Growing up in the St. Louis area, Notre Dame star running back Kyren Williams idolized former Rams great Steven Jackson. Earlier this week, Williams retweeted a picture of himself as a child meeting Jackson. Jackson saw it and responded.
Here’s Williams’s original tweet of him meeting Jackson as a kid.
A few hours later, Jackson saw it and responded.
It’s just another step in Williams’s meteoric rise this year. A year ago, Williams redshirted as a freshman before bursting on to the scene this year with 1,011 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns (12 rushing, 1 receiving) in just ten games.
Because Jackson’s career ended with a whimper with stops in Atlanta and New England, people might forget just how nasty he was in his prime. Jackson ranks 18th all-time in rushing yards in NFL history with 11,438. He also racked up an additional 3,683 receiving over his career while scoring a combined 78 touchdowns. During an eight-year stretch from 2005-2012, Jackson was one of the NFL’s elite running backs, topping 1,000 yards in each of those eight seasons.
Only time will tell whether or not Williams follows Jackon’s footsteps of being an all-time great, but he is undoubtedly on his way towards an NFL future. Assuming Williams finishes out this season strong – and there is nothing to indicate he won’t – he could be in the NFL as soon as 2022 with a repeat performance next fall for the Irish. That is part of the reason why it’s so crucial for Notre Dame to land two running backs in this recruiting cycle.
Until then, though, we have plenty of time to enjoy more of Williams’s highlights, which will hopefully only be added to this weekend and in the next few weeks.
Notre Dame fans worry too much? Before the season they doubted there’d be a good # 1 rb? I told them, “Out of the good rbs on campus, at least one will probably step up in 2020, and Tyree will likely average 6 yards a carry.” There’s enough returning rb. talent, that even if ND fans in the 2021 recruiting class, which is highly unlikely, they will certainly hit a couple of home runs in 2022.
Way to go Mike!