Any thoughts on Cary Williams?

[LukeDaniel]

Raven fans always seem to have this childishness about them the second someone gives even the smallest of slights to their excellent football team or their crappy city. It's almost comical. You should have seen all the names Ed Reed was called on the Raven247 Facebook page the day he signed with Houston. You would have thought he was DeRon Jenkins. This is Ed Reed...the 3rd best player in franchise history and a first ballot Hall of Famer who spent 11 seasons with our franchise, and he is getting clobbered with a ton of disgusting names. It was embarrassing, but not surprising when you look at the quality of people living in Baltimore. The funny thing is that so much of the Raven fan base is so poorly educated about what is actually going on that they thought that the Ravens had actually made him a legitimate offer.

I sorta expected a more refined, classy, intelligent response from the posters here, who I've always considered as a smarter breed of football fan. Sadly, as indicated by some of you who for some reason feel the need to bash this guy, class is in short supply among a lot Raven fans here too.

If you didn't like the way Cary Williams played last year, I'm sure you would have rather seen Chykie Brown as our starter. That's where we would have been last year if it wasn't for Williams. Williams might not ever be anything more than an average NFL corner, but what's wrong with that? The dude was a 7th round draft pick who was cut by the Titans very early in his NFL career. In three years with the Raven organization, he went from a waiver wire special teams guy to a starter on a Super Bowl team. His cover skills ran hot/cold, but he was a very good corner in run support and, perhaps most important of all, was in our starting lineup all 38 games over the past two seasons (Reed was the only other defensive player who could say that). Given the decimation of our cornerbacks during the 11 and 12 season, his dependability had immense value for our franchise.

Anyways, I doubt the Ravens win a Lombardi Trophy if Chykie Brown is their starter in place of Cary Williams. Warts and all, Cary Williams made the Ravens a better football team last year. It's sorta sad that so many people here have taken the low road to call him names for leaving, instead of complimenting him for all the hard work that it took to go from Titans castoff to Super Bowl starter in 3 seasons.

[bmorecareful]

Raven fans always seem to have this childishness about them the second someone gives even the smallest of slights to their excellent football team or their crappy city. It's almost comical. You should have seen all the names Ed Reed was called on the Raven247 Facebook page the day he signed with Houston. You would have thought he was DeRon Jenkins. This is Ed Reed...the 3rd best player in franchise history and a first ballot Hall of Famer who spent 11 seasons with our franchise, and he is getting clobbered with a ton of disgusting names. It was embarrassing, but not surprising when you look at the quality of people living in Baltimore. The funny thing is that so much of the Raven fan base is so poorly educated about what is actually going on that they thought that the Ravens had actually made him a legitimate offer.

I sorta expected a more refined, classy, intelligent response from the posters here, who I've always considered as a smarter breed of football fan. Sadly, as indicated by some of you who for some reason feel the need to bash this guy, class is in short supply among a lot Raven fans here too.

If you didn't like the way Cary Williams played last year, I'm sure you would have rather seen Chykie Brown as our starter. That's where we would have been last year if it wasn't for Williams. Williams might not ever be anything more than an average NFL corner, but what's wrong with that? The dude was a 7th round draft pick who was cut by the Titans very early in his NFL career. In three years with the Raven organization, he went from a waiver wire special teams guy to a starter on a Super Bowl team. His cover skills ran hot/cold, but he was a very good corner in run support and, perhaps most important of all, was in our starting lineup all 38 games over the past two seasons (Reed was the only other defensive player who could say that). Given the decimation of our cornerbacks during the 11 and 12 season, his dependability had immense value for our franchise.

Anyways, I doubt the Ravens win a Lombardi Trophy if Chykie Brown is their starter in place of Cary Williams. Warts and all, Cary Williams made the Ravens a better football team last year. It's sorta sad that so many people here have taken the low road to call him names for leaving, instead of complimenting him for all the hard work that it took to go from Titans castoff to Super Bowl starter in 3 seasons.

GREAT post. Nothing more to add.

[s.r.genovese]

He wasn't good enough to be a Raven.

Yet started ahead of Jimmy Smith, Corey Graham, covering the number 1 receiver day in and day out on a Super Bowl winning defense? :grbac:

Ravens fans just love bashing guys after they're gone. He was a good player for us. Had the most interceptions of all our corners last year.

