Between his two costly fumbles and death threats from deranged fans, 49ers punt returner Kyle Williams had a rough Sunday night.
It’s a good thing, then, that he has a father who understands some of what he’s going through. Kenny Williams is a former major league outfielder and the current general manager of the Chicago White Sox isn’t a stranger to people going too far when their favorite team falls short of their goals.
“I’m used to the years of criticism and threats on my life from time to time, but I have to hear about threats on your son’s life while you’re watching TV and it certainly makes you question our culture of sports as it stands,” the elder Williams said to ESPNChicago.com. “I told his mother on the way out exactly what was coming. That’s the nature of the beast.”
Kenny Williams also said that his son was spending Monday getting treatment for a shoulder injury he suffered during the third quarter of the 23-20 loss to the Giants. The severity of the injury isn’t known, but Kyle Williams thinks he may have separated his shoulder. The elder Williams wants to make sure that no one thinks that talking about the injury is a way to deflect blame for what happened on the two fateful punts, though.
“He felt he could get the job done. He didn’t. End of story,” Kenny Williams said when asked if the injury contributed to either fumble.