Whether you’re a Steelers fan or not, it’s hard not to like DeAngelo Williams.
The oldest running back in the NFL at 33, Williams leads the league with 237 rushing yards as he again fills in for a suspended Le’Veon Bell. Last year, Williams ran for 204 yards through two games while Bell was suspended. As soon as Bell returned, Williams had no more than five carries for six straight weeks before starting again when Bell was lost for the season.
DeAngelo Williams: oldest in NFL history w/200+ rush yards over his 1st 2 games of a season
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— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 19, 2016
This year, Bell is suspended for three games so Williams gets one more game as the starter. But he realizes his time in the spotlight will end when Bell comes back, and he’s OK with that.
Williams talked to Peter King of The MMQB after Sunday’s 24-16 win over the Bengals, and he didn’t want to hear that he’s more than just a backup running back.
“No! I am an insurance policy,” Williams said via NFL.com. “I’m driving the car till L-Bell gets back. I’m trying to keep us in good position till he gets back. That’s good with me. When I came here, I came here to win a Super Bowl. That’s the only thing I care about.”
It’s refreshing to hear that from an NFL player, although it’s not surprising in this case because Williams has been Gallant to Bell’s Goofus.
Bell is serving a suspension for the second time in connection with marijuana. His 2015 suspension stemmed from a 2014 incident in which he was arrested for marijuana possession and DUI with then-teammate LeGarrette Blount in the car as the two were on their way to the airport to travel to a preseason game at Philadelphia.
This year, Bell is suspended for three games for missing multiple drug tests.
Williams, meanwhile, has put the team ahead of himself since signing with the Steelers in 2015 with the exception of rattling the Patriots’ cage on Twitter a few times during the offseason and an unfortunate choice of words when talking to King Sunday.
Did he really have to say that he’s driving the car when talking about his relationship to Bell, especially considering the Steelers go to Philadelphia Sunday?
Blount in 2014 had the same role Williams has now, but he wasn’t the team player that Williams is. He walked off the field before the end of a game in Tennessee and was promptly released. Bell was injured in the final regular-season game and the Steelers were doomed in the playoffs, losing to the Ravens in the wild-card game. Blount quickly reunited with the Patriots after the Steelers released him and earned a Super Bowl ring.
Williams won’t be walking off the field when his carries in a game again can be counted on one hand, and the Steelers appreciate that. That’s why Ben Roethlisberger seemingly makes every effort to feed him the ball, especially in the red zone.
Williams ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns in the season opener at Washington, a 38-16 Steelers win. He didn’t find daylight quite as easily against the Bengals, running for 94 yards on 32 carries for an average of 2.9 yards per carry. In the third quarter, however, he ran the ball eight times for 44 yards and the Steelers stretched their lead from 10-6 to 17-9. Roethlisberger found Williams for the clinching touchdown on a 4-yard pass with 6:48 left in the game. It was his first receiving touchdown as a Steeler.
Perhaps Williams can hold on to the league rushing lead for another week. Even if he does, he’ll be handing Bell the keys to the car when the Steelers host the Chiefs on Sunday Night Football in Week 4. But he’ll be there if the Steelers need him again.
