National Football League

'Big Pat' not quite as big this year

Published Aug. 2, 2010 8:09 p.m. ET

foxsports

When Pat Williams reported to training camp with the Minnesota Vikings, he proudly proclaimed that he was 18 pounds lighter than he was last year.

''I've been training hard. I've been feeling good,'' the defensive tackle said. ''I just want to feel good this year, so if I want to take some days off at practice, coach won't get mad at me. I'm down to 324. I feel good, ready to go.''

For a player known as ''Big Pat,'' both for his girth and his productivity, Williams' declaration is getting a few good-natured doubts from some teammates and coaches.

When asked if Pat looked slimmer these days, linebacker Ben Leber said, ''Pat Williams?''

Defensive end Jared Allen just let out a hearty chuckle.

''I don't know about that,'' Allen said. ''Pat looks the same. I don't know where that 18 pounds came from. Maybe he was tweeting or something.''

Leave it to his closest friend on the team Kevin Williams - the other half of the ''Williams Wall'' tackle tandem - to get his back.

''He's looking slim and looking good,'' Kevin Williams said. ''It's good for him. It will help him out down the stretch and hopefully he can play some of my snaps.''

Big Pat's actual weight has always been one of the great mysteries in Minnesota, a subject thoroughly discussed, dissected and joked about inside the locker room and out. It's always been difficult to put an exact number on it, given Pat's vagueness about the subject and the notoriously inaccurate listings in the media guides.

For instance, when Pat showed up to training camp on Thursday, he said he had lost 18 pounds and was down to 324. But his listed playing weight last season was 317, a number scoffed at and discarded faster than a rookie guard lined up across from the three-time Pro Bowler.

Either way, Pat Williams enters his 14th NFL season as happy as ever despite being in the final year of his contract without a new deal in sight and continuing to pour money into his defense in the StarCaps case. He says he's just enjoying being around a close group of teammates and chasing that elusive Super Bowl.

''I always feel good. This is fun to me. I don't dread it,'' he said of camp. ''I just come here and have fun. My mind's clear. I'm having fun. I've got all my boys here.''

He came close to his first Super Bowl last season, when the Vikings lost to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC title game. Williams said earlier last season that if the Vikings won the Super Bowl he would retire.

So here he is again, starting his sixth season in Minnesota.

''It's time to finish it. Basically we didn't finish it last year,'' he said. ''We're going to start it here and we're going to finish it this year. That's our plan, to not come in second place like we did last year.''

Pat Williams will turn 38 in October, but he still carries himself like a kid on the practice fields, laughing and joking with his teammates and chattering constantly with the rest of one of the most feared defensive lines in football. And he isn't showing many signs of slowing down physically, still one of the most formidable run-stuffers in the league and a true sideline-to-sideline player despite his considerable bulk.

''Pat, he's a unique dude,'' defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said. ''He can play a little above his playing weight, whatever it is, and still be effective. His attitude and his demeanor has a lot to with his success.

''Eighteen pounds lighter? Maybe. I don't know.''

And where Pat Williams let business become a distraction a few years ago when he complained before getting a contract extension, he seems to be enjoying the moment more these days in the twilight of an impressive career, especially considering he was signed as an undrafted free agent by Buffalo in 1997.

''That's the last thought on my mind,'' he said of his contract situation. ''I'm just trying to make it through the year. That's my last thought. I'm just enjoying the guys.''