Patrick Reusse: Vikings' safety net returned just in time

The Vikings were 3-4 after a mistake-filled 48-41 loss to Chicago in mid-October. This was followed with a bye week and more time to heal for free safety Madieu Williams, signed with a $13 million bonus at the start of 2008 free agency.

Williams injured his neck in training camp.

"You don't hurry back from an injury like I had," he said. "When you do what I do, you don't come back from a neck injury until you're certain that it's healed."

Williams and the Vikings' medical staff declared that to be the case before the Nov. 2 game against Houston in the Metrodome. He was put in the starting lineup and had an immediate impact with an interception in the end zone. The Vikings' 28-21 victory became the key moment in a resurgence that carried them into the playoffs.

Add it up and the Vikings are 7-2 since Williams replaced rookie Tyrell Johnson and gave them a second veteran safety. The other, Darren Sharper, has been the subject of fans' angst for arriving late on the television screen on several big plays made against the Vikings.

"I like the way Sharper plays football," Williams said. "I like the way he prepares for every game -- watching tape, picking up tendencies. It has been an advantage for me to play with Sharper ... and with another veteran, like Antoine Winfield. They give outstanding leadership to the secondary."

Williams also sees the potential in Johnson, a young man who is likely to be his safety partner next season.

"He's smart, athletic ... a good young player," Williams said. "Tyrell had an impact when he was in the lineup. Being a young guy myself, I appreciate the way he played when he was in the lineup."

Williams turned 27 in mid-October. Johnson is 23 and equipped to play strong safety at a compact 6 feet and 210 pounds.

Sharper, 33, will be a free agent. Whatever happens with him, the Vikings are looking solid at safety for next season and beyond.

The Vikings signed Williams when free agency started on March 1. He left Cincinnati, where in two years the Bengals had gone from thumping the Vikings 37-8 in the second game of the 2005 season to being a 2007 also-ran.

"I think we had what, four interceptions [five, actually], in that game?" Williams said. "That was a good year for the Bengals."

What happened?

"I never look back ... only forward," he said. "I'm looking at the Eagles."

The Williams family did some forward looking when it left Sierra Leone. Madieu's father had come to the Washington, D.C., area and called for his family to join him in 1990. Williams was 9. A year later, a long civil war started in Sierra Leone.

Williams was introduced to football at age 10. He was a standout as a 150-pound defensive back at DuVal High in Lanham, Md.

He went to Towson State, a Division I-AA school that was willing to offer some scholarship assistance. Two years later, Williams transferred to Maryland.

The transfer from Towson to Maryland was more a family decision than football-related. His parents had separated, and Madieu wanted to be more available to help his mother in raising his younger brother.

Williams' mother died from a stroke in 2005, and Madieu was his brother's legal guardian for two years.

At Maryland, he sat out a transfer season, then was outstanding in 2002 and 2003, when the Terps were 21-6 overall. The Bengals took him as a second-rounder in the '04 draft.

Leslie Frazier was the defensive backs coach in Cincinnati at the time. Four years later, as the Vikings defensive coordinator, he gave a big recommendation on Williams as a potential free-agent signee.

"His athletic ability and intelligence on the field have been terrific for us," Frazier said last week. "His being able to come back [from injury] and fit in as quickly as he did has been a big bonus. You feel relatively secure with a veteran guy back there doing the things he does."

The Vikings' advertised interest in signing Williams was his coverage ability. "My reputation is as a cover safety, but I've always been a tackler, too," he said. "You need to play a complete game."

That's exactly what the Vikings have seen during a 7-2 run to the playoffs.

"Madieu has been what we expected," Frazier said. "His coverage, his playmaking ability, his tackling -- all those things we hoped that he would be able to do for us have been in evidence."

Patrick Reusse can be heard weekdays on AM-1500 KSTP at 6:45 and 7:45 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. • preusse@startribune.com