Since the New England Patriots selected Kyle Williams in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft, the entire Boston sports community has embraced him. Ahead of his rookie season, Williams has visited many of the surrounding teams, where he received words of encouragement from Boston Celtics executive Brad Stevens and head coach Joe Mazzulla.

Between OTAs and minicamp, the Patriots have made a point to integrate Williams into the Boston community. Williams recalled Stevens and Mazzulla's advice for his rookie campaign during his visit to the Celtics' facilities.

“Everything is a mindset,” Williams said Stevens and Mazzulla told him. “Mindset will take you further than what talent and skill can do. If you carry it throughout your everyday life — how you do anything is how you do everything.”

The two Celtics icons would be exactly who Williams should want to field advice from. Mazzulla brought a championship back to Boston in just his second year as head coach, the team's first title since 2008. While not an NBA Finals-winning head coach, Stevens led the team from 2013 to 2021 before transitioning into the front office. He has since won the 2024 NBA Executive of the Year award in his second year on the job.

Stevens has the additional element of an underdog perspective that Williams would admire. Stevens catalyzed one of the greatest underdog stories in college basketball history when he coached Butler to consecutive National Championship Game appearances.

Patriots expect big role for Kyle Williams in 2025

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Williams is one of the rookies the Patriots have the highest hopes for in 2025. New England added a whopping 11 players in the 2025 NFL Draft, but Williams is arguably the most important of the group.

Ahead of Drake Maye's second season, the Patriots are all-in on their 2024 first-round pick. However, the team desperately needed to add supplementary talent to its offense, which it did with Williams. New England also signed Stefon Diggs in free agency, but Williams will be relied on for immediate contribution.

So far, Williams has been an immediate contributor everywhere he has gone. Despite getting overlooked coming out of high school, Williams led UNLV as a freshman with 426 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He was named the Mountain West Freshman of the Year and a Freshman All-American by multiple outlets. Upon transferring to Washington State three years later, he again hit the ground running with 842 receiving yards and six touchdowns in his first year as a Cougar.