Broncos' Williams brothers happy to be teammates

A handful of times over the past week and a half, Worrell Williams has had to pause to take it all in.

It was overwhelming enough just to be a rookie in an NFL locker room, trying to make an NFL team or even secure a spot on a practice squad. But to be here, in this Denver locker room and trying to find a place on the NFL team that has been home to his older brother, D.J., since 2004?

Worrell Williams can only shake his head in disbelief.

"I mean, this is something I've thought about and always wanted to do," said Worrell Williams, 24. "Even if it is for a brief moment or, hopefully, for many years."

For D.J., Worrell's presence has been refreshing. D.J. was already a locker-room leader among the Broncos, but with his brother around, he's even goofier and more out-going than normal — traits he rarely shows to the media or fans.

"When you play football you get the camaraderie, the closeness, the brotherhood and then you actually get to have your brother there?" D.J. said. "There's already a natural bond, those lifelong experiences, you really know each other. If I'm having a bad day or he's having a bad day, we can sit and talk and really open up to one another. We can relate to things in the past. And we can laugh and joke and just giggle about growing up."

"Make the best of it"

Tonight will mark the first time in their lives that the Williams brothers, each an inside linebacker, play together in a game on the same team. D.J. is expected to make his 2010 preseason debut after missing the first two exhibition games with an injury. Worrell, who made his Broncos debut a week ago against Detroit, with his older brother watching from a luxury box at Invesco Field at Mile High, expects to play on special teams early in the game and on defense late in the second half when the starters rest.

"I told him he's probably going to have a game and a half to prove himself," D.J. Williams said. "I told him, 'You wanted your shot. This might not be how you wanted to get it, but its here, so you've got to make the best of it.' "

D.J. and Worrell sat side by side in large leather chairs inside the team's Dove Valley headquarters Friday afternoon and explained how they both came to be Broncos.

"I had the easy road," D.J. said.

He was the No. 1-rated high school player in the nation in 1999, a three-year starter on a national championship team at the University of Miami and a first-round draft pick by the Broncos in 2004. He's been a fixture in their starting lineup ever since.

UFL traded for NFL
D.J.'s celebrated football career cast a large shadow over Worrell, who, like little brothers do, grew up wanting to be like his big brother.

But Worrell went undrafted in 2009 after his collegiate career at California — "You would think someone would have given him a shot," D.J. said — and spent last fall playing for the United Football League's California Redwoods.

"It was a humbling experience. It was something I didn't want to do. I hadn't been playing football to get to the UFL. I wanted to get to the NFL," Worrell said. "But it ended up being a great experience, and I probably needed it. It brought me back down, got me focused."

Worrell was preparing to report to the Redwoods' training camp when the Broncos called. He flew to Denver on Aug. 19, worked out and signed the next day. He was in uniform and on the field a day later playing against the Lions.

Worrell had been on the Broncos' radar, in part because of D.J., and D.J. helped remind coach Josh McDaniels and defensive coordinator Don "Wink" Martindale that his younger brother was working out, was in shape and was deserving of a shot in an NFL camp.

"I talked to D.J. and D.J. was just very honest with me about what Worrell was going to bring, and he has already," McDaniels said.
"No favoritism"

D.J. Williams said he spoke to McDaniels and Martindale about the dynamics of having his younger brother here. Williams, as one of the two longest-tenured players on the team (along with cornerback Champ Bailey), has a powerful voice in the locker room. His brother, though, is one of a large group of young players just fighting to get noticed.

"The thing I appreciated from them was they said there will be no favoritism; if he can play, he can play," D.J. said. "They came to me and said, 'We don't want your relationship to get in the way of our relationship. Let's say he doesn't make the team, we don't want you to be bitter to us or look at us like, Aw, you did my brother wrong.' I know they're the type of men that will give him a fair shot."

How long the Williams Brothers Linebacker Experiment lasts likely depends on how Worrell does in limited action tonight against the Steelers and in extended playing time Thursday in the Broncos' preseason finale against the Vikings.

"He gives me a goal to shoot for," Worrell said of D.J. "No matter what odds are against me, I want to be able to stand up there next to him. If I have to go practice squad first and then make the team, or if they let me go and I have to come back, whatever the case may be, I'll do it. It's a tough situation, but I'm here now with my brother now. It couldn't get much better than that."

Click here to order DJ Williams’ proCane Rookie Card.



(denverpost.com)