No excuses: Former Notre Dame football standout holds himself to elite standard

Former Notre Dame football star running back Kyren Williams knows that he’s moved past just being a nice story. Now he needs to really take the reins of his NFL career and turn into one of the best in the league.

Part of that transition from surprise star to dependable back is taking responsibility for his mistakes, even as he continues to set marks that most players would love to have. So, despite rushing for over 100 yards again last Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, the thing he talked about the most earlier this week was his costly lost fumble. 

“Because if I don’t, who will?” the former Notre Dame football star said about his first fumble of the season. “If I don’t, I might start getting comfortable if I don’t hold myself accountable. I might say, ‘Oh, that fumble’s OK. It’s only the first of the season.’ No, that’s never OK. Putting the ball on the ground is never OK. Being hard on myself is just who I am. My standards of excellence are super high and I’ve got to meet those each and every week and if I don’t, I’ve got to go back to the drawing board and keep going.”

Not only was it his first fumble of the season, it was just the fourth fumble of his three-year NFL career. This shows that perhaps holding himself responsible for this sort of thing is why he’s been so good in the pros.

Ex-Notre Dame football star holding himself responsible

While he’s focusing on the fumble, the rest of us are looking at the fact that alongside the 102 yards, he had his 6th rushing touchdown of the season. He’s scored a TD in every game this season. And he’s scored a TD in eight straight games going back to last season.

He’s also looking more and more like the dominant back of last season. He got off to a tough start averaging just 2.8, 2.1, and 3.7 yards per carry in his first three games. However, in his last two, the former Notre Dame football star averaged 4.9 and 4.6 YPC.