As Todd Haley walked past running back DeAngelo Williams in front of the team's dorm at Saint Vincent College, he smiled and told him how good he was looking. And the compliment was well deserved.
It wasn't Williams' pink toe nails or freshly done dreads with a pink tint, done in honor of his mother and aunts that were lost to breast cancer that Haley was referring to. He was talking about his trimmed down new look.
Williams spent the time from minicamp until the start of training camp working out and eating healthy, and it resulted in him dropping 13 pounds, down to 217 pounds.
"I was just eating healthy and doing what I've done in the past as far as lifting weights and running, none of that changed," said Williams, who spent the majority of the week before camp in the team's weight room. "I just changed my eating habits. Coming in and not giving them an excuse on why I failed and why I succeeded."
Williams said the decision to lose the weight was a mutual one, something both he wanted to do and the coaches encouraged as well.
"I know for a fact it was both of us," said Williams. "I wanted to lose weight. I wanted to get down to where I was when I first entered this league and that was 217 pounds. I hadn't seen 217 in eight years, so having an opportunity to see that number again and look at the bod pod and come in at 217 and have my body fat be 5%, it's pretty amazing."
While Williams is looking great, he said hitting the field for practice will be the true test of how beneficial the weight loss was.
"It gives me the advantage of Coach (Mike Tomlin) knowing I bought in 100%," said Williams. "He gave me an assignment and I went out and I executed it."
Williams' other assignment this year will be to step in whenever needed for running back Le'Veon Bell, to give him a spell throughout the year or to carry the load early in the season if Bell is sidelined due to suspension.
"I am getting ready for the whole season, the entire season," said Williams. "Everyone is putting focus on how many games Le'Veon is missing. But what everyone has to remember is throughout the season when Le'Veon gets tired I have to give him that breather, not only a breather but it can't be a drop off from Le'Veon to me. I look forward to the entire season."
After getting checked in to his room, Williams spent time chatting with his teammates, laughing, joking and continuing to form a bond that will do nothing but grow deeper as the season goes on.
"It's great getting a chance to see the guys again, having to mix it up with the guys again," said Williams. "This is all about getting ready for the regular season. Prep work. That's all training camp is, prep work and fine tuning your skills and getting your craft together.
"There are some little nuances of the offense I have to get down, the terminology. I have the majority of it down but now I have to get some of those cold words not used all of the time. But football is football."
