Williams: I Started Lifting In Seventh Grade

Refuting a report that surfaced last week in Sports Illustrated’s Peter King’s clumn Monday Morning Quarterback, Cowboys’ receiver Roy Williams said that he started lifting weights in seventh grade, and has continued to do so, seriously, ever since.
 
Williams said he lifted seriously through four years at Odessa Permian, four years at the University of Texas and throughout his NFL career.
 
"That's trying to find something to make something negative out of me once again," Williams said of the claims.
 
Jeff “Mad Dog” Madden, Texas’ vaunted strength and conditioning coach attested to Williams’ remarks through the university’s spokesman, John Bianco.
 
"Roy worked extremely hard and made great progress in his strength and conditioning," said Madden.
 
"He got stronger every year, but he made his greatest progress the spring and summer before his senior year, gaining 13 pounds of lean muscle mass during that time. While doing that, he not only maintained his speed but got faster, running a 4.39 40."
 
The newsworthiness of this is certainly debatable; while the original report was shocking, the idea that a player who went from Odessa-Permian to the University of Texas to the NFL lifts weights seriously is a mundane and obvious point.
 
Williams, who is 6 foot 3 inches tall and 220 pounds said that he stopped lifting weights during the season due to various nagging injuries suffered through his first two years in the NFL.
 
"The year I didn't lift during the season, I made it to the Pro Bowl," he said, referring to 2006, his only Pro Bowl season thus far.