Mike Williams has ‘nothing but love’ for Seahawks

By Brady Henderson

Mike Williams says he doesn’t resent the Seahawks for releasing him, and he doesn’t have a bad word to say about his former teammates or any of the receivers Seattle added to replace him.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

“They made the decision they had to make. I can’t be mad at them, of course not. They gave me the opportunity to play and I had a great time up there and played in front of some great fans,” Williams told “The John Clayton Show” on Saturday. “I’m still friends with a lot of those guys and I still talk to them. I keep up with the team. To get rid of me and to bring in [Antonio Bryant, Braylon Edwards and Terrell Owens], I think it was a good trade.”

Former Seahawks receiver Mike Williams, who was released before training camp, is optimistic that he’ll play in the NFL this season. (AP)

The kind words didn’t stop there.

Prefacing the statement by acknowledging his bias, Williams said, “I don’t think the NFL knows how good that team is going to be.” He later suggested the Seahawks can “easily” win 12 games this season.

You might expect some hard feelings. But then again, Williams, the former first-round bust, has the Seahawks to thank for helping him resurrect his career after spending two seasons out of the NFL.

Williams led the Seahawks with 65 catches and 751 yards in 2010, playing well enough to earn a three-year contract extension. But an unproductive 2011 season ended prematurely due to a broken leg, and he was under the gun heading into the offseason.

Williams thinks he rushed his recovery, hoping to meet a timetable he and the team had set. The injury was still limiting him during offseason workouts, and the Seahawks didn’t want to wait any longer. They released him two weeks before the start of training camp.

Williams said he didn’t speak with coach Pete Carroll when he was cut and hasn’t since, but he insists there are no hard feelings.

“I ain’t got nothing but love for him,” Williams said of Carroll, who was also his coach at USC, “and I wish him the best.”

If he actually does have any bitterness toward his former organization, Williams knows better than to voice it now. He’s no stranger to being unemployed in the NFL, and he’s again looking for a job.

While there wasn’t much interest from other teams immediately following his release, Williams is now optimistic that he’ll play in the NFL this season. Clayton named the Jets, Dolphins and Cowboys as teams in need of help at receiver, and while Williams didn’t mention any team by name, he told Clayton that his read on the situation is correct. Playing for a contender would be ideal, Williams said, though he noted he’s “in no position to be picky.”

All three of the teams Clayton mentioned are on the Seahawks’ schedule.