Kyle Williams humbly reflects on infamous 49ers fumbles in 2011 NFC playoffs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Kyle Williams has been the target of 49ers fans’ vitriol for 14 years.
The memory of Williams’ two fumbles in the loss to the New York Giants in the 2011 NFC Championship Game still provides a stinging reminder to fans of what could have been a title season.
Williams joined “The Grit Code” podcast with Rod Brooks, Donte Whitner and Patrick Willis and opened up about the loss for the first time and explained that it still pains him, too.
“The idea that guys that are as great at this game and have been as great at this game as you two [Whitner and Willis] are, the fact that y’all feel a way about not being able to say you’re Super Bowl champion, it f–king bugs me, bro,” Williams said. “It hurts me. It hurt because again, you guys are great.”
One of the worst feelings an athlete can have is that they let their team down. Williams owned it immediately, but his teammates still gave him support.
“I do remember the first person that was at my locker after this happened was Pat Willis and he waited on me and he told me when I got in there, he said, ‘I put you back there 100 more times out of 100. I believe in you. I trust you,’ ” Williams recalled. “That right there gave me probably what I needed to get through that day to not like you said look at myself a certain way as a football player…
“…And you got to live with yourself day after day after day. I mean the pain is what propelled me to work like an absolute f–king animal at that time, and I needed to do that to kind of get some of that off me. But I don’t even think I understood the magnitude of the pain until I had to sit with it.”
Unfortunately for Williams, his career was derailed by injuries after his time with the 49ers. He received a Super Bowl ring as a member of the Denver Broncos in 2015, although he was on the injured reserve the entire season and never played a game.
“You know, I can say that, but I don’t feel like my career matches up in any shape, way, or form to you guys’, right?” Williams said to Whitner and Willis. “So, hearing you guys say that, yeah, bro, that stings to this day. This is going to be something that I die with. You know what I’m saying? Because it’s never going to not hurt.”
Williams elaborated further on the pain and why he discussed the infamous game in an interview with 95.7 The Game’s “The Morning Roast” on Monday.
“I’ve kind of always worn this thing and … just I took it on the chin when it happened because although my teammates would tell me, you know, we lose it as a team and, you know, the whole thing,” Williams said. “I would tell them, you know, I appreciate that guys, but this one’s on me…
“… It’s one of the worst moments of my entire life. So to revisit it is painful for sure, but I had somebody that I love and respect dearly ask me to kind of revisit that moment, and you know that means there’s no hesitation.”
For Williams, this provided him a lesson in the game of football. Mistakes happen all the time.
“I recognize that this can be a teaching moment for all of us. You know, it can be a teaching moment that we all go through stuff and we all have failed,” Williams explained. “You know, just about every football play on Sunday, Saturday, Friday, Thursday, whatever, somebody fails on every play. That’s the beauty of our game is that everybody’s got to be on the same page and at the same time.”
The lessons Williams learned apply to much more than football as well.
“This was the biggest moment in my life, and it went the wrong way,” Williams said. “So, I’ve had years and years of replaying this thing and revisiting this thing and again, it’s painful every single time, fellas. It’s never going to not hurt.
“It’s never going to not be what it was. But, you know, I think of it as I’ve made it through the worst day of my life. And for anybody out there that feels like they’re dealing with the worst day of their life or they’re dealing with something they cannot get over, I legitimately felt like I had the entire world against me.”
Williams recognized that anger and frustration fans had with him after his costly mistakes. He said he was not looking to make excuses or ask for apologies.
Joe Shasky, the host of “The Morning Roast,” began the interview by apologizing for his and other 49ers fans’ harsh words after his playoff blunders.
“I appreciate the apology. You don’t need to apologize, but I do appreciate that apology,” Williams said.
Many 49ers fans are looking at Williams in a different light now; a human who acknowledges the mistakes he made and someone who has had to deal with the pain of failure for many years.
It takes a great deal of humility to reveal the challenges he’s had to deal with for 14 years, and Williams deserves some commendation for doing so.