabama product who once hung 184 yards and two touchdowns on Georgia in the SEC championship only to have the curtain come down later that season when he tore his ACL in the national championship. The Lions went on to draft him 12th overall just the same, and Williams said with a shrug that he would have been the first receiver off the board if not for his injury. Among them, only eighth overall pick Drake London had more receiving yards per game this season than Williams (66.7).
Williams cracked the 1,000-yard threshold on his final catch of the regular season. The Lions' win over the Vikings -- and the No. 1 seed -- was already in the bag, but they funneled him a four-yard pass before draining the clock on their last possession. Williams smiled Wednesday and said, "Shoutout to my coaches for forcing that on me. I appreciate them a lot for that. It was huge to me and my people and my goals."
"But I’m past that, though. We got three games left I’m trying to focus up on," he said. "Trying to get something on my fingers."
To get a ring, the Lions will need Williams' hands. He broke through this year after injuries and a gambling suspension cost him 16 games over his first two NFL seasons. He and Amon-Ra St. Brown were the only 1,000-yard duo in the league at wide receiver, despite Williams' losing two more games to another suspension for taking a banned substance. Williams is accountable for his actions and owns his mistakes, which have largely been innocent. He's been guilty of immaturity more than anything else.
It took some time for Campbell and Williams to see eye to eye. They've "bumped heads in certain situations" in the past, Williams said earlier this season. Campbell only ever wanted what was best for one of the Lions' most talented players. With public opinion turning on the 23-year-old again this season after his second suspension, Campbell told the world that he judges "people over what’s in their heart, and I know what this kid’s made of and he’s worth hanging with."
"That's my head coach," Williams said. "I've been through a lot playing under him. ... It's big to me, him having faith in me and being along with me."
A relationship built on trust allows Campbell to get after Williams when he needs to. When Williams was assessed an admittedly soft taunting penalty after making a catch against the Bears last month and spinning the ball in the direction of rival Tyrique Stevenson, who had taken a cheap shot at Williams earlier this season, Campbell pulled him to the sideline, stepped in front of wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El and gave Williams the "ass-chewing" he needed -- mostly so he could put him right back in the game. Williams responded a few drives later with an 82-yard touchdown.
"I got a lot of pride with him, man," Campbell said Thursday. "I love that kid because he’s had to endure a lot, and look, some of it his own doing and he knows that. That's what I appreciate. It took him a minute to buy into what we were doing. He can be a little hardheaded and it’s also why you love him. It’s why I love him. But he’s learned along the way and he’s growing.
"Honestly, you want to say, what is the best thing he’s done? Man, when he finally dropped the armor and he endeared himself to his teammates. He became a part of the team. That took place towards the end of last year. You could start to feel it. And it’s only gotten better and better and better."
Campbell doesn't want to take too much credit here: "I don’t know if I did anything about that." But by demanding more out of Williams while also having his back, Campbell has been able to push him to new heights. The coach is nothing if not honest. He addresses Williams from the heart: "You try to give him the reality of the situation, you tell him what you think about him, give him the good and the bad."
"And tell him where you really believe he can go and what you think he is," said Campbell. "And then the rest is up to him."
Williams has also had the support of teammates like St. Brown and Kalif Raymond, and no one more than Jared Goff. The quarterback has been in his corner at every turn. Goff continued to throw Williams the ball when he was battling the drops early in his career, and implored him to keep his head up. He had Williams and his fellow Lions receivers out to California for throwing sessions last summer. And anytime Goff has been asked about his or the team's collective trust in Williams on the heels of certain missteps, he hasn't wavered. To wit: "We're good."
Through his growing pains, Williams has become a fan favorite in Detroit. He has dazzling speed, and undeniable charm. He is unapologetically himself -- expect for, well, when he stood up in the locker room and apologized to his teammates for his first altercation with Stevenson this season. They accepted it because they knew he meant it. As Campbell put it, "He’s part of the herd now. He’s part of the stock, and that’s the best thing ever.”
Williams' larger herd stretches across Detroit. He's a man of the city, because "the city embraces football," he said. And the people of this city "haven't really seen the Lions ballin' like this." He shares in their joy by imagining their pain. He has taken their losses on his chin, and made their story his own.
"I just live up to it with them. I treat it like I’ve been not seeing wins and stuff like that," Williams said. "I treat ‘em like family. I don’t treat ‘em like nobody different. I interact with the fans, I love the fans. I love everybody who loves me and loves Detroit football. They’re behind us, so I’m behind them."
As the lights on the Lions grow brighter, Williams remembers when they played in the dark. Those memories are motivation. So are the moments in the making: "Everybody wants to be big-time," he said. "Everybody wants to make plays. You just gotta make that play when it’s coming."
"That’s what you do it for," Williams said. "You want the eyes on you."