Jets rookie Leonard Williams finally gets driver's license at age 21

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. – For most NFL players there isn't anything as emotional or worrisome as their debut in the league.

However, sitting down for his driver's exam last month was far more gut-wrenching for New York Jets defensive end Leonard Williams, the sixth pick of this year's draft.

Williams turned 21 in June, young by NFL standards but surely old enough to drive an automobile. But yet Williams never got his license, as he got around campus at USC without a car. But now in New Jersey with the Jets, he was forced to sit behind the wheel and prove that not only can he turn a right tackle, he can make a K-Turn as well.

“I got the driver's license, I went to Florida and visited when we had the break,” Williams told Shutdown Corner this week: “It was pretty easy actually.”

He took the exam between the end of minicamp and the start of training camp late last month. Looking back on it, the process was easy and studying the manual wasn't that hard.

But the build-up and anticipation, he says, surpassed last week when he made his first NFL start in the Jets' loss at the Detroit Lions. When asked which one caused more nerves, he had to think for a moment but he didn't waver in his response.

“The road exam because if I didn't get it over the break I don't know when I'd be able to try it again,” Williams said.

He hasn't purchased a vehicle yet because he hasn't had to — the Jets are currently in training camp. Unlike years past when they have gone to upstate New York, this year under first-year head coach Todd Bowles the team is using its own facility to host camp.

As such, the team stays in a nearby hotel, meaning that Williams can hop a shuttle or grab a short ride with a teammate to the facility.

And if he didn't pass the exam, which included a 50-question test as well as an on-road portion, he would have been forced to hop rides with teammates to get to the facility during the season.

“Or maybe Uber,” Williams said.

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Kristian R. Dyer writes for Metro New York and is a contributor to Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KristianRDyer