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Detroit Lions' Jamaal Williams breaks Barry Sanders TD mark, turns heads with player intro

Kirkland Crawford, Detroit Free Press
·2 min read
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For the first time in a while, the Detroit Lions have a 1,000-yard rusher.

But it's not the guy you would have predicted at the start of the season.

Lions running back Jamaal Williams finished the first half of Sunday night's season finale at Green Bay with 15 yards, giving him 1,009 on the season. He is the first Lions running back since Reggie Bush in 2013 to rush for over a grand.

Williams also stormed into the end zone with 8:05 left in the third quarter to tie Barry Sanders' franchise record of 16 rushing touchdowns in a season. Then, with 5:55 remaining in the game, Williams marched into the end zone from 1 yard out to break Sanders' mark, set in 1991. Williams, in his second year with the Lions, was supposed to be the change-of-pace back behind D'Andre Swift, but due to injury and production, Williams has emerged as the starter for Detroit. He's a free agent after this season.

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But as much as he is known for his on-field prowess, Williams is a character off the field, too. And the national TV audience got a glimpse of that during the "Sunday Night Football" player introductions. The starters for both teams record their name and college, like a digitized "Hello, my name is ..." nametag.

Williams left the world wondering what he said with this gem: "Swag Kazekage, Leader of the Hidden Village of the Den."

For the uninitiated, Williams, known as @jswaggdaddy on social media, is referencing Kazekage, characters in the popular Japanese manga series "Naruto."

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Perhaps Williams can summon the power of the wind to help the Lions in the second half beat the Packers and finish the 2022 season with a winning record. Or something like that.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions' Jamaal Williams breaks Barry Sanders' TD mark