Pat Williams to sign one day contract and retire as a Viking

[NextQuestion]

No link. It's on the Vikings' facebook page right now. Miss me a P-Will

[Funkytown]

I miss me some *big* Pat Williams as well. It just hasn't quite been the same without him.

[Mothman]

Cool news! I'm glad Big Pat wants to retire as a Viking.

[dead_poet]

I'll miss his quotes/videos. Aside from Jared Allen, he was always awesome to listen to (and then the accompanying work you had to do to try and translate). We miss him. Ring of Honor candidate?

[losperros]

Definitely a Ring of Honor candidate, in my view.

I miss P-Will. This is great news that he's going to retire as a Viking.

[HardcoreVikesFan]

FAT PAT!

I miss that guy. One of my favorite players in team history, that is for damn sure!

[Eli]

Why? Did he play for someone else after leaving the Vikings?

[dead_poet]

Why? Did he play for someone else after leaving the Vikings?

No. But he's technically a free agent. Played for Buffalo for 6 years before coming to Minnesota.

[Eli]

I don't get it, but if it makes everyone feel better, rah rah.

[King James]

We will sure miss Pat...the line hasn't been the same since he left. But it is awesome that he is retiring as a Viking....class act and great player all the way

[King James]

We will sure miss Pat...the line hasn't been the same since he left. But it is awesome that he is retiring as a Viking....class act and great player all the way

[mansquatch]

My only Vikings Jersey is P-Will. Until they get another dominate NT, it will remain my only Jersey!

Glad to hear he is retiring a Vike, really miss that guy.

[allday1991]

I don't get it, but if it makes everyone feel better, rah rah.

What don't you get? he's been a amazing player for us every since we got him and where happy he wants to retire a Viking, he enjoyed playing for us as much as Viking fans did watching him.

[Demi]

Hm, I always kinda thought of him as more of a Bill in the grand scheme of things. Although this was the first time I ever had to really consider it.

[Rus]

What I love most about VMB is that there are always 10 people who agree on something, and one that is always "NO".

But seriously, though, without Pat and Kevin in the middle, teams would have been able to do whatever they wanted against the Vikings for years. They would have been truly putrid. It wasn't Pat Williams fault that those teams had (mostly) a swiss cheese secondary. Even in '09, that team was still almost all about defense. It just had a quarterback that was still reasonably good running the offense for once. When the Vikings added Pat Williams, the defense was instantly upgraded and stayed strong for years. As long as the Vikings had a (often over-the-hill) quarterback that wasn't tripping over his own feet, they were making a push for the playoffs most of those years P-Will was on the team (well, except that last season, but that season was doomed from the start when the wall was suspended).

It's tough to measure stats for a NT. It's really a team defensive position because mostly they just have to highly discourage the act of running a football up the middle. They usually only sack the quarterback if the offensive line completely breaks down and leaves the biggest defensive player open, and that usually doesn't happen (and Pat usually drew two blockers, which made life easier for K-Will and Jared Allen).