Isaiah Williams caps his Jets roller coaster with unlikely team MVP nod months after getting cut
Even 3-13 teams produce inspirational performances.The Jets are no different.Text with Brian Costello all season as he brings Sports+ subscribers the latest Jets intel from on the field and off.
On Friday, the players voted for Isaiah Williams to be the “Curtis Martin Team MVP’, perhaps the most unlikely recipient of all to be honored in team history.The 24-year-old kicker returner and receiver, of course, was released by the Jets after a poor performance against the Dolphins in Week 4, fumbling a kickoff and fair-catching a punt at the 3-yard line.Williams was re-signed after being cut and finished with two punt returns for TDs, averaging 14.1 per return, and he returned 23 kickoffs for an average of 30.2 yards per return.“I thought that was really special because I think from the outside, even from the inside, I don’t think anybody thought that he would be voted MVP,’’ Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said.“He was [written] off and, man, for him to go about his business and not be swayed by all the negative talk, I thought it was outstanding and now for him to be the MVP of this team, that is just a story in itself and I’m very, very proud of him.’’Williams’ tale has been storybook — undrafted, signed off the Bengals practice squad after the season began, cut, re-signed and returning two punts for a TD — the second of which came in the second meeting with Miami. “If you would have told me I would be Team MVP by the end of the season, I would have probably looked at you crazy,’’ Williams said.
“After I got cut, I thought I was going to be on a practice squad for the rest of the year, just working, getting better.And then if the opportunity came, it came.”Jets special teams coach Chris Banjo called Williams’ season and receiving the award “tremendous,” adding, “To see the way he started the year and what he’s been able to do since, his commitment to who he is as a person but also his growth and development as a pl...