Sam Williams: The Rise of a New NFL Star
Introduction to Sam Williams
They called Sam Williams “Superman” so many times that he started to believe it. The Cowboys’ defensive end even tattooed the logo on his right shoulder. And who could blame him? He can’t leap buildings in a single bound, and he isn’t faster than a speeding bullet, but he does have the physical attributes that make other NFL lifers awe.
“He looks, physically, the part,” fellow defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. said.
“He’s obviously built like a Greek god,” Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said of the 6-4, 265-pound Williams.
The Injury That Changed Everything
Perhaps the biggest validation for Williams’ belief didn’t come from the words of others, however. It came from the fact that he had never been seriously injured.
“I felt invincible,” Williams said.
Until he wasn’t.
It’s been nearly a year to the day since Williams went down during a special teams drill on the River Ridge practice fields in Oxnard. His ACL tore; his belief in his invincibility shattered; his hopes — and the hopes the Cowboys had for him — to have a breakout NFL season vanished.
The Road to Recovery
Williams has awed his teammates in a new way. They’ve seen a player, heading into the final year of his contract, on a mission to not only get back to where he was before the injury, but to go beyond it. To get everything he hoped for last year and more — for more than himself.
“Let’s just say I’m coming,” Williams said.
Rookie tight end Tyler Neville just happened to be on the receiving end of it first. To no fault of his own.
“Anybody that was in front of him that probably would’ve happened to,” Fowler said.
Fowler can relate. He, too, understands the buildup of a season lost. He learned that lesson early when he tore his ACL less than a week after he was drafted. His rookie season ended before it even started — and before he even signed his rookie deal.
Dallas Cowboys defensive end Sam Williams (54) rushes around the end during a training camp practice in Oxnard, California, July 23, 2025.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)
He had to let out some emotions, too.
Motivation and Family
Williams woke up around 5 a.m. Tuesday. He thought about all the work he had put in over a year of ACL rehabilitation. He then turned his attention to the motivation for all of it.
Williams has pictures of his two sons, Sam Jr. and Syxx, in his training camp room. Every day, he looks at them before bed and when he wakes up. On most days, including the first day of training camp practices, he’ll pull out his phone, go to his notes app and read a letter he wrote to them both a long time ago.
The letter, Williams said, is a promise to his two sons.
“To take this opportunity and make it something,” Williams said. “Make something of it. So they won’t have to go through what I’ve been through.”
Reading the letter would give him strength when he was weak, hope when he was discouraged. It was especially necessary early in his rehab process. The 265-pound “beast,” as Fowler called him? He dropped down to 230 pounds during his recovery — a low point physically and mentally for him.
Growth and Redemption
But as time passed, he got stronger. And hungrier. Not just for himself, but for his family. That’s where his mind went when he read the letter before his first training camp practice.
“You every play Mario and you get that [golden] mushroom? That’s how it makes me feel,” Williams said, referring to the Super Mario Bros. video game. “Like I’m glowing, because I know for a fact if I do this I know what the outcome is going to be.”
That certainty is based on the work he did during the rehab process. Cowboys coaches and players have applauded his effort toward it.
“Talk about a guy that didn’t miss a day in the spring,” Schottenheimer said. “He was there every day.”
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was with him on some of those days, working with Britt Brown, the Cowboys’ trainer and director of rehabilitation. He said that Williams won the team’s defensive golden whistle award, given to someone coming back from injury. Prescott said he’ll probably vote for Williams for the Ed Block Courage Award, given to a player who inspires.
“That’s a guy that’s hungry,” Prescott said. “Very hungry. For the fam, right?”
Prescott then motioned to the black athleisure shirt he was wearing at the podium Thursday. It’s one example of the clothing line that Williams started this offseason: “For the Family.”
“That’s what I live off, that’s what I play off of,” Williams said. “That’s my motivation. My family.”
Conclusion
Williams, entering this year with 8.5 sacks in two seasons played, said he has no pain in his knee. He’s under no restrictions. He understands he isn’t invincible, that he isn’t Superman, even if he feels today like the injury never happened. But it doesn’t stop there. Williams was seen before practice on Thursday doing bands — an exercise often used for players during rehabilitation — with Brown. It’s proactive, rather than reactive.
As he reflects on his extra work, his mind takes him back to the place he was nearly a year ago to the date.
“I’m doing everything I can to not go back to that,” he said.
FAQs
Q: What happened to Sam Williams during a special teams drill in Oxnard?
A: Sam Williams tore his ACL during a special teams drill in Oxnard, which led to a long and challenging recovery process.
Q: What motivates Sam Williams to work hard and come back stronger?
A: Sam Williams is motivated by his family, particularly his two sons, Sam Jr. and Syxx. He wants to provide for them and give them a better life.
