NFL DraftProspect Interviews

2021 NFL Draft Prospect Interview: Samuel Williams, OL, University of Louisiana at Monroe

Samuel Williams Louisiana Monroe
Samuel Williams the massive offensive lineman from the University of Louisiana at Monroe recently sat down with NFL Draft Diamonds owner Damond Talbot.
  • Name: Samuel Williams                      
  • Height: 6’7”
  • Weight: 320
  • Position: OL
  • College: University of Louisiana at Monroe
  • Twitter: @samuelw56

What is the best restaurant in your hometown city?

  • The downside of Fordyce being a small town is there are not many options when it comes to restaurants.  If I did have to choose, Marcela’s, which is a hometown Mexican restaurant, would be my go-to. 

When breaking down your film what will stick out?

  • When looking at my film my size and speed for a big guy are what stick out. These two things put together is a real advantage when it comes to pass protection.  During 8 starts last year, I allowed 0 sacks, playing against some really good competition.

If you won the lotto, what is the first thing you would do with the money?

  • The first thing I would do would be to tithe and then after that, I would buy myself a ranch somewhere in southcentral Texas.

What has been your biggest failure?

  • My biggest failure would be not making the state playoffs my Sr. year of high school.

What do your teammates say is your best quality?

  • If you were to ask my teammates what my best quality would be, I would say that it would be my work ethic. From the time that I have started lifting and playing football, I always have had a mindset to work hard to accomplish any goals that I set for myself, and so far, it has gotten me to where I’m at today. 

Who is the hardest working teammate on your team?

  • Our whole team is full of hard-working guys but I would have to say that Josh Pederson is one of the hardest working teammates. Josh, like myself, is always looking for extra opportunities to get extra work in.

Have you ever had a nickname? What is it?

  • Growing up, I was always the biggest kid in my grade, as well as the grades above me, so everybody just called me “Big Sam”

What is your degree in, if you do not make it as a football player, what is your dream job?

  • I have a degree in Agricultural Business and am currently working on a master’s degree in Sports Management. My “dream job” would be anything agriculturally related.

What is your coolest life moment?

  • My coolest life moment would have to be the second game of my redshirt freshman year against Oklahoma. In high school, I played at a 2A school in south Arkansas where about 1,000 people at a game was a good-sized crowd. Walking out onto the field at Oklahoma was an experience that I will never forget, in six months I had gone from playing in front of 1,000 fans to 85,000+ fans.

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What song would you sing at Karaoke night?

  • It would be hard to narrow it down to just one song, but it would definitely be a Cody Johnson or Luke Combs song.

If you could pick any actor to play you in a movie, who are you picking?

  • I would have to go with Chris Pratt, he is somebody who seems similar to being like me.  He seems like a leader; his personality comes across even in the movies.  He is funny without being obnoxious. 

Who is your favorite football team?

  • Growing up in Arkansas, the Arkansas Razorbacks were my team.  I have always been an Arkansas Razorback fan until I got to college. After I got to school, I would say that my current favorite team would be the Philadelphia Eagles. 

If you had a warning label, what would yours say?

  • “DO NOT TOUCH WHEN HOT” – I am a relatively calm and cool type of guy.  It really takes a lot to get a rise out of me or irritate me but when pushed past a certain point, when I believe in something or want something really bad, do not get in the way.  

What is your biggest fear?

  • My biggest fear would be to not accomplish all of my goals.

Who is the most underrated player in the NFL?

  • One person that I would think is “underrated” in the NFL would be Lane Johnson. Just recently, a list came out that had him listed as the #9 tackle in the league, to me he is definitely top 3. 

Take us through game day, how do you prepare?

  • On game day, I like to wake up early to just collect my thoughts and clear my head before to craziness of gameday begins. Before the game, I lock-in, just listening to music, getting ready to roll. After I am dressed and taped up, I say a quick prayer before we go out of the locker room. When I get out to the field, I go through all of the OL movements with the rest of the OL, work some pass protection sets before we do 1on1s against the defense. After all this its game time!

Do you have any hobbies?

  • Being from South Arkansas, if you don’t like to hunt, fish, or play football, then you will be very bored. I learned to really like hunting and fishing growing up, and that has stayed with me till today.

If you had to compare yourself to someone in the NFL, who would that be?

  • If I had to compare myself to one person, I would say Lane Johnson. I watch a lot of game film on him as a way to prepare.  We are almost built the same as far as height and reach, so it makes for good game prep.

Who has been the biggest influence on your life and explain why?

  • My family has definitely been the biggest influence on my life. Growing up, I was blessed to be brought up in a close-knit family where everybody always tried to motivate each other to be the best at whatever it was that we were doing. Out of everybody, my Dad and my Mamaw Joyce would be the ones who influenced me the most, between these two motivators is the reason why I have grown into such a hard worker at anything I do in life.

What motivates you to work hard?

  • Knowing that I can always improve different aspects of my game motivates me to work as hard as I do. I am a perfectionist and while that might not always be the greatest quality for some, I love it because anything that I do, I do it to the best of my ability. This also helps me critique myself, so I am always able to see where I can get better at.

Damond Talbot

NFL Draft Diamonds was created to assist the underdogs playing the sport. We call them diamonds in the rough. My name is Damond Talbot, I have worked extremely hard to help hundreds of small school players over the past several years, and will continue my mission. We have several contributors on this site, and if they contribute their name and contact will be in the piece above. You can email me at nfldraftdiamonds@gmail.com

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