Giants vs. Browns will pit brother vs. brother, Rodarius and Greedy Williams
Giants cornerback Rodarius Williams talks to the media during Giants training camp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center on Friday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
This is the point in training camp when players start looking forward to facing opponents. They may only be preseason games and joint practices, but it gives them a break from the monotony.
"That is very natural where they’re tired of beating up on each other," Joe Judge said on Friday. "It’s kind of like brothers fighting right now, right? They’re all trying to get the best of each other and compete with each other and then you get to a point where you want to get outside of the house and no one messes with you."
Unless, of course, that’s where your brother is waiting for you. For Rodarius Williams, the Giants’ rookie cornerback selected in the sixth round of this spring’s draft, he is looking forward to the weeklong trip to Cleveland later this month precisely because that’s where his brother will be.
Greedy Williams is a starting cornerback for the Browns, and the Giants will be in town to practice with and play against his team from Aug. 18-22. It’s an experience Rodarius Williams said he’s been looking forward to since long before the grind of training camp started getting to anyone.
"It’s awesome, man!" Williams beamed after Friday’s practice. "I’m really excited to get up there with him, watch the work that he put in. I’m definitely going to be learning from him some more and trying to take my game as far as I can."
It’s a bit of a unique dynamic in that Rodarius is the older brother, yet Greedy has already been in the league for two years. When the teams meet, though, it will be their first time on the same field at the same time since high school in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Williams said he and his brother do train together in the offseason, and they routinely talk smack to each other. He does not expect that to stop as the date of their reunion draws closer. In fact, Williams was likely on the phone with Greedy on Friday night walking him through what might have been his best practice yet as a Giant. He had an interception, broke up a sideline pass and tipped another ball in the air that wound up intercepted by Jabrill Peppers.
"I’m letting him know like, yeah, I’m here," Williams said. "He already knows what’s coming. He already knows. But it’s definitely good to have a brother over there who everybody knows. They know Greedy is going to make plays and now it’s my turn, simple as that."
There is one other thing Greedy has that Rodarius does not as of yet: a cool nickname. Greedy’s actual name is Andraez, but he’s been called Greedy since he was a baby. Rodarius is just Rodarius, but he said he and the rest of the Giants’ defensive backs have been brainstorming ideas for a new moniker.
"We’re all in the room working on something fly," he said with a laugh.
They have less than two weeks if they want to come up with something other than Williams’ play to impress Greedy.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
