Tight end Maxx Williams cried “like a baby” the morning of the Arizona Cardinals Week 1 game with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Not normally a gameday crier, the tight end was excited to return to football after he tore his ACL last season.

“I had no idea why, I was just so emotional,” Williams said. “It was one of those moments, personally, I never knew if I was going to play football again; never knew what was going to happen with my career.”

Williams played 11 total snaps in the Cardinals’ 44-21 loss, but none of that mattered to him.

“Win, lose or draw, either way, out there was going to be emotional,” Williams said.

After the game, the fourth-year Cardinal was back to treating the matchup like just another game.

“After the game, my dad kept asking me how it felt to be back out there … I really just wanted to treat it as another game,” Williams said. “I wanted to watch the film, go to bed because I was tired and get ready for this week.”

The 28-year-old worked hard to make himself available for the start of the season after he injured his knee on Oct. 10, 2021. On July 22 of this year, he was placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list and returned to on-field work in early August.

Ultimately, Williams thought he either could play football or he shouldn’t be on the roster.

“We got to the point where I could only do so much with the trainers,” Williams said. “It was either come off the PUP and try to play football or, ‘What was I doing around here?’ … I’m here to play, I’m not here to rehab anymore.”