Weighty Return: Williams Back In NFL With Redskins

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) -- Mike Williams weighs more than 400 pounds and hasn't taken a snap in an NFL game since New Years Day of 2006.

Yet, through a fluke of circumstance that includes helping out the pregnant wife of a good friend, the former No. 4 overall draft pick is attempting a comeback with the Washington Redskins, who think he just might be the solution to a tenuous situation at right tackle.

"It's a challenge, but I know I can do it," Williams said. "I haven't fired off the ball in three years, but when I was out there, it felt so natural, and that's when you know you're dying for this game."

Williams was signed last week after the Redskins discovered he was living in the area with guard Derrick Dockery. Williams and Dockery were teammates at the University of Texas, and their wives are good friends. With Dockery's wife due to give birth any day, the Williamses moved in with the Dockerys to help out.

"Who expected that I'd be here?" Williams said, sitting down for an interview at Redskins Park.

No one, not even Williams himself.

That's because, not long ago, Williams had essentially given up on football. He was labeled a bust and released in 2005 after four seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2006 but never played because of a herniated disk that required surgery. He decided to go into business, working the cell phones and computers for an oil field services company.

"I really wanted to focus on life after football," Williams said. "I made the decision at that point I wasn't coming back."

The sedentary lifestyle meant that Williams, whose playing weight was 360-370 pounds at Buffalo, eventually was tipping the scales at 450.

He also realized he missed football.

"A fish is made to swim," he said. "And if you're not in that place, and utilizing those abilities, then you are a fish out of water. And that's what I was."

So he went to Duke and began a workout regimen. He said he's dropped some 40 pounds in 2 1/2 months and currently weighs 404. He wasn't targeting the Redskins when he moved to Virginia to settle in Dockery, and the team only found out he was in the area when they read a story about him in a Texas newspaper.

Last Thursday, the Redskins called. On Friday morning, Williams worked out. That same day, he signed a one-year, minimum contract.

The next two days were the NFL draft. The Redskins were expected to take an offensive lineman to start rebuilding an aging group. It's an open question whether Jon Jansen can still hold down the job at right tackle, and whether Stephon Heyer is ready to take over the role.

After the Redskins went through the entire draft without addressing the position, executive vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato said the big new guy was one of the reasons.

"When we signed Mike Williams, that kind of helped that," Cerrato said.

Even so, Williams is a long shot. He's not close to football shape and therefore won't be taking part in the three-day minicamp that starts Friday. The Redskins want him down to 370, and he says he can get there in a month thanks to a fitness program he has stored on his laptop.

"This is his opportunity to show why they picked him No. 4 in the draft," Dockery said. "I think the world of him. It's about him getting in shape, taking care of himself physically. He'll be fine."

Asked if he'll be the starter this fall, Williams was confident.

"I didn't come here not to," he said. "I came here to compete. I'm a very competitive person."