Jamaal Williams was a fan favorite in Green Bay, and he’s already well on his way toward holding that same status in Detroit after an energetic, hilarious introductory news conference last week. BYU’s all-time leader in rushing yards, Williams is working out this offseason — as he does every offseason — with his trainer and uncle, Luke Neal, in Arizona.
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Friday, though, marked the start of a little time off for Williams. So he drove to California to visit family, including his daughter, Kalea. On the way, he talked with The Athletic for about 30 minutes, discussing everything from his love of anime to why he decided to sign with the Lions as a free agent.
Here’s that conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity.
Your daughter’s 3 years old?
Yep. Yep yep.
I’ve got a 3-year-old here, and it’s nuts how much older he seems than when he was 2. Does she understand what’s happening with free agency and you switching teams and all that?
Kind of. She’d gotten used to saying “go Pack go,” but I’m pretty sure we can get her to start growling like a lion or something. Only thing she’s got now is, “Dada play football.” She ain’t got a team, but she’s got the football part down.
I’m not sure that I’ve ever done this before in an interview, but: Is there anything that you want to talk about or that you don’t get a chance to talk about enough? I know how interested people are in you, just in general.
Naw. I like to be inside. After I play football, I don’t go nowhere. I’m just a go-to-work, go-back-home type of man. I’m grateful to play football, grateful to do something I love to do. But at the same time, I’m just a regular-schmegular person who just wants to make some money, live they life and chill. And live my dad life, honestly, with my daughter. And then I want to get my wife and have my whole family life. Just be an old man and live my life, you know?
I’m simple. I don’t need much — just need anime, video games and, shoot, football. My daughter. I’m pretty chill right now. I just like my things that I like to do. You know how people say, “Go out of your comfort zone and do stuff”? I understand it, but it ain’t for me.
You’re big on being in the comfort zone?
The only time I get uncomfortable like that is really, probably, for football. You know what I mean? Just gotta get uncomfortable doing new things and trying new things, stuff like that. That’s really what I do it in. I’m going to start doing it outside, but right now, I’ve got football to focus on and it’s something I take serious. I want to give it all my energy and everything I can. Things will come while I’m working, but at the same time, I’m just a very simple person.
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Fans love your pregame dance routine. Everyone in Green Bay raves about your personality. That interview you did with the Detroit media had all of us cracking up the whole time. Do you think it would surprise people to hear that you’re pretty reserved off the field?
Yeah. Yeah, just ’cause they see what TV shows you. The only time they see me is me dancing. They don’t see the other times when I’m not dancing, what I’m doing on my off times. I’m more than what they see on TV. I’m not just a person who’ll dance all day. That, really, right there is energy that I reserve for the whole day just to get ready to do that stuff. It don’t just come out of nowhere. I don’t drink coffee, I don’t do stuff to be energetic, it’s just me. It’s just pure emotion.
I just want people to understand I am a regular person. I just play football. I’m just very good at football. That’s it.
What kind of dad are you? What’s your personality there?
Yeah, I’m a goofy kid at heart. I can be serious, but my goofiness is me being serious — my goofy way. I could say something serious, but it may look goofy, like I’m not taking it serious. That’s how people get my mold. They think I’m playing around all the time. And then I gotta turn up real quick for them to understand I’m serious. Other than that, I’m a good dad. I feel like I’m a chill one. I feel like all my kids gonna love me, but at the same time, they ain’t gonna like me. I’m gonna give them that discipline.
They gonna understand: If you do the right thing, dad is gonna be your best friend. If you’re doing the wrong thing, I’m gonna be on your ass.
But it’s not an act you’re forcing when you’re in public or on TV, to show off that personality?
Nah, it’s just when I start getting going. One thing I don’t like, I don’t like interviews. I really don’t. Because they get repetitive, people start asking the same questions and then I start getting irritated, then I get more impatient. The more I get impatient, you can tell, because I make ’em just say the question over like four times. It’s the same question I’ve been hearing all week or last week, you know what I mean? Those are the things that irk my nerves, that grinds my gears. The little things like that.
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I know it’s just their job — they’re supposed to do that — so I don’t try to take it out on them. But you’ve just got to understand that people have got jobs that they’ve gotta do, and they know sometimes they don’t wanna ask those questions but they gotta do it. And that’s why I still answer them and give them as much of a polite manner I want to be in, even when I’m not in a good mood. I don’t know. I just like to show respect.
Are these the questions you don’t want to keep answering? Do you always get asked about your personality or, you know, dancing on the field? Is this the type of stuff you’re talking about?
