Just as in baseball, you're not content to stay on first. That was true for Marcus Williams, who stole second, rounded third, and headed for home after he was released by Houston and signed by the Jets three games into the 2014 season.
"I guess I did a pretty good job in training camp and the preseason where the Jets wanted to take a chance on me," Williams said. "Rex Ryan, he was big on how competitive I was. I know that was what he said when I first met him. 'We watched your film and loved just how competitive you were. Just want to see exactly what you have and what you can do for us.'"
An undrafted rookie cornerback out of North Dakota State University (NDSU) who had set a school record with 21 interceptions, seven of which he returned for touchdowns, Williams was on the practice squad his first five weeks as a Jet.
After eight games, the Jets were 1-7 and had to make changes in the hope that they would turn things around in the second half of the season.
Williams was one of those changes.
"We weren't having the best season, especially at the corner position," he said. "I remember Coach Ryan said, 'We're going to have an open tryout. It don't matter if you're on practice squad or on the active roster, this is going to be an opportunity for whoever we think the best guy is. Our corner spots are basically available.'
"I just took that personal. And obviously, I'm sure he said that from seeing how well I was maybe doing on the practice squad for him, to make it an open invitation and have guys be able to compete for a spot. I think it was maybe Week 8, and I just competed my tail off, was working hard every single day."
And it paid off. Promoted to the active roster, Williams proved to be ready and went from trying out to starting in his first career game against the Chiefs in Kansas City.
"I go back to what it was at college, me just playing high-level ball at NDSU definitely got me prepared for no matter what situation you are in," Williams said. "Even when I was undrafted with the Houston Texans or when I was with the Jets on the practice squad, no matter what, I was always asking questions, always trying to just figure out, 'Hey guys, what are you looking at with this?'
"I was around some vets that'd been around the game for a while, and I was just a sponge. I was asking as many questions as I could to try to get as much info as I could. And I remember going through training camp my rookie year in Houston, there'd be a lot of days where I'm getting no more than five to 10 reps.
"So the others were just mental reps that I'd take in my head or from watching film. I put myself in those situations so whenever my name was called that I was ready, I was prepared."
Against Kansas City, Williams recorded eight tackles, six solo, and one pass defensed. Six games later when the Jets hosted New England, who would go on to be that season's Super Bowl champions, he had seven tackles, five solo, three passes defensed and his first career interception.
"Just growing up always watching the Patriots and Tom Brady, seeing guys like (Rob) Gronkowski, as well, it was just a big game. Obviously, just being with the New York Jets, that's always going to be a rival game for us," said Williams, who started the last eight games of the season. "I tried not to look too much into who we were playing, instead, just focusing on the game. Trying to make it just as regular as possible.
"And obviously, Coach Ryan, he made sure that we were going to be ready for that game. And yeah, I got my first interception. I was guarding some great receivers that game, as well. But I remember it was just a dream come true. Being able to get my first interception for one, and then for it to be off of Tom Brady, that definitely spiced it up a little more."
The following year, Darrelle Revis, who had just helped New England win Super Bowl XLIX, and who had been a Jet for six seasons earlier in his career, along with Antonio Cromartie, a tenth-year veteran who had also been a Jet earlier, returned to the Green & White and became the starting cornerbacks.
However, despite making only three starts in 13 games as a nickel or dime back, Williams led the Jets with a career-high six interceptions. What clicked for the second-year pro?
"Well, just getting that year one under my belt definitely helped out a lot. I was able to bring that confidence from starting as a rookie and that experience into, 'Okay, I can play. I have a role with this team.' And was just trying to figure that out through training camp," Williams said.
"Obviously, bringing in Cromartie and Revis and even Buster (Skrine) that year, you know your role is probably going to change a little bit. So you've just got to figure out your role and how you can dominate your role and just be great in your role.
"And Coach (Todd) Bowles was coming in (to replace Ryan), he obviously didn't even know who I was at the time, but he just continued to see me make plays throughout training camp. And he said, 'Marcus, I don't know where it's going to be, but we're going to find a spot for you.'
"That's all I needed to hear. After that, man, that was all she wrote. I was just trying to make the most of my opportunity. Coming from college, I was always known as a ball hawk, a guy that knows how to get around the ball and make plays. So I tried to take from what I've always known, my instincts, and just put that on the field."
With New York for four years and collecting nine of his 10 career interceptions before going on to play with Houston, Tampa Bay, and Chicago over the next two seasons, Williams counts camaraderie among his fondest memories as a Jet.
"Being around some of those guys, it was just a dream come true in my rookie year, being able to be in the locker room with like a Percy Harvin and Michael Vick and just build a lot of relationships," he said. "A lot of the guys that I played with back then I still talk to to this day. I mean, just the brotherhood, the relationships I was able to build.
"I know that I'd gotten everything that I wanted out of the game of football. I mean, I worked my tail off to get to where I was at. And that was just a dream come true, like I said.
"And then, just also, playing in MetLife, in front of those fans. You don't know being in North Dakota, how huge Jet football is to those fans. They love it. The support that they would show us and give us every single week, it was awesome. I appreciated it."
Becoming a student – and to a degree, a teacher – of the game while playing, Williams embarked on a second career in football last April when he returned to NDSU and became a defensive analyst, now the assistant defensive backs coach.
"The head coach, Coach (Tim) Polasek, was our special teams coach and running backs coach back when I played, and I just built a relationship with him over that time," Williams said. "And once he got the job and I knew I was done playing football, I was like, 'I want to see what opportunities that they have here for me, see if I can come and help these guys in any way.' He made it possible for me, and it's been awesome ever since.
"I wouldn't say while I was playing that I probably thought I would be a coach today, but it definitely did help me out because I was able to help guys coming off the field. It's funny, even guys like Revis would ask me questions, 'Hey, Marcus, what did you see here? How do you see this?' And I definitely was always helping out the younger guys that would come in as I became a veteran.
"But just from sitting around and just trying to understand the game, one thing that helped me out a lot is that I'm a quick learner and I'm pretty good at articulating those things. And now that I am a coach, I can do that.
"I've always wanted to be around the game of football. I feel like the game has given me so much, and now I want to make sure I can give that to these guys. Not only make them the best football player they can be, but also just help them be a better man, as well. I just want to make sure that I'm not only just a coach, but a mentor to these guys."
Williams, the father of two sons, Cash and Kingston, continued.
"I'm a guy who's reached his dream, and I feel like my best approach now is just to give what I've learned and what I've been able to experience and make sure I'm giving these to the guys. My biggest thing in life is you know when it's your time, and then you know when it's not your time, when you need to make sure you give that information. Whatever you learn, don't just go out without helping others."
