Leonard Williams is about to experience a home playoff game at Lumen Field for the first time when the Seattle Seahawks face the San Francisco 49ers in the division round. Moreover, he will get to see how the home fans take it up a notch in the playoffs compared to the regular season.
Williams is in his second full season with Seattle after coming in the middle part of the 2023 NFL campaign. Before playing in the Pacific Northwest, the veteran defensive lineman had played only in New York for the Jets (2015-19) and the Giants (2019-2023).
As a result, Seahawks fans have been a breath of fresh air for him as he took a subtle dig at Jets and Giants fans while speaking to reporters on Jan. 14.
“I love Seattle,” Williams said. “I feel blessed every day that I’m here… The community is special. I noticed it [in] my very first game here. We had a road game against the Ravens, and we got blown out like 40-some to like 10… I remember getting home super late because it was a late East Coast game [and] I’m driving home from the facility at like 3:00 a.m. [and] there [are] literally fans lined up out there, cheering us on.
‘And I’m just like, ‘It’s 3:00 a.m., and we just lost, and these people are taking their time to still cheer for us,’ and I’m not used to that. I’ve been in stadiums where we’re losing at halftime, and our own fans are booing us and leaving the stadium. So, this is a special community.”
Seahawks Have No Love for the 49ers
As for the playoff game against the Niners, the Seahawks are getting a team that they aren’t very fond of. Seahawks defensive tackle Jarran Reed spoke to the media on Jan. 13 and didn’t hold back his thoughts on facing the 49ers again.
“For one, we get the team we don’t like,” Reed said (h/t 95.7 The Game). “Personally, I don’t like anything about them. We don’t do too much talking. We know what’s at stake. They know what’s at stake.”
Meanwhile, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan sees the trash talk from both sides as entertainment rather than actual hatred.
“I think it’s like wrestling—fake entertainment,” Shanahan told reporters on Jan. 13 (h/t 95.7 The Game). “If it distracts someone and gets them out of their preparation, or they lose their emotions during the game or make things personal, then of course, but I think everyone is just having fun.”
Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald on Facing 49ers for Third Time
Nonetheless, after it was all said and done, it’s Round 3 with the 49ers. On Jan. 11, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald appeared on the NFL on NBC and shared his thoughts about playing the 49ers for a third time this season.
“They’re a heck of a team,” Macdonald told NBC Sports’ Maria Taylor on FaceTime. “We’ve got to play great situational football. They’re so good on third down on both sides. The special teams, like the starting field position, were a big part of the last game. So we did a great job taking care of the ball on offense. We attacked it on defense. We got to be able to do that back at Lumen.”
Seahawks’ Leonard Williams Takes Subtle Dig at Giants, Jets Fans