New York Giants: Ex-Panther Williams disses Gettleman

Former Carolina Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams ignited an old feud on Tuesday.

Williams’ ill-advised comments should not bother any New York Giants fans though. He and former teammate Steve Smith always have a lot to say. That’s what happens when you reach the end of line, and no team steps up to pay you a king’s ransom. Someone had to be the bad guy, and that was new Giants general manager Dave Gettleman.

According to the New York Post, Williams was a guest on WFAN and had pointed things to say about Gettleman.

"“He’s your problem now. That’s exactly what I’d tell them. For the vet players that are there now, be very cautious. Once he gets his guys in there, then he develops that relationship with them, and not developing a relationship with the guys that are already there because he doesn’t know them.”"

Great advice, DeAngelo.

Of course, Gettleman doesn’t know all the players on the New York Giants roster. Instead of saying, “bust your butt” for the new regime, he says “watch your back”. And then Williams complains that it’s a “business”. That’s as conflicted as it gets.

Is there a point to his story?

New York Giants

Otherwise, he sounds like a jilted girlfriend on a social media rampage. Oh and by the way, the team was 3-13 last season. Everyone should come in with no illusions and hungry for a job.

Reese’s Pieces

Leave to a former player to only look at one side of the equation. Perhaps more than a few of us are happy to seeing a little urgency emanating from the New York Giants locker room in the aftermath of Ben McAdoo’s firing.

We’ve sat through enough games to reasonably wonder how someone like former cornerback Jayron Hosley made it through an entire four-year contract. Or how tight end Adrien Robinson even made through three full season with Big Blue.

They were Jerry Reese draft picks, that’s how.

Oh and by the way, in his final season with Carolina, Williams played in only six games. He totalled 219 rushing yards and averaged 3.5 yards per carry. That season Williams had as many touchdowns as I did – zero.

The facts didn’t stop him though.

"“I do not like [Gettleman]. When you are down in that locker room, you are a family. As coaches and players, you spend most of your time together and the people upstairs don’t have that same connection the people in the locker room has. When you go upstairs, it’s the business aspect of the office.”"

Duh…someone has to make personnel decisions. Those decisions are not always popular.

Tough Decisions

I do agree on one count. In some cases, teammates are family. Like when family begs for money when they aren’t gainfully employed. In that case, you should tell them to get a job. In Williams case, he had reached the end of the line with the Panthers. He was likely told just that. And if we pivot away from the vitriol and to the fact, we see that Williams should have been cut.

He could have been classy or petty about it. He chose petty.

So the story becomes about how the separation takes place. In other words, it’s a moving target. At the end of the day, there’s nothing worse than a washed up athlete continuing to hang onto the fifteen minutes of fame. And to make it a personal issue, simply shows a lack of boundaries.

Veteran players are worth keeping around if they can mentor the young guys. In this case, it’s obvious that it was ultimately about DeAngelo Williams. I think many GMs would have told him, “don’t let the door knob hit you in the ass on the way out”.

Per CBS Sports, Williams said last summer he wouldn’t sign with certain teams. That’s when he didn’t have a job.  It’s not surprising that he never got a job in 2017 either.

Circumstances like this are also the reason why we hear the word “adult” associated with the new administration.

What is surprising is that WFAN would provide a platform for him. Perhaps, the station is losing serious market share to Michael Kay.