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Last season DeAngelo Williams’ mother lost her battle with cancer and when the running back needed the support of the team most, he says the franchise let him down.
“To know that a place of business that you’ve worked for and that you’ve bled, you’ve played through injuries, you did everything you possibly can for this organization to be successful, and then upon your darkest hour they let you handle it by yourself,” Williams said in the interview that aired Monday night.
“I was so upset with Carolina because for the last five or six years during October she was celebrated. But then when she’s no longer here, let’s move on.”
Williams said the only person who attended his mother’s funeral, which was held last may in Arkansas, was defensive end Greg Hardy. He received a call from Ron Rivera and Dave Gettleman and says Jerry Richardson sent a note weeks later, after a piece he wrote about his mother was published in Sports Illustrated’s MMQB.
DeAngelo says that Richardson apologized for the team’s poor response and they have since implemented a policy on how to deal with players who experience death in the family.
If anyone knows anything about DeAngelo Williams, it’s that breast cancer awareness and support is very important to him. He was very vocal about his mother’s battle with the illness and is also responsible for the league recognizing breast cancer awareness month in October on a large scale. It’s disappointing to hear that the Panthers organization didn’t handle this with more class.