Dallas Cowboys defensive end Sam Williams was arrested in Frisco, Texas on Sunday, according to ESPN. Williams was charged with possession of a controlled substance and unlawful carrying a weapon. According to police, the controlled substance charge is for another substance, not possession of marijuana, and is a state jail felony. The weapon charge is a Class A misdemeanor.
Williams was arrested after the Cowboys arrived back from competing in a preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks. He did participate in the team’s practice on Tuesday, and head coach Mike McCarthy spoke on the incident during his press conference on Thursday.
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“I had a chance to visit with Sam, he knows what he needs to do, we all can do better,” McCarthy said, per CBS Sports. “I believe in Sam Williams. I obviously did when we drafted him and even more so now. I’ve seen him grow in so many different ways. He needs to slow down. He knows that. That’s the first step.”
This is not the first run-in with police for Williams. Last December, Williams was involved in an accident in which his car was totaled. The following month, he was cited for misdemeanor reckless driving as he was driving close to 100 mph in a 55 mph zone, according to Plano Police.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones commented on Williams’ recent arrest and had some interesting things to say. “Well first of all, I’m seeing that he is as — which is more often the case than not — this sounds a little hollow — but he does and is … maturing,” Jones said, via FOX4. “And he is. What was he going, 66 miles an hour? So he’s 34 miles an hour less this year than he was last year. 98 to 66. So that’s improvement.”
Williams, 24, was selected by the Cowboys in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft. In his rookie season, Williams played in 15 games and recorded 22 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, and four sacks. His production led to him finishing fifth in Defensive Rooke of the Year voting. “I’m confident that we know about the young man coming in here, that we’ve covered the ground and we’ve got it all out there,” Jones said after drafting Williams last year. “After having seen it all out there, we drafted Sam, and I’m confident we got everything.”
