Zed Williams likens his football throwing motion to Uncle Rico. Yes, that Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite. The flailing throw is all wrist and forearms, no legs or body torque. 

“Like a chicken wing throw,” Williams says. 

Only the chicken wing works a lot better for Williams than it did for Uncle Rico trying to throw a football “over them mountains.” William’s quick snap of the wrist leads to a faster release. That short speedy motion has caught goalies off guard in his first season with the PLL as Williams 14 goals currently leads the league in goals. 

The comparison not only explains Williams’ shot releases but also his personality. To compare a shot form that’s led to at least a hat trick in four straight games to the infamous throwing motion of one of Hollywood’s worst athletes is as self-deprecating as it gets. That’s Zed. He knows his throwing motion sets him apart, but he’s not the kind of person to talk about it. He’s really not the kind of person to talk about himself at all. 

The man who’s had as many goals go viral over the course of the Championship Series as anyone doesn’t even have a following on any social media platform. When his old college coach Lars Tiffany congratulates him on a performance, Williams’ deflects the praise and asks about Tiffany’s family. When he’s asked how he manages to make defenders fall to the turf or tiptoe around the crease, he points out the teammates that set him up. He’s scored 14 goals on 38 shots. That’s not selfish shooting but rather smart lacrosse. 

Having grown up on the Cattaraugus Reservation just south of Buffalo, New York, Williams appreciates the sport of lacrosse more than most. He really doesn’t care to score the ball, it just so happens he’s really good at it. He’s willing to fill any role to win lacrosse games. He once finished second in the country in ground balls for non-faceoff specialists and served as more of a distributor in college than a scorer. 

He plays lacrosse the way the Whipsnakes preach: Limited talk in the media and always, always, hit singles. Throughout the Championship Series, Williams singles have included brash charges to the cage and quick release goals. He’s played the role of Zedzilla, the 6’2 230-pound goal-scoring machine that’ll flank the opposite of Matt Rambo at attack when the Whipsnakes faceoff against the Redwoods Thursday at 10:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. But he’s not the uproarious goal scorer people may think. 

“He's really playing an initiator role for the Whipsnakes and he's playing a role that would seem to suggest just the opposite (of who he is),” Tiffany said. “It's sort of a cocksure, swagger give me the ball and get out of my way dodging style he has, which just completely isn't his personality."