{"id":697838,"date":"2026-01-23T02:36:41","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T02:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/697838\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T02:36:41","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T02:36:41","slug":"how-kyren-williams-has-grown-as-a-leader-for-rams-on-the-field-and-in-the-community-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/697838\/","title":{"rendered":"How Kyren Williams has grown as a leader for Rams on the field and in the community \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rams<\/p>\n

Rams running back Kyren Williams, left, stiff-arms Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson during a touchdown run in the second half of their NFC divisional playoff game on Sunday in Chicago. (AP Photo\/Jeff Roberson)\n<\/p>\n

\"Rams<\/p>\n

Rams running back Kyren Williams celebrates after running for a touchdown during the second half of their NFC divisional playoff game on Sunday in Chicago. (AP Photo\/Jeff Roberson)\n<\/p>\n

\"Rams<\/p>\n

Rams running back Kyren Williams gestures after scoring a touchdown during the second half of their NFC divisional playoff game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday in Chicago. (AP Photo\/Erin Hooley)\n<\/p>\n

\"Rams<\/p>\n

Rams running back Kyren Williams stiff-arms Seattle\u2019s Nick Emmanwori during the first quarter of a game on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, at Sofi Stadium. (Photo by Harry How\/Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n

\"Rams<\/p>\n

Rams running back Kyren Williams (23) during an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo\/Rick Scuteri)\n<\/p>\n

\"Rams<\/p>\n

Rams running back Kyren Williams runs with the ball as Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman Leonard Williams tries to tackle him during the first half on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, in Seattle. (Photo by Steph Chambers\/Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n

\"Seattle<\/p>\n

Seattle Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori tries to grab Rams running back Kyren Williams during a game on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 in Seattle. (AP Photo\/Ben VanHouten)\n<\/p>\n

\"Rams<\/p>\n

Rams running back Kyren Williams (23) runs with the ball during an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025 in Seattle. (AP Photo\/Ben VanHouten)\n<\/p>\n

\"Rams<\/p>\n

Rams running back Kyren Williams warmsup before an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023, in Seattle. The Rams won 30-13. (AP Photo\/Stephen Brashear)\n<\/p>\n

\"Rams<\/p>\n

Rams running back Kyren Williams carries the ball against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022. (AP Photo\/Butch Dill)\n<\/p>\n

\"Rams<\/p>\n

Rams running back Kyren Williams smiles while warming up before a game against the Houston Texans on Sept. 7, 2025, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. (Photo by Harry How\/Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 11<\/p>\n

Rams running back Kyren Williams, left, stiff-arms Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson during a touchdown run in the second half of their NFC divisional playoff game on Sunday in Chicago. (AP Photo\/Jeff Roberson)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

As the Rams prepared to take the field, down by four points with 2:39 to play in their wild-card playoff matchup with the Carolina Panthers, running back Kyren Williams stalked the sidelines, rallying the offense.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he has words to say or shares what\u2019s on his mind or on his heart,\u201d quarterback Matthew Stafford said, \u201cwe\u2019re always listening.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Williams had to say was something he had been repeating all season, in his coarse voice and excitable fashion, the type that allows no room for doubt or second-guessing, especially as the Rams prepared for their game-winning drive in Charlotte<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething that he\u2019s been echoing the whole year. He always says, \u2018We\u2019re the greatest in the world,\u2019\u201d left guard Steve Avila said. \u201cI feel like the more that he\u2019s echoed it over the years, it\u2019s like, \u2018Yeah, you know, we are.\u2019 You just start walking different when you actually believe those things.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is who Williams has always been, setting an example with an indefatigable work ethic, a constant desire to evolve and grow.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s as the fourth-year running back has become more confident in his role within the Rams that he has allowed himself to become more of a leader, both on the field and in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got this authentic energy. He has this consistent belief and this \u2018never-say-die\u2019 attitude,\u201d said head coach Sean McVay, who is preparing his team to face the Seattle Seahawks in Sunday\u2019s NFC championship game<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s got this mental and physical toughness. He is so authentically and refreshingly himself. I think that\u2019s why it resonates with his teammates. He never asks anything of his teammates that he\u2019s not willing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

SEEING IS BELIEVING<\/p>\n

Williams learned the power an example can set during his childhood in St. Louis, from a group of players whose ranks he would one day join.<\/p>\n

During their St. Louis days, the Rams held a foster care event during the holidays. Williams attended, and seeing his hero Steven Jackson and other players in the flesh left an indelible impression.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember always seeing the guys that I wanted to be like on TV, not knowing if I could ever be on the TV just like them. But once I saw them out of the TV in person and saw that they were real human beings, it was all believable,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI went home and told my mom, \u2018I\u2019m going to be in the NFL one day.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Not just in the NFL. Coming off his third straight 1,000-yard rushing season<\/a>, Williams has a platform as one of the top running backs in the league. And he has used that to pass on the inspiration that he once drew from Jackson to the next generation in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the Rams moved back to California, they adopted two local Pop Warner football programs, the Northeast Lincoln Tigers and the Watts Bears<\/a>, both of which changed their mascots to the Rams. The teams had been developed by the non-profit Project Blue not only to provide an extracurricular opportunity for the kids, but to bridge the differences between two communities historically divided along racial lines and by gang violence.<\/p>\n