[LukeDaniel]

Yet started ahead of Jimmy Smith, Corey Graham, covering the number 1 receiver day in and day out on a Super Bowl winning defense? :grbac:

Ravens fans just love bashing guys after they're gone. He was a good player for us. Had the most interceptions of all our corners last year.

Good post all around. At this point in their careers, Williams, as a 7th round pick of the Titans, is a better NFL corner than our former first round pick Smith. It might not wind up that way, but it's reality at the moment.

[ursula]

What Luke said.

Cary's a good guy. Worked his way up from barely making the team to becoming a bona fide starter: not many players can say they did that so good for him. And he totally deserved to be the starting CB last year.

Gotta be a shock being on that Philly defense that Andy Reid neglected the last few years. He'll be one of their better defenders. They desperately need a couple of vocal leaders on that defense. And for me personally it is interesting since I live in Oregon and know how Chip Kelly works. Very different than Harbaugh though IMO just as effective.

Good luck Cary!

[NCRAVEN]

It's always been that way among many Ravens fans.

The Eagles defense was complete crap last year. That's one of the reasons why they brought in a physical corner. Williams is trying to bring what he learned here to his new team. That might be a little difficult with a college coach in charge but I understand what he's trying to do.

Physical corner? Who else did they sign besides Cary?

I thought he was a descent cover guy once his hip healed, but one thing I would never mistake Williams for is physical.

[trailhiker85]

Raven fans always seem to have this childishness about them the second someone gives even the smallest of slights to their excellent football team or their crappy city. It's almost comical. You should have seen all the names Ed Reed was called on the Raven247 Facebook page the day he signed with Houston. You would have thought he was DeRon Jenkins. This is Ed Reed...the 3rd best player in franchise history and a first ballot Hall of Famer who spent 11 seasons with our franchise, and he is getting clobbered with a ton of disgusting names. It was embarrassing, but not surprising when you look at the quality of people living in Baltimore. The funny thing is that so much of the Raven fan base is so poorly educated about what is actually going on that they thought that the Ravens had actually made him a legitimate offer.

I sorta expected a more refined, classy, intelligent response from the posters here, who I've always considered as a smarter breed of football fan. Sadly, as indicated by some of you who for some reason feel the need to bash this guy, class is in short supply among a lot Raven fans here too.

If you didn't like the way Cary Williams played last year, I'm sure you would have rather seen Chykie Brown as our starter. That's where we would have been last year if it wasn't for Williams. Williams might not ever be anything more than an average NFL corner, but what's wrong with that? The dude was a 7th round draft pick who was cut by the Titans very early in his NFL career. In three years with the Raven organization, he went from a waiver wire special teams guy to a starter on a Super Bowl team. His cover skills ran hot/cold, but he was a very good corner in run support and, perhaps most important of all, was in our starting lineup all 38 games over the past two seasons (Reed was the only other defensive player who could say that). Given the decimation of our cornerbacks during the 11 and 12 season, his dependability had immense value for our franchise.

Anyways, I doubt the Ravens win a Lombardi Trophy if Chykie Brown is their starter in place of Cary Williams. Warts and all, Cary Williams made the Ravens a better football team last year. It's sorta sad that so many people here have taken the low road to call him names for leaving, instead of complimenting him for all the hard work that it took to go from Titans castoff to Super Bowl starter in 3 seasons.

Add me to the list of folks giving Luke's post a thumbs-up.

I'll admit there were plenty of times Cary irked me with his soft coverage, and that shoving of a ref in the SB was one of the dumbest things I've seen any Raven do; he was extremely lucky not to have been flagged and/or ejected.

Still, he was in the lineup game in and game out, and had definitely improved his level of play from what it was when he first came to Baltimore. Cary will never be a true No. 1 caliber corner, but nonetheless he was an important contributor to the team that ultimately won the Super Bowl. He's gone now because he simply wasn't worth the money that Philly gave him. I wasn't the least disappointed in his leaving, but I didn't go as far as popping champagne corks, either.

[NOLARavenFAN]

Add me to the list of folks giving Luke's post a thumbs-up.

I'll admit there were plenty of times Cary irked me with his soft coverage, and that shoving of a ref in the SB was one of the dumbest things I've seen any Raven do; he was extremely lucky not to have been flagged and/or ejected.

Still, he was in the lineup game in and game out, and had definitely improved his level of play from what it was when he first came to Baltimore. Cary will never be a true No. 1 caliber corner, but nonetheless he was an important contributor to the team that ultimately won the Super Bowl. He's gone now because he simply wasn't worth the money that Philly gave him. I wasn't the least disappointed in his leaving, but I didn't go as far as popping champagne corks, either.

