The news was so unthinkable that I originally thought it was a joke. Or a twitter hoax. An NFL player tweeted out not only pictures from his new team playbook but the news that the team was teaching him to play a new position? How could an NFL player, in this age of ultra-secret activity, actually publicly reveal secrets from his team? Well, once I heard it was D.J. Williams, I realized that this is the one guy who would do such a thing. Williams has had a long line of questionable decisions, and the Broncos keep paying the price.
Williams has been a headache for the Broncos over the past few years. Originally drafted in 2004 in the first round by the Broncos, Williams has started 120 games for Denver in the ensuing eight seasons. He's played a variety of defensive positions, with middle linebacker being the latest. He's been a fixture for the Broncos on defense through the coaching transitions from Mike Shanahan to Josh McDaniels and now to John Fox.
However, despite his excellent play at times, Williams has had some off the field issues. In 2005 he was arrested for driving under the influence and ultimately was ordered to serve 24 hours of community service. In 2010 he was arrested for drunk driving again. He contested this arrest and the case finally came to trial in March of 2012. A procedural error caused a mistrial to be declared and so Williams is temporarily off the hook for that. However, the new trial is set to start in August (yes, right before the regular season begins).
However, Williams won't be with the team anyway when the season starts because he is going to be serving a six-game suspension to start the season for failing a drug test. The NFL contends that Williams submitted a non-human urine sample for a drug test from the previous August. Williams is suing the NFL, trying to use the same excuse that MLB player Ryan Braun used successfully earlier this year when he argued that his sample didn't reach the testing facility in a timely manner. Williams is hoping that arbitrators in his case agree that the proper testing protocols weren't followed.
In any case, the Broncos are dealing with yet another big mistake by Williams. There will come a time when Williams' play on the field no longer justifies putting up with his antics off the field. That time could be this coming year, if Williams' DUI trial manages to finish with a guilty conviction. Until then, the Broncos need to do a better job of watching over their linebacker before he hurts the team any further.
Julie is a featured NFL contributor for the Yahoo Contributor Network. A lifelong football fan, she began following the Denver Broncos upon moving to Colorado in 2001.
