Photo by Adrienne Terzuoli

CHRIS WILLIAMS
NOSE TACKLE I 6'2" I 305 LBS. I Brooklyn, NY I Lafayette High School
In Wagner's gritty 24-21 season-opening loss at FBS member UConn, Williams delivered a career-high 11 tackles. A 2018 Second-Team All-NEC choice, he was starter in all 11 games a year ago when he was credited with 25 tackles on the season, including 14 solo hits, with a sack vs. Monmouth (9/29), in addition to 11 assisted stops. He recorded three or more tackles in six different games, highlighted by a career-high five-tackle effort at Central Connecticut (10/27).

A 2019 All-NEC Preseason selection, and one of the Seahawks' five team captains who is drawing interest from NFL teams, recently sat down for a Q&A session with wagnerathletics.com.
 
Question: I want to begin by asking you to discuss your career at Lafayette High School in Brooklyn and the recruiting process that led to you becoming a Wagner Seahawk?
Answer: "I feel like from my freshman year to the end of my sophomore year I didn't really know too much about football. It was just a sport that I always played and was a lot of fun. Freshman year I was on varsity, mostly offensive line. Sophomore year, I started on both the O-Line and the D-Line. It wasn't until my junior and senior years when I started dominating and getting stats and awards. Even though I played well, I had almost no recruiting interest. Temple came once. I went to their camp. Wagner popped up at the last second. Coach Patterson (former Wagner assistant coach Custavious Patterson) was my main recruiter and they offered me."

Question: Why do you feel that you were somewhat overlooked as far as colleges recruiting you?
Answer: "I feel like where I came from kind of was a factor because city football is kind of downplayed and I was in one of the lowest divisions – the PSAL III Division. So, I think colleges thought that I only dominated because the competition I was going against."

Question: What is your academic major and when football eventually comes to an end, whether it's following this season or after a professional career, what kind of work do you see yourself getting into?
Answer: "I'm a computer science major here at Wagner. As far as a future career, I'd like to get into coding for video games. I'm really into video games and some of my favorite ones include Call of Duty, Fortnite and, of course, Madden."

Question: Is there anyone in particular in the Wagner football program that you have developed a video game rivalry with?
Answer: "Coach Knighton (Wagner assistant recruiting coordinator/defensive line coach and former NFL standout Terrance Knighton) and I go at it pretty hard in Call of Duty."

Question: Who's better?
Answer: "I am, definitely me. I'm better than him (laughs).

Question: Would he agree with that?
Answer: "Oh man, Coach Knighton would never admit to anyone that someone's better at him at anything!" (more laughs).

Question: Speaking of Coach Knighton, how important has he been in your development as a football player here at Wagner?
Answer: "Oh, he's been very important and definitely had a big hand in my development. Before he got here, things were a bit cloudy out there on the field for me. But since he's arrived, he's been able to make the game so much simpler for me which allows me to play faster. He's taught me so much more about the game. We watch a lot film of NFL players and he shows us, all the D-lineman, he shows us step-by-step, how he did it, and he applies it to us on the practice field. We basically mimic how the pros do it. We repeat it over and over until it turns into muscle memory. He teaches us so much off the field, how to be a leader, how to carry ourselves, both on and off the field. We're so fortunate to have Coach Knighton here on staff."
 
Question: Discuss your role as one of Wagner's five captains, along with Santoni Graham, Adam Giordano, Cam Gill, and Christian Alexander-Stevens…how it came to be and what it means to you.
Answer: "Our team voted the day after the spring game. I was happy to hear that I was named one of the captains. One of my main goals in the offseason was to be a leader, being the best leader and player I can be, for the team. I really appreciate being named a captain, it means a lot to me and it's not something that I take lightly."
 
Question: Big news recently for Wagner football fans with the announcement that Greg Senat, your former teammate, had been named to the Ravens' 53-man roster, in addition to NFL veteran and former Seahawk standout Julian Stanford being tabbed to the Bills' active roster. Is it a motivating factor to see two former Wagner players in the pros?
Answer: "Oh definitely. Obviously I know Greg more than Julian but it's a source of pride to have two guys from here in the league. Greg and I went at it every day in practice. It was like an iron sharpens iron kind of deal where we each made the other better. I'm still in touch with Greg and wish him the best of luck."

Question: You went from wearing the highest uniform number possible, 99, to the lowest number, 1. I'm sure Seahawk fans are wondering your reasoning for the change.
Answer: "Well, it all started in the offseason when Julian (McCleod) said he wanted establish a new identity in his last season. So, he switched to No. 5 (formerly No. 95) and then Tevaugn (Grant) liked the idea and switched to No. 7 (formerly No. 58). Not to be left out, I thought it'd be cool if all three of us wore single digit numbers in our last seasons. So, I went with No. 1 (also worn by quarterback Christian Alexander-Stevens on the offensive side of the ball). So, here we are, all three starting D-lineman wearing single digits."