(In a pure deadpan) Oh, most definitely.
Dancing? Shit. I wish somebody else would ask me to dance. I’m like, “I’m gonna make you dance. Leave me alone.” It’d be like if every time somebody’d see Tom Brady, they’d be like, “Can we see your Super Bowl rings?” or something stupid like that. You think you know him but you don’t, but it’s all good. I understand it comes with the place I’m in. It comes with playing football. I didn’t know all this when I was little and wanted to play football — it’s just something you’ve got to adapt to and take what comes with the job.
What’s something people don’t ask you about that you wish they’d ask about more? Is there anything? Or would you rather just be left alone?
Oh, left alone completely. Stay incognito. Watch anime and stuff, because I like being a ninja — silent, no one sees me and I can just go about stuff. It sounds so fun, honestly. I feel like the average person don’t even know how good they got it. They can do anything and people don’t care about what you’re doing. You can just go about life. I’m like, “That is great. I would love that.” Just chill and live my life, nobody cares what I’m doing.
Jamaal Williams (Tim Fuller / USA Today)How do you relate to your teammates who are on the other end of that, who want to go to clubs when they have free time or be out in public? Can you still connect to those guys?
Yeah. They can come to the house, I’ll go to their house. All my teammates know how I is. They know where to find me: I’m at my house chillin’. If you want to come and chill, say what’s up … but most of the time, I ain’t goin’ nowhere. It’s just too much going on. I’ll do it for, like, a friend, if it’s a charity event and there’s a real reason for me to go outside. Not just to go outside so we can go look at people all day or get dressed and stand in one spot, then look at our phones. I can do that at home, man. I want to go home. You know what I mean?
So, I know anime is a big part of your life. You mentioned in your news conference the other day that you sort of see yourself as …
… my own anime character?
Do you really think about yourself in that way?
Of course. I go through my trials and struggles and stuff, and exactly what gets me in my life are things that happen in anime, that are cliffhangers or the dramatic parts, and stuff like that. You’ve just got to take those things head-on. Sometimes, it’s gonna be good; sometimes, they gonna be bad. But, at the same time, you’ve got to take it all upfront and just enjoy the moment. The one thing I’ve learned more of is that I have more pros than cons, no matter what’s happening in my life. I know I can take this negative, take it under the chin and really just keep pushing. It’s not going to be the end of the world.
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Nothing good comes out of just wailing on disappointments. You’re not gonna get nothing done. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for you. Nobody’s gonna do nothing for you. You’re gonna have to be the person that makes things change and makes things move.
I’ve never gotten into anime. I really don’t know anything about it. Where would I start? What would you recommend?
Oooh. “One-Punch Man.” Because I feel like it’s a funny one, it’s quick, it gets to the action fast. I’m about getting to the action fast. There’s a lot of animes that love story and talking, but you’ve gotta have a reason for it. I like all hands, man. There’s something about seeing a one-on-one, mano-a-mano fight. One honcho against the other, they both think they’re alphas. It reminds me of football a lot, just about one team thinks they better than the other but you’ve still gotta go prove it. That’s really what it is. I get a lot of stuff I can bring back to football, I can bring back to real life.
And then, the more stories and shows you watch, you start catching on to what type of character you like, what type of personalities you feel like you relate to. For me, I love mostly all the evil villains. I don’t know what it is. The evil villains, they be having their own motives. And sometimes, you’ll be like, “I can get behind that. I see why you are the way you are.” That’s what I like about anime — you’re not always going to stick with the good guy. The bad guy can be the good guy sometimes, just in their own certain way. It gives me a lot to try to put together. It’s art. That’s the only thing I can say: It’s art.
I remember being in college, some type of art class. And it was talking about the Renaissance and all this other stuff, I was like, “I don’t know what you are talking about.” But then I get into anime. I’m learning new ways to express myself without even knowing, just picking it up from watching a cartoon. Well, people see it as only a cartoon. I call it “adult cartoons” … that you’ve been watching since you were little.
Have you ever watched “Naruto”?
No. Nope.
Man, I’ve been watching “Naruto” since I was little. And Naruto, right now is on to his son named Boruto. So, we went from Naruto all the way up to when he’s a grown man, he’s married, he’s got kids — this is years by. We’re just now starting his son’s story. It’s crazy. I just love it. It’s a great way of keeping me loose, happy. I like being a nerd for anime. It gives me a good motivation to keep pushing, keep fighting for what I believe in, and keep upgrading. You can never stop upgrading. Shoot, Goku been upgrading since I was a kid, since I was in the womb.
