First off, what have you been up to since you recently retired from football?
The biggest thing is being a father – that’s first and foremost thing. It’s challenging!
I’ve been trying to figure out my next move career-wise. I want to get into the media stuff more – I went to London late last year to work for Sky Sports. I’m just looking to see what fit I can find in the media space – to get an idea of what I can do.
It also hit me though in January – that maybe I should start focusing more on helping people. I got an idea to do just that and started a non-profit recently – The Avery Williamson Reach Foundation. We’re building an event center in my hometown of Milan, Tennessee and we’ll use that for all kinds of events. Weddings, games, cornhole tournaments …We’ll have over 200 TVs in there – it’ll be pretty sick. A mini-golf course…We’ll be able to help children using the event center – we’ll offer courses, work with 4H and the Boys and Girls Clubs and more to offer after school programs to keep children out of trouble and off the streets.
Still pursuing the media career?
Oh yeah – I can’t get into it all yet but I plan to do some media out of the facility too.
Stepping back into your playing career, who helped mentor you when you first got into the league?
The biggest one was Wesley Woodyard – he was there for me. He was a Kentucky grad too – I knew he would be my big brother when I got there in Tennessee after I was drafted. I still talk to him often – he is my guy. He got me through some tough times. Football isn’t easy – you have to balance the sports and the politics. There’s a lot that goes into it and it takes a mental toll on players. I appreciated having a friend like that to help me.
How did he do so?
When I first got there he told me that as a young rookie, the linebacker room wasn’t my friend. They see me as being there to take their jobs. You can’t think it’s all buddy-buddy – they think I’m there to replace them. That was big advice for me. Knowing it was a business and not middle-school football anymore – that was important.
The other big thing he helped me with was when I was in my contract year. I wasn’t playing well – it was getting to me – would I get another contract and get paid? After the third game against Miami Wesley sat me down in the car and talked to me. I told him I couldn’t focus – that it was getting to me and I wasn’t playing well. He told me I needed to clear my head – to stop thinking and just play. That I shouldn’t worry about getting paid – what would happen would happen. Just control what I could control and not worry about the rest. He got me to clear my head and that helped shape my career.
Were you surprised – and happy – when you were traded from the Jets to the Steelers?
I was ecstatic! We were 0-8 in New York and I wanted out of there. I couldn’t wait to get out. I heard about the trade possibility a week before but didn’t know if it would happen or not. My agent called and let me know and I just wanted to make sure I didn’t get hurt before the trade.
I didn’t know I had to leave the next day after the trade – I wish I had known that. But I was ecstatic to go to Pittsburgh. They had such a rich history and were on a roll – they were 7-0 at the time. I knew we had a chance then to go to the Super Bowl so I was through the roof happy.
I played once at Heinz Field years before on a Thursday Night game. The electricity in the stadium was great. I remembered that.
Did anyone help welcome you to the team? How so?
Bud Dupree – we were friends since college. He helped me a lot – helped get me comfortable there. He knew where everything was and how things worked. He was my go-to guy in the locker room. It’s always tough going to a place when you don’t know anyone.
Was the defense difficult to pick up?
Honestly it wasn’t bad. I struggled because of the simplicity in a way. They let guys play there. If you were covering a running back you were free to blitz if you wanted, for example. Things were so structured my whole life of playing before that – I didn’t know you could just go out there and play like that! They let their linebackers just do what they felt was best – I wish I was there longer in that system.
How did that work – you could just blitz whenever you wanted?
It depends of course on the time and coverage. But you never wanted to do that just whenever you felt like it – you had to communicate with everyone, and most importantly, if you did blitz you had better make the play!
What was the coaching staff like to play for?
The coaching staff was awesome. I heard Tomlin was a good dude – I actually met him at Bud’s Pro Day at Kentucky. He’s an awesome dude – he cares about the guys he coaches and that makes a big difference. It wasn’t just about the X’s and O’s – you could talk about real life things with him. We’re not robots – we’re human and go through things. We have life struggles and he was a great person to talk to and understood that.
I can say I really enjoyed my short tenure there. Most of the coaches were there for a long time which was cool. They understood everything and knew how it all worked. Where I was before there was a lot of turnover with the coaches and that made it harder.
How important as a player is that coaching relationship?
When coaching isn’t good it can ruin a team. I’ve seen careers end because a player didn’t fit a scheme or didn’t get along with the coaches. Sometimes guys are busts, but sometimes the backbone of it matters too – the coaching. Sometimes coaches try to develop guys to be what they want that player to be instead of helping a player do that they do best.
You spoke before about the stress you experienced during that contract year. Do you think fans get that there is so much that can affect a player’s performance that isn’t skill-related?
Fans don’t get it no – but they aren’t in our space so how could they? I tore my ACL in 2019 and was depressed after that. It was tough facing the fact that I couldn’t play and that my future was uncertain. People think that because we’re making so much money that it’s all ok. But it’s life to us. We want to be happy and we go though our own stuff – they can’t always understand what we are dealing with and how it affects us.
Any memories in Pittsburgh that stand out most?
Oh yeah. My first game was against the Cowboys and that was a crazy game. I was nervous – playing for the first time on a new team. I was thinking that if we didn’t win the fans would think I cursed the team! They were winning games before I got there and I was coming from an 0-8 team.. I was just so happy and relieved that we won!
Any of the guys stand out most?
Marcus Allen and JuJu – they were the highlights of the locker room. They were cool dudes.
Any thoughts on the comments by some that those kinds of guys can be “distractions”?
They were good dudes. You just have to find a balance. Don’t do stupid stuff at the wrong time. But we didn’t think they were distractions – the media and then the fans just blew it up. It was nothing until the media talked it up.
Lastly, do you like the direction of the NFL now?
It’s definitely moving in a different direction since I started playing. You want the physicality – I know they are trying to protect players, but you have to let guys play. Especially those calls on hits on the quarterback. I know you want to protect players but you want to see guys play. It’s a physical sport – that’s why they wear pads.
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