With the Rams\u2019 involvement, the two programs have gone from a short fall football season to a year-round enterprise with access to different resources, including clinics with Rams youth coaches.<\/p>\n

Williams\u2019 involvement with the Northeast Lincoln Rams and the Watts Rams has been at the heart of his consecutive nominations for the NFL\u2019s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. Greeting the teams on visits to the Rams\u2019 practice facility, handing out turkeys to families during the holidays and, perhaps most impactfully, being a part of those football clinics in a tangible way.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe gets down in the drills. He\u2019ll start running routes with them, he\u2019ll start playing quarterback. He becomes one of the youth engagement coaches,\u201d said Marc Maye, the executive director of Project Blue and general manager of the Northeast Lincoln and Watts Rams. \u201cNo one\u2019s expecting him to do that, but he does it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Maye\u2019s experience, most of the headliners who make appearances at these kinds of events do just that \u2013 make appearances, take photos, present a check.<\/p>\n

But with Williams\u2019 involvement with the two youth teams, May has seen him evolve from \u201cKyren Williams, Rams running back\u201d in the kids\u2019 eyes to simply \u201cKyren\u201d \u2013 someone who follows them on Instagram and whom they can show whatever video they thought he would appreciate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does something special for our community because they don\u2019t get to see people like that. Not in the flesh like that. Not to that level,\u201d Maye said. \u201cWith football, it kind of becomes secondary. It\u2019s what brought them together, but they start asking him questions about him, he\u2019s asking them questions about them. They\u2019re talking about video games, they get so comfortable talking to him on that level that it\u2019s really not about football anymore. It\u2019s really about humanity at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Williams does want to learn more about them, not just as individuals but as communities, too.<\/p>\n

Williams\u2019 first event with the Watts Rams was held at the Jordan Downs housing project, one of the biggest of its kind in the country. It was not dissimilar to some of the neighborhoods that Williams grew up near, predominantly Black, albeit with a growing Hispanic population. But when he visited Lincoln for the first time, he saw how different the culture was in a predominantly Hispanic community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m coming from St. Louis, Missouri, where it\u2019s just white and black and you just know where your spots are at in the city. Coming to L.A., it\u2019s a whole bunch of different races, a whole bunch of different ethnicities, it\u2019s a boiling pot, honestly,\u201d Williams said. \u201cSo for me to be out here and to interact and not get looked at by the way that I look is definitely the biggest thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maye was peppered with questions from Williams, intrigued by neighborhoods he had driven through to get to the events and wishing to understand the history of the communities, how they diverged, how football has helped bring some of the youth back together.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it\u2019s this fascination with where his feet are now that helps explain the way that Williams framed his contract extension with the Rams this summer: That he wanted to spend his entire career not with one\u00a0team, but in one\u00a0city.<\/p>\n

\u201cI honestly feel like the city makes the team. The team can be who they are, they can be the best team in the world but they don\u2019t care about the city, then the fans aren\u2019t going to come out and be there for them,\u201d Williams said. \u201cSo me just being able to be in the position that I am and the lord has blessed me to be here so I feel like it\u2019s only right for me to go impact not only the people that get impacted every day by the things that we do but more so this city and everything that they bring to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

FOLLOW MY LEAD<\/p>\n

There are no shortage of examples of how Williams has set the standard for the Rams the past three seasons. Practicing at training camp even amid contract negotiations<\/a>. Remaking his body to avoid the health issues that plagued his first two seasons, resulting in two years with a clean bill of health<\/a>. Accepting hard coaching, so teammates know it\u2019s ok to receive similar feedback. Taking copious notes during position meetings, with running backs coach Ron Gould estimating that Williams goes through a notebook every 2-3 weeks.<\/p>\n

And internalizing any frustrations about his lack of explosive runs as he embraced the Rams\u2019 methodical, efficiency-focused approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s super competitive and so he thinks every run he should have broken it for 40 or 50 yards. That\u2019s just who he is,\u201d Gould said. \u201cBut I think it\u2019s a testament to him, just his maturity that he stays through his reads and those kinds of things and allow the game to come to you because when you get frustrated, then you miss opportunities instead of just staying the course, which is what he\u2019s been able to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year, Williams has been able to break through with some of the longer runs, his excitement oozing out of him on the field and in press conferences when discussing his evasion of a tackler, his cut and the blocks that allowed it.<\/p>\n

But then again, it\u2019s not that different than speaking with Williams after a win in which he averaged 3 yards per carry. Or even after losses when he can see the lesson that he believes will fuel his Rams. The energy is always palpable, always moving himself and his teammates forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just who I\u2019ve been my whole life,\u201d Williams said. \u201cSo for me, if I\u2019m not being like that then there\u2019s probably something wrong with me. But I don\u2019t know, that\u2019s just who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rams running back Kyren Williams, left, stiff-arms Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson during a touchdown run in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":697839,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2056],"tags":[7,221,253,2368,58,6,424,9,222,1004],"class_list":{"0":"post-697838","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-texans","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-houston","10":"tag-houston-texans","11":"tag-houstontexans","12":"tag-los-angeles-rams","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-rams","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-texans","17":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115942091042580960","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=697838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/697839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=697838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=697838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=697838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}