Chicago Fire II's Sam Williams 'Ready to Seize the Opportunity' in Pro Soccer

It was a hectic day for Sam Williams when the Chicago Fire organization acquired his rights from the New York Red Bulls.

Williams, who turns 20 in March, was a few hours into his drive from New Jersey back to school for his spring semester at the University of North Carolina when he got the call from his agent that Chicago had finally acquired his rights after theyd fielded inquiries from multiple teams for months.

He was driving back for his spring semester at the University of North Carolina when he got the call from his agent that Chicago had acquired his rights.

Williams promptly pulled over into a rest stop and spoke to his mom over the phone for over two hours before eventually deciding to sign with Chicago Fire II in MLS Next Pro.

So Williams got back in his car, texted teammate and roommate Andrew Czech to tell him that - despite giving him assurances that he would be returning to Chapel Hill only 24 hours earlier - the Tenafly, New Jersey native was signing a deal with Chicago Fire II, and went home to get prepared to move to Chicago.

The 19-year-old had been on multiple teams radars throughout the fall but still hadnt signed a deal when he returned home after the fall semester.

I knew around September, October that a few teams were interested, and that's when I kind of decided I was going to take the next step after the season if the opportunity came to me, Williams told On Tap Sports Net.

And then that dragged out through December, and it was because [Chicago] had to buy my rights.

He finally signed the deal in the middle of January and was with the Fires first team for most of the preseason.

Its been a long road to the professional ranks for Williams, which included being cut from the Red Bulls Academy after a season with the U-12s and U-13s before rejoining the academy after a successful trial during his sophomore year of high school.

Williams played over 2,000 minutes with New York Red Bulls II when they were still in the USL Championship before enrolling early at North Carolina ahead of the 2022 NCAA soccer season.

After three seasons in college and the expectation of a pro deal, Williams spent the winter hoping for that professional contract.

Although the deal finally came together in January, Williams said he adequately prepared himself because of the difficulties he faced during his time going between youth clubs.

I've been preparing for this, even though I didn't know it was coming.

I've been preparing for this, and I was ready to seize the opportunity.

So I think all the lessons from my youth [career] was to just always be ready, stay ready.

Williams amassed nearly 4,700 minutes on the pitch while scoring six goals and collecting five assists in his 56 appearances (51 starts) over three seasons with the Tar Heels.

He also featured for FC Motown in USL League Two during his two summers while in college.

Despite the on-field success, the midfielder saw himself grow more off the pitch than on it.

It was more just growing as a person.

I've always kind of had a leadership personality and way about me.

In my second semester, I was in the leadership group.

Second year, as a sophomore, I was captain.

So I think learning how to build connections with teammates in a productive way, to push each other, was something that was super valuable that I can bring to here.

Even just having those experiences, I understand the guys like Kellyn [Acosta] and Jack [Elliott], the leaders of the first team, I kind of see what they're seeing, because I've had that not that to that extent but I've had some experience with that.

Acosta was Williams roommate throughout the preseason, and the veteran midfielder has helped guide the first-year player through his first weeks as a professional He's just such a normal guy, but when you get on the field with him, he's got your back.

If you get tackled, he'll run up to the guy and get in his face; he's got your back, which I appreciate a lot.

And I appreciate how willing he is to help.

If you ask a question, he won't just give you a few-word answers; he'll really break it down with you.

Fire head coach and director of football noted that Williams was a surprise to the whole coaching staff during the early portion of preseason camp before going with the first team to California for the Coachella Valley Invitational, where he featured in three of the Fires four contests.

Williams was one of the two Fire II players (Harold Osorio was the other) who signed a short-term agreement for the Fires season-opener in Columbus, and although Chicago came away without a result in Ohio, the rookie thought the locker rooms response afterward was appropriate.

Obviously not the result that we wanted and you could see how disappointed everybody was, even the guys that didn't play.

I was gutted and I think that's just like a testament to how the culture has grown and how it will continue to grow.

One important thing is that we all stayed together throughout it all.

Nobody was complaining to each other, nobody was telling somebody that they didn't do something, anything like that.

He didnt manage to get on the pitch against the Crew, but the experience was well worth the rookies time.

Personally, it was great.

Going in, I didn't really expect to play.

I wasn't saying, I need to play, I need to play.

And then when we got there, and the lights were on, and the game was going, I saw the starters walking out and thinking to myself, I need to get on this field, like I would die to get on this field.

Williams is the youngest of four kids, and members of his family made sure they were there in Columbus to support him, even if they didnt tell him ahead of time.

My dad and brother were able to make it to the game.

I didn't know that they were coming and then I was sitting on the bench and I looked over my shoulder because somebody was screaming and it was my dad filming me.

That was awesome.

At Chicago Fire training -no Rominigue Kouame, Leonardo Barroso, Chris Mueller or Maren-Haile-Selassie -Dean Boltz was working with Fire II -4 GKs: Chris Brady, Jeff Gal, Patrick Los & Patryk Stechnij -chatting with Sam Williams shortly #cf97 #VamosFire pic.twitter.com/h2p0IliXH8 Whats On Tap Next? The Fire will host DC United at Soldier Field on March 1.

The match is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m.

CT and will be broadcast on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.

This article first appeared on On Tap Sports Net and was syndicated with permission..

This article has been shared from the original article on yardbarker, here is the link to the original article.