Saints see why Rams’ Puka Nacua, Kyren Williams are showing Hollywood signs


Kyren Williams does a celebratory dance after scoring a Rams TD and tossing the ball to his mom in the stands. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Rams running back Kyren Williams revered one star above all others at SoFi Stadium Thursday, and it wasn’t who you might think.

It wasn’t new Dodger Shohei Ohtani, though the two-way standout’s appearance on the field before the game and in the team’s locker room afterward turned a bunch of supposedly blasé professional athletes into stunned little kids, so impressed were they by his size and presence.

After Williams ran 10 yards off left guard in the third quarter to score the touchdown that helped launch the Rams to a 30-22 victory over New Orleans and solidified their hold on an NFC wild-card playoff spot, he ran directly to the stands, ball in hand. He tossed it to his mom, Taryn, achieving another major goal in a season dotted with impressive feats.

Earlier in the game, he had reached a milestone by passing 1,000 yards rushing, the first Ram to do that since Todd Gurley in 2018. But the experience of tossing the ball to his mother, the brightest star in his life, was almost overwhelming for him.

“That was everything. That was literally everything,” he said of throwing the ball to his mother after his 104-yard rushing performance, his sixth this season of 100 or more yards rushing.

Read more: Rams look like a dangerous ‘playoff team’ after key victory over Saints

“I can’t explain it to you because she knows, and I say ‘we’ because we went through it together,” he said. “Since I was young, I’ve always been overlooked. Always been doubted. And I’m finally on the stage where I’ve waited my whole life to be on. It’s being able to share that moment with her, and for her to have her screen time.”

His run was perfect. So was his timing in being within throwing distance.

“That was my first time scoring on that side of the end zone,” he said, smiling. “I’ve been waiting, like, since the…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/elliott-saints-see-why-rams-110049020.html

Author : LA Times

Publish date : 2023-12-22 11:00:49

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