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SALT LAKE CITY — Former Ute fullback Karl Williams is familiar with hard work.
As a walk-on at the University of Utah, Williams fought for a position on the football team, competing against scholarship athletes all along the way. Through his hard work and determination, Williams earned a scholarship his senior season and played in 11 of the team’s 12 games.
On Saturday, Williams waited anxiously as the NFL draft concluded, watching to hear his name called from one of the 32 teams. Fellow teammates Jake Murphy and Trevor Reilly indicated to him that they weren’t going to watch the draft, but Williams couldn’t resist.
“I’ve watched the draft for the past 10 years of my life and finally I was in this one, so how could I not watch the draft?” Williams said. “And so I watched it and kind of kept up with who was going where. It got stressful towards the sixth and seventh round because I started getting phone calls from teams and offers.”
Although Williams went undrafted, several teams were calling him throughout the draft, indicating an interest in him. But two teams, the Atlanta Falcons and the Oakland Raiders, gave Williams formal free agency offers.
Williams quickly decided upon the Raiders, who seemed to have more interest in having him play as a fullback and on special teams, he said.
“Atlanta wanted me for a running back, a bigger tailback. Their offer was a little bit less than Oakland’s and I just felt like they wanted a body there; they didn’t really seem sincere wanting me there,” Williams said. “I didn’t really have a guarantee that I was going to get a lot of reps or opportunities. But I knew at Oakland, the coach had been calling me Monday and Tuesday, talking to me a lot. He told me they wanted me up there; they needed a bigger fullback.”
Surprisingly, I don't have nerves. For me this is kinda the same thing I went through at Utah. It's different, I know, in the NFL because it's about money, it's about who's going to get us to the Super Bowl. And I feel very confident in my special teams play, as well as my receiving and fullback play, that I'll get an opportunity to show what I can do, and I'll make the best of it.
–Karl Williams
Additionally, Williams’ wife has family near Oakland, which made the decision all the more easier.
Williams will join former Utes cornerback Keith McGill, who was selected by the Raiders as the No. 116 pick in the draft, and undrafted tight end Jake Murphy, who signed with the Raiders shortly after the draft concluded.
“That’s really going to help because me and Jake are actually pretty close,” Williams said. “We texted all day today, we texted all weekend. We hung together when we were at Utah. Our wives get along. It’s like the perfect storm for us to be together. ... It’s going to be an easier transition because I’m going to have people there that I know.”
Despite professional play being a new experience, Williams said he’s not nervous. He said it feels like it’s the start to another walk-on season — an experience he’s already managed effectively in the past.
“Surprisingly, I don’t have nerves,” he said. “For me this is kinda the same thing I went through at Utah. It’s different, I know, in the NFL because it’s about money, it’s about who’s going to get us to the Super Bowl. And I feel very confident in my special teams play, as well as my receiving and fullback play, that I’ll get an opportunity to show what I can do, and I’ll make the best of it.
Williams said Murphy asked him for some advice as he goes through a similar process.
“I told him, this is just the beginning and it’s even better that we’re going together because we can lean on each other and drive each other and push each other,” he said. “I just told him you’ve got to be a work horse. No matter what happens, you’ve just got to keep going. It doesn’t matter if you have a bad day or what, just keep going.”
Although Williams has signed a free-agency contract with Oakland, he will still have to fight for a position on the team in the upcoming workouts that start this weekend.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity really,” he said. “I’m just blessed to have a family that’s supportive of it.”