For me, it baffles me. People got so much creativity in their minds that they can make, whatever, a thousand episodes for one show. I like things like that. And I like being a ninja. It’s fun.
Did you know that Detroit has an anime convention every year?
Noooooo.
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I think it was virtual last year, because everything was virtual, but there is one every year at the TCF Center. Maybe five or 10 minutes from Ford Field. You might have to check that out.
Mmm-hmm. Naw, I’m gonna go to that.
What video games are you playing now?
I’m playing Dragon Ball FighterZ — that’s my favorite one right now, because I can play with my friends and we really be getting loose on there. Most of my friends play Dragon Ball FighterZ, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2. I play Star Wars Battlefront II. I don’t like Call of Duty as much no more. I don’t like Fortnite. I don’t like anything with a battle royale, honestly. It’s just … ugh. There’s too much going on. You can sit on a mountain all day and literally win. It’s just not the game I like anymore.
But I like all anime-type games that come into video-game form, so I’ve been playing a lot of Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, One-Punch Man is on there. There’s one called Jump Force, and it’s a fighting game. It’s basically got a whole collage of all of the anime characters, mostly. And it brings back so many good ones, too — they’ve got so many classics in there.
And then I just like dressing up. Cosplay … cosplay is the shit. I enjoy all of that, really. I’m just a big nerd, man.
Do you know Kerryon Johnson at all?
Not yet. Not like that.
I think he might be a Call of Duty guy. But as far as what we in the media get from him in terms of his personality, talking to you reminds me a lot of talking to him.
Oh yeah?
He seems to be pretty chill, likes to play video games, has a really good sense of humor. I wasn’t sure if you’d ever connected with him.
Nah, not yet. But I’m gonna for sure get in touch with him, we can play something. Hopefully not Call of Duty.
I did want to ask you one or two football questions before I let you go. Obviously, this is the first time Brad Holmes has gone through an offseason as a GM. What was he like, talking to him as a free agent? What was the pitch from him to come to Detroit?
Man, mostly just telling me that we’ve got a team that’s hungry and ready to go. A lot of players who’ve got a chip on their shoulder. A lot of us who might have got, I’ll say, looked over, but luckily the Lions and everybody in there picked who’s in there now because we’re great players and got a lot to prove. Nothing better than having people who’ve got something to prove. It shows, we all come together and have that same mindset of getting things done. That’s what I can’t wait to go into, man. We about to build something together. It’s about to be good. It’s about to be good.
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Is it hard taking a bunch of individual guys who have something to prove and translating it into a team goal?
Not at all. Especially if everybody’s got the right mindset. The coaching staff, GM, everybody picked the right people to be in there. Everybody has that mindset; everybody wants to get things going. We don’t want to start with no rebranding, nothing. We want to come out the gate just firing. And it comes with a mindset. You start thinking you’re in a rebrand and a rebuild, you’re going to go into like that. But if you go into it believing that you can do it, that you ain’t rebuilding nothing, I feel like that’s when it’s already clicked that we’re a different team.
Have you had a chance to talk with (assistant head coach and running backs coach) Duce Staley at all?
Yeah. He’s a good dude. I appreciate him, too. I’ve been watching him when he was running the ball — it’s crazy. Like, “That’s Duce Staley. I’ve been playing with him on the video game.” It’s great. I’m glad to have him in the room, and I’m grateful to come in with him and just to learn from him. Do what I can, show him what I’ve got.
That coaching staff probably could still get out there and play a little.
Yeah, they could try. They don’t want them problems with us, man! In your prime, yeah, you probably could get down with us. But not right now, man, it’s a different story. (Laughs)
Well, I can let you go. I know you said you’re on your way to see family. Your mom has a restaurant out in L.A., doesn’t she?
Yeah, it’s a family restaurant called Just Turkey L.A. … If you’re ever in L.A., man, go check it out. It’s good. I like In-N-Out, but I’ll take this over In-N-Out.
Oh, well, that’s a pretty good review.
You gotta try some turkey tips, turkey burger, turkey lasagna. It’s all good, man.
I don’t think I’ve ever had turkey tips before.
Aw, see. You’ve gotta come in and try the turkey tips. Those are the money-makers — get teriyaki or regular barbecue sauce.
You guys play in L.A. this year, so I’ll grab the other reporters and we’ll all go get some turkey.
Yeah. Yep. Make ’em go with you.
(Top photo: Dylan Buell / Getty Images)
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