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“You have to take full responsibility for it, which I do,” he said while encircled by microphones and television cameras. “It’s something I made a mistake on. I’ll move through it. I promise you that.”
The former Arizona State star flubbed two returns against the New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday. The second occurred when he was switching the ball from one hand to the other and led to New York’s winning field goal in overtime.
The first came in the fourth quarter after replays showed the bouncing ball glancing off his knee. “I didn’t think it hit me,” he said. “I still don’t think it hit me.”
Williams didn’t head home following his four-minute media session. He hung out in the locker room and acted like any other player clearing out his cleats and jerseys the day after the season ended.
And he was treated as such by his teammates. One of Jim Harbaugh’s biggest achievements this season was that the 49ers became such a cohesive and congenial group, and Williams’ flubs did not appear to rattle that unity.
As Williams’ Twitter account was filling with angry missives, even death threats, hours after the game, guard Adam Snyder tweeted his own message: “hold your head high bro. You had an amazing season. I’m proud to be your teammate.”
Snyder on Monday called the 49ers the best squad he’s been a part of “by far.”
“Guys are friends, not just teammates,” he said. “And I don’t know if it’s like that everywhere. So this is a special place. There’s a special thing here that is going to keep guys here for a long time.”
Williams’ support came from all corners of the locker room.
Star linebacker Patrick Willis tweeted, “I would put u back there all over again. We all lost this game tonight not u.”
“I’m irritated with the way people are treating him, absolutely,” said kicker David Akers. “I think it’s ridiculous. You know, get a grip on what life’s about.”
One tweet: “I hope you, youre wife, kids and family die, you deserve it.”
Another tweeted he wished Williams died in his sleep. Another tweeted he should jump off the Golden Gate Bridge, and another tweeted Harbaugh should give him a game ball – as long as it explodes in Williams’ car.
Williams said he fielded phone calls Sunday night from teammates, friends and from his father, White Sox general manager Kenny Williams. He said he did not tune in to social media.
“I really didn’t pay attention to Twitter. All the feedback I needed was family and friends, the guys in the locker room,” Williams said.
His father, however, said he was disturbed by the ugly reaction on Twitter.
“It certainly makes you question our culture of sports as it stands,” Kenny Williams told ESPN Chicago.
Kenny Williams noted that his son played the game with a left shoulder injury and suggested the joint may have been dislocated. Harbaugh said Williams was evaluated Monday and the shoulder had not separated.
“He understands this is part of the gig,” Kenny Williams said of the vitriol on social media. “Nobody likes it but we all signed up for it. You can’t sign up for all the good things associated with pro sports and not understand it comes with some less than desirable things, too.”
Kyle Williams said the injury is not an excuse.
“If what (my dad) said was that it was the cause for any of the mistakes that were made, that’s not it,” he said. “I take full responsibility for the mistake that I did make.”
