Roy Williams is in NFL headlines again and this time not for demanding a $76K engagement ring back from a break-up. Hitting a preseason camp with the third team of his career, ESPN Chicago reported that Williams asked Chicago Bears rookie Jimmy Young to carry his pads in after practice.
Young did what all rookies would do….well all rookies not named Dez Bryant…and carried them in.
Last season, Williams was dissed by Bryant, who is cocky in nature and refused to be a hauling boy. Roy had to have felt disrespected with that incident in Dallas but not this season in Chicago. After Young did the deed, he received a text message from another player who wrote:
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“I’m glad you didn’t pull a Dez Bryant”
Bryant had one of those “above the law” attitudes when Williams asked him to carry and came out of that fiasco looking like a dick as the media beat that incident like a dead horse, keeping it in the headlines for several days; and we’re all still talking about today.
Williams who has gotten into the headlines more for off-the-wall incidents lately, laughed it off and seemed happy to be involved again in rookie traditions.
In addition to the engagement ring fiasco that led to lawsuits being filed this offseason, Roy refused to tip a pizza delivery guy years ago while playing in Detroit. That incident went viral after Williams admitted he was cheap and never tipped the drivers. Scott Bergren, the President of Pizza Hut sent a letter to Roy that included:
“We’d like to issue you a challenge. Agree to work as a delivery driver for Pizza Hut for just one day in Detroit, and we’ll forgive all your previous tipping transgressions. Furthermore, we’ll collect all the tips you receive and donate them to the World Food Program as part of our World Hunger Relief Week.”
Good natured at heart and knowing how to cut it up, Williams accepted the challenge and spent one night in the shoes (and uniform) of a delivery guy and hit the streets of Dearborn, Michigan dropping off pies to raise money for the charity.
Have to admit, when his numbers are down on the field, this wideout has a knack for getting him and his team’s names in the headlines while this time getting Dez inadvertently slapped in the face.
Hats off to Jimmy Young, maybe the veterans will show a little mercy when it comes time for rookie hazing haircuts and not give him one as bad as the “Tim Tebow halo” look, although last time we saw him, he had the reverse halo thing going like in his TCU Frogs headshot here.
Used with permission of the author.
Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.
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