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10 Questions With Brandon Williams

101818_10QBrandonWilliams

1. If you were a professional singer, in what genre would you be?

"How about R&B, blues. Like John Legend mixed with a little Robin Thicke." Who's your favorite singer? "I'm going with Usher and Ne-Yo."

2. What's your go-to karaoke song? And do you go often?

"Bless the Broken Road," by Rascal Flatts. That's a good karaoke song. Depends what kind of mood I'm in. I've got a bunch of them. I have some R&B ones, "You Remind Me" or "My Way" from Usher. You've got 'So Silk' from Ne-Yo. A bunch, man. You've also got Journey – obviously. I don't go all the time, but if I have a chance to, I always want to. I don't get out; I've got kids and stuff now. But when I used to get out, karaoke was my thing. One time, my wife's dad and brother were in town and we went to Horseshoe for a little while. They had a Korean Christmas party with a Korean pop star. Everybody was like 4-foot-5 and we're all 6-foot. We were just hanging out."

3. What's your favorite part of the job?

"Kicking [butt]. The fact that I can go out on the field and do what I do every day, that's my favorite part of the job. I can hit somebody as hard as I possibly can and nothing will happen. That's why we do this. Every time I get off the ball, it's 'Boom!' As hard as I can. That's why we all play this game. It's fun to hit people."

4. Who's the nastiest linemen you've tangled with?

"Nasty as in what? What does nasty mean to you?" Strongest? Most extracurricular stuff in a game. "There's barely any extracurricular stuff that happens to me that much. People push, but they're not going to get in my face and talk crap to me. I don't really care. I just talk with my pads and we can talk as much as you want to with those." Is there any guy you dislike playing? "[Shrugs]. Besides the guy I play every day, not really. When I'm playing, they're nameless, faceless people to me."

5. What's the toughest part of being a run-stopping nose tackle?

"The double teams. I think most people don't realize the actual work that we do until we make a play – at that position specifically. Some people who are football savvy appreciate us. Other people are like, 'Who's that guy?' Linebackers and secondary, people who get sacks and interceptions, get the attention. I'm cool with it though. It's a dirty job and you don't get a lot of glory, but somebody has to do it."

6. You got a sack in Cleveland a couple weeks ago, but your first career sack was against Ben Roethlisberger, right?

"I mean, I always want another one. But first I have to stop the run. That's my job. That's why I'm here."

7. How did getting a big contract change you?

"After I got paid, it was even more of an opportunity to get better and keep going. Now that I'm paid, I have to prove that I'm worth this. Instead of just thinking, 'I'm done now, I can chill.' My job is my job. That's what I'm paid to do, so I'm going to do it to the best of my ability. You're a media guy. You're going to try to get the best story for you, regardless of whoever else is behind you or trying to work on the same story as you. Whatever you have to do, you're going to do. Whatever they pay me, that's what I'm going to do."

8. How did becoming a father change you as a player?

"It made me turn it up another gear. I had my son in college my senior year. It made me hit another gear, which was perfect at that time because I was getting ready to go to the NFL. Then I had my second son, and it brought even more responsibility and made me work harder."

9. When's the last time you did a handstand?

"Sometime this summer. It's mostly during practice when I'm bored or something or we're just sitting around for a little bit. If we're getting crazy, I just hit a cartwheel or handstand. It just comes out randomly."

10. How does your personality fit into this locker room?

"Being here in this locker room and this establishment, you can just be yourself. I'm just being me every day. What I bring is that little break of funny or craziness. Just weird, something happened and it's, 'Brandon doing something stupid again.' I'm not going to say I'm not always funny because I am. It just happens. I don't try to make things funny. I just get bored and something comes out."

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