If he was rattled by death threats, he didn't let on. If he was hurting physically, he wouldn't acknowledge it.
Instead, Kyle Williams stood at his locker Monday morning and calmly accepted blame for the two botched punt returns that may have cost the 49ers a trip to the Super Bowl.
"You have to take full responsibility for it, which I do,'' he said, engulfed by reporters at 49ers headquarters in Santa Clara. "It's something I made a mistake on. I'll move through it. I promise you that."
In a 20-17 loss in the NFC title game at Candlestick Park on Sunday, the second-year player from Arizona State bumbled twice on special teams. A ball glanced off his knee in the fourth quarter (a ruling Williams still disputes), setting up a Giants touchdown.
Then, in overtime, he fumbled a punt deep in 49ers territory that set up New York's winning field goal.
Williams was bombarded by vicious messages on Twitter, including some death threats directed at him and his family. (Williams is single with no children).
Williams on Monday said he never even saw them.
"You know what? I really didn't pay attention to Twitter. All the feedback I needed was family and friends, the guys in the locker room,'' he said.
Kenny Williams also said that Kyle sustained a separated left shoulder in the third quarter against the Giants. He didn't use that as an excuse, however -- and neither did his son.
"In football, everybody is going to be dinged up here and there,'' Kyle Williams said. "If (my dad) said was that it was the cause for any of the mistakes that were made, that's not it.
"I take full responsibility for the mistake that I did make. You have to play with what you got. I was dinged up. Everybody was dinged up. That's just football. Nobody is going to be 100 percent."
Elsewhere in the locker room, several 49ers players expressed support for their embattled teammate. No one spoke more passionately in Williams' defense than kicker David Akers, who missed a pair of field goals for the Philadelphia Eagles in a 21-16 playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers last year.
Akers sent a message via Twitter asking fans to back off.
"I'm irritated with the way people are treating him, absolutely,'' Akers said Monday. "I think it's ridiculous. You know, get a grip on what life's about.
"(Williams) went out and he put his soul out there. That's what he does. He was not trying to do anything other than make an incredible play for this team. He had a great kickoff return. Mistakes happen. We all make mistakes."
Pro Bowl linebacker Patrick Willis, like Akers, was horrified by the backlash against Williams.
"Some of the stuff out there that I've seen, man, I was just like, 'They're saying that because they're hurting,''' Willis said. "But we live this game. We breathe this game. We sleep this game. If they feel that way, you can only imagine how bad he feels.
"You never want anyone to go through anything like that. It's just unfortunate that it happened to a player like him. To me, he's one of the best skill players in this game. To go through something like this, it probably hurts now, but it'll only make him stronger in the long run. He has my full support."
Williams handed punt return duties on Sunday only because Ted Ginn Jr. was inactive because of a knee injury. But Williams had plenty of experience as a returner in college.
In fact, Williams had been in the similar situation -- right down to unhappy outcome. On the last play of his collegiate career at Arizona State, he fumbled a punt that his archrival Arizona recovered, and the Sun Devils lost 20-17.
But there wasn't a berth in the Super Bowl on the line there. The high stakes explain why Williams stayed flat on the ground for several seconds after his final, fateful fumble.
"It's one of those feelings that you don't ever want to feel on the football field,'' Williams said. "It's painful. We're very passionate about what we do and we're very passionate about getting to the Super Bowl.
"To be able to be that close and not to get to it is painful, but hopefully we're going to get through it as a team and we'll be back."
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Kyle Williams, 49ers fumble away chance at Super Bowl part 3by recto895,528 views
@StevenCBlah Oops, and I forgot the regular season game vs the Patriots.
StevenCBlah 13 hours ago
@GreenDay81410 I am a die hard Giants fan as well and I disagree. It was a close but boring game. I think the most exciting games played by the Giants this season were the first meeting vs Dallas and the regular season game vs. the Packers.
StevenCBlah 13 hours ago
i am a die hard giants fan, but i really hope we meet again next year. this was a great game by two great teams
GreenDay81410 3 days ago
@manny1up Alex will win a Super Bowl and prove you and everyone else wrong
MrQualityGuaranteed 1 week ago
I'm a huge giants fan and I'm glad the giants won but the 9ers had a gear season and there fans deserved it
LiVexIsxdAxBesT 1 week ago
I'm a big giants fan, but even i have to admit 2 things. 1. The niners had a breakout season, and even i was nervous for the gmen going to candlestick park, especially with 2. the weather conditions. I'm glad my team took the game and the superbowl, but if anything, this was the hardest game all year for us
MamboItaliano21 1 week ago
@Shawn175 LOLOLOLOL u realize that after the nfl merger their were double the amount of teams then before right? LOLOL if baseball doubled its amount of teams then changed its name. THen continued that league for 50 years where the yankees only won 2 championships then yes.... its not as near as significant as the championships won presently. Gosh, try understanding something for once in ur life.
drewskyGALE 1 week ago
@drewskyGALE let me ask you a question? do you look as dumb as you sound? so if they named the world series some other name, then all 27 of the yankees championships never existed? all of their hall of famers never played? all the nfl championships that were won before the merger, and the hall of famers that played.... it never happened right? you my friend are a bonifide idiot!!!
Shawn175 1 week ago
@manny1up And the sad part is that hes trying to get more money since he did alright in the playoffs. LOL i like him because he doenst turn the ball over but theres no way in hell he deserves to make elite qb money. He's gotta win a bowl for us or throw for 30+ tds for that shit to happen.
drewskyGALE 1 week ago
@drewskyGALE I agree ,,ur defense is super But u need a Qb alex smith won't do ,,,U need Eli big Brother Payton manning !
manny1up 1 week ago