Cary Williams Misses OTAs, Wants to be Great Dad

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

New Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cary Williams has failed to endear himself to the club's fan base because he's been absent from multiple voluntary team activities that were held over the past few weeks.

 

Williams, who joined the Eagles this offseason after playing the past four years with the Baltimore Ravens, has missed OTAs for a variety of reasons, including his daughter's dance recital, dental work, construction on his house and his wedding.

 

Williams joined "The Mike Missanelli Show" on 97.5 The Fanatic Philadelphia to address the absences.

 

"Teams, organizations, the NFL itself hold players captive over the OTAs," he said. "They say it's not mandatory but it's mandatory, you know what I'm saying? If you want me to be there, if you want me to play football year-round, you don't want me to not have an offseason, you don't want me to have a personal life, let me know."

 

Williams dismissed the notion the Eagles may be upset with his comments.

 

"I really don't care. I told them what the situation was and we had a communication and that's what it was," he said.

 

Williams' three-year deal with the Eagles is worth $17.5 million -- $10.5 million guaranteed, according to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. Williams says family is a priority for him.

 

"What kills me is people talk about how much money I make," Williams said. "Like that's still gonna take away from me wanting to be a great dad and a good family man. I have no off days during the season. I hope y'all understand that; there's no off days. I can't come to work and say, 'Oh, my head hurts. I can't make it today,' because my job requires much more than that."

 

As for what Williams has to say to the passionate Philadelphia fans, "I don't have nothing to say to the fans, man. You'll see me on Sunday. You'll see me flying around making plays. That's it. That's all you're gonna see. I don't have to explain myself to anybody."

 

ESPN

 

I commend him for his stance and dedication to being a great husband and father... However, he's probably in the wrong line of work. He himself said he doesn't take days off during the season... How can he spend time with his family and live up to his duties at home when he is working all the time?

 

It seems contradictory to say he wants to be a great father and not spend so much time at work but then accept never being home and never stopping his work life during the season.

 

Which do you want, Cary? Which is more important to you? Because right now it just seems like Cary wants to get out of OTAs, which he has, thus far, done a wonderful job of doing.

Edited June 8, 2013 by Favre4Ever

[NY Diehard 26]

Couldn't agree with him more. Don't call something voluntary if you get mad at players for not being there.

 

I don't see how he's contradicting himself at all. He wants to be a great husband and father which is why he's doing what he's doing now by not showing up to things that he doesn't have to so he can spend time with his family.

 

And he's going to be home during the season because, assuming his family moved with him to Philly, he still plays half his games at home and he's going to be staying at his house. He just won't have the opportunity to go to certain functions during the season because he's required to be at practice or at a game or whatever it is.

[Dutch 874]

Yeah. I covered this in the Eagles Franchise thread. Here's what I had to say about it.

 

A lot of Eagles fans and media have been criticizing and questioning Cary Williams commitment due to him missing all the voluntary work outs due to personal reasons. He went to attend his daughters recital, dental work, and renovations on his new house. I personally don't have a problem with this and I don't know who these people think they are to have an opinion on being a father going to his daughters recital. Outside of that though, naturally you do want all the players on your team attending work outs. But for me, as long as he shows up on Sundays, I don't have a problem. If he doesn't, may the next man stand up or get released. It's just that simple to me. We also have some young corners that I wouldn't mind seeing get a chance to play like Curtis Marsh whom I like. Here's Cary Williams on the Mike show earlier today and his take on the media, organization, and Eagles fans:

 

http://www.975thefanatic.com/teams/eagles/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10554712#.UbI4G_mTgrV

 

He came off as somewhat abrasive but this didn't bother me. I actually agree with a lot of what he said especially about his duties as a father and his opinion of the media and fans perspective of him. As long as he can translate all that tough mojo to the football field I'm fine and he's good in my book. He already seems to have a Philly-tude demeanor about him and he may catch some heat in the beginning, but I can see Philly really taking a liking to this guy especially if he carries that fire onto the field and performs well which is all that matters.

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

Couldn't agree with him more. Don't call something voluntary if you get mad at players for not being there.

 

I don't see how he's contradicting himself at all. He wants to be a great husband and father which is why he's doing what he's doing now by not showing up to things that he doesn't have to so he can spend time with his family.

 

And he's going to be home during the season because, assuming his family moved with him to Philly, he still plays half his games at home and he's going to be staying at his house. He just won't have the opportunity to go to certain functions during the season because he's required to be at practice or at a game or whatever it is.

 

Your nature to argue with everyone kind of backfires when you make no sense. You don't create nearly as much drama or turmoil that way. Lol.

 

He said he works all the time during the season (of course). You can't be with your family all of the time if you are with your other family all the time. It's a sacrifice that many coaches and players make. Just the way the game is, especially if you want to be great.

 

Also, for things like his wedding, of course you should get that off. But to skip OTAs to go to dentist appointments? Eh. If he really felt that was necessary, they could have scheduled the appointment before or after the days activities.

 

You have to worry about your other family as well though... Can he be as effective of a player without the support of the guys in his locker room? Other players have families to take care of, but they show up.

 

If Cary wanted to step away from the game to be with his family full time, I would commend him for it.

[NY Diehard 26]

Your nature to argue with everyone kind of backfires when you make no sense. You don't create nearly as much drama or turmoil that way. Lol.

 

He said he works all the time during the season (of course). You can't be with your family all of the time if you are with your other family all the time. It's a sacrifice that many coaches and players make. Just the way the game is, especially if you want to be great.

 

Also, for things like his wedding, of course you should get that off. But to skip OTAs to go to dentist appointments? Eh. If he really felt that was necessary, they could have scheduled the appointment before or after the days activities.

 

You have to worry about your other family as well though... Can he be as effective of a player without the support of the guys in his locker room? Other players have families to take care of, but they show up.

 

If Cary wanted to step away from the game to be with his family full time, I would commend him for it.

 

I don't see what any of that has to do with what I said, you're the one not making any sense here.

 

All he's saying is that he wants to spend as much time with his family while he can because during the season he likely wouldn't have the opportunity to go to things like his daughter's dance recital.

[Guest Phailadelphia]

If they want OTAs to be mandatory then make them mandatory. Otherwise this issue is kind of moot. Players skip OTAs all the time for reasons that aren't really anyone else's business. If your boss told you to come in to work only if you felt like it, would you? When your daughter has a dance recital, or a dentist appointment, or you want to check on the progress of your house being built? Nah, you're not going in. You're gonna NOPE right the fuck out of there and take care of other issues while you have the time.

[Hatchetjack 1]

I listen to the interview live on my way home from work yesterday. All I could say after it was WOW!!!!! Cary broke no team or NFL rules by missing some of the OTA's. BUT! I been a Sports fan in Philly for 55 years and I can tell you! Cary put a HUGE BULLSEYE on his back with most of the RABID Eagles Fans in this city. Not to smart Cary, your starting on a very short leash with this Fan Base! Welcome to Philadelphia!