Don't know about Cary but Jimmy Smith came up with two of the biggest plays a Raven corner has ever made.

[bensmotorcyclehelmt]

Thoughts? Thoughts on Cary Williams anyone?: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap100...-eagles-soft-d

Sounds like Carey was willing to "jump that fence and fight every Patriot there, bro."

Man, Philly is a mess this offseason. Lots of distractions.

[shana]

Raven fans always seem to have this childishness about them the second someone gives even the smallest of slights to their excellent football team or their crappy city. It's almost comical. You should have seen all the names Ed Reed was called on the Raven247 Facebook page the day he signed with Houston. You would have thought he was DeRon Jenkins. This is Ed Reed...the 3rd best player in franchise history and a first ballot Hall of Famer who spent 11 seasons with our franchise, and he is getting clobbered with a ton of disgusting names. It was embarrassing, but not surprising when you look at the quality of people living in Baltimore. The funny thing is that so much of the Raven fan base is so poorly educated about what is actually going on that they thought that the Ravens had actually made him a legitimate offer.

I sorta expected a more refined, classy, intelligent response from the posters here, who I've always considered as a smarter breed of football fan. Sadly, as indicated by some of you who for some reason feel the need to bash this guy, class is in short supply among a lot Raven fans here too.

If you didn't like the way Cary Williams played last year, I'm sure you would have rather seen Chykie Brown as our starter. That's where we would have been last year if it wasn't for Williams. Williams might not ever be anything more than an average NFL corner, but what's wrong with that? The dude was a 7th round draft pick who was cut by the Titans very early in his NFL career. In three years with the Raven organization, he went from a waiver wire special teams guy to a starter on a Super Bowl team. His cover skills ran hot/cold, but he was a very good corner in run support and, perhaps most important of all, was in our starting lineup all 38 games over the past two seasons (Reed was the only other defensive player who could say that). Given the decimation of our cornerbacks during the 11 and 12 season, his dependability had immense value for our franchise.

Anyways, I doubt the Ravens win a Lombardi Trophy if Chykie Brown is their starter in place of Cary Williams. Warts and all, Cary Williams made the Ravens a better football team last year. It's sorta sad that so many people here have taken the low road to call him names for leaving, instead of complimenting him for all the hard work that it took to go from Titans castoff to Super Bowl starter in 3 seasons.

For me, it is not just that Cary Williams was an average corner. He was also quick to start a fight on the field and was sometimes downright classless. I was not sad to see him go mainly for that reason. Additionally, I'm not sure if you should make statements like "...It was embarrassing, but not surprising when you look at the quality of people living in Baltimore." It is a bit rude not to mention hyperbolic. While I do agree that some fans are a bit harsh and I do not condone some of the statements they make when they talk about the guys that left, they probably have noticed the trend that players that leave Baltimore neither achieve nor exceed the success that they had in Baltimore.

[LukeDaniel]

[
For me, it is not just that Cary Williams was an average corner. He was also quick to start a fight on the field and was sometimes downright classless. I was not sad to see him go mainly for that reason. Additionally, I'm not sure if you should make statements like "...It was embarrassing, but not surprising when you look at the quality of people living in Baltimore." It is a bit rude not to mention hyperbolic. While I do agree that some fans are a bit harsh and I do not condone some of the statements they make when they talk about the guys that left, they probably have noticed the trend that players that leave Baltimore neither achieve nor exceed the success that they had in Baltimore.

You are correct about the trend of success after a player leaves Baltimore. Off the top of my head, Priest Holmes and Stokley are the only two names that come to mind as players who elevated their play after leaving, although I'm sure there are others.

You are also correct that my statement about Baltimore fans was indeed a hyperbole. Not every resident of Baltimore is classless, but if you would read the Facebook comments after any player leaves the Ravens, you'd be deeply embarrassed.

[JAB1985]

They did add to the position. They get Webb back. Also in a pinch Huff can play corner. His comments are a compliment, but he wasnt good last year, and not worth 5 Million per for 3 years.

webb was there and he was still a starter. if Carys here today hes likely the corner opposite Webb still as well. He was not bad last year. he was actually our best DB, which is why he was #1 on our depth chart. taking his stats and comparing them to smith or whoever isnt fair when the staff has already labeled him the better guy and putt him against the better competition.