Williams a Class Act.

Terrell Williams of Tulsa (OK) Edison stood out at last months Under Armour/Scout.com combine in Dallas. However, it was not his ability to catch the football that drew my attention and praise. Although he did well on the field, his characteristics as a player and young man are really what shined the most

A few weeks ago the Under Armour/Scout.com Combine Tour made its first Southwest stop at Valley Ranch, the Dallas Cowboys practice facility. Nestled in a recruiting hotbed between Tulsa, Ok and Houston, TX, the Dallas combine was sure to have a bevy of talented athletes. But it seems no matter where you go and how great the parity between the athletes, one player always standouts and that day was no different. I recall one particular athlete making plays all over the field. Moving from wide receiver to safety, catching pass after pass and making break up after break up. It was evident this player was special and by the way he carried himself you could tell he knew it too. He displayed the confident swagger all coaches look for in a player. So as the Wide Receiver Coach I walked over to him unassumingly, as to not blow his head up, and asked his name and if he had any offers. At the time I was not a recruiting analyst and have since forgotten his run down of schools but I did however, remember his name, Terrell Williams. I gave him a few pointers, watched him finish out the day, then got on my plane and headed home. Ironically, I am now an analyst in the same region as Williams and out of nowhere I get a call from, you guessed it, Terrell Williams.

“This is Terrell Williams from the Dallas Combine. I am just getting out of work. I wanted to congratulate you on the new position”, said the 6-3 215 pound athlete from Tulsa, OK. “I work at Hardy’s. Y’all don’t have them where you from.” I laughed and said, “Naw all we have where I’m from is football players.”

“I didn’t know they played football out there (Pittsburgh, Pa)”, he said jokingly. “We play football here. We’re big, strong, fast, hard hitting, smart. You can’t ask for much more.”

On the contraire, you can ask for much more. Discipline, character, determination are all things coaches want to see before extending that prized scholarship. I am sure since the conversation was causal, Terrell Williams did not read too much into his statement just, more or less, throwing jabs as to why Oklahoma high school football needs more respect. And though he did not mention those qualities in his description of an Oklahoma football player, I’ll be the first to tell you, Williams does not lack any of them. From that day in Dallas, you could sense that he wanted to be great. He was a gym rat stealing the other players reps. He was astute but not a know it all. Very coach-able and wanted to learn more. He parlays that same work ethic in the classroom. He reports a 3.9 and a 20 ACT score.

“I want to be well rounded. I know football is not going to last me forever.” With that type of outlook, Williams has bright future. The coaches and fans of his future team are getting a true leader, a passionate athlete, a fine young man.