Posted on 04/29/2003 4:53:01 AM PDT by tdadams
NASHVILLE - Todd Williams already has gone from being homeless and on his own to college graduate. Now he is headed to the NFL.
The Tennessee Titans drafted the Florida State offensive lineman with their sixth and final pick of the NFL draft Sunday, taking him in the seventh round as the 225th selection overall. But Williams said earning a job in the NFL will not be easy just because of what he already has survived.
"In life, you're always trying to overcome something, and right now I'm going to a territory that's uncharted. Nobody in my family ever graduated high school, much less college. Then to get a chance to compete in the NFL, I'm traveling uncharted waters, so I'll see what happens when I get there," Williams said in a conference call.
"I know I'm not going to be outworked or outfoxed."
Williams hit the streets at 15 when his grandmother died of diabetes in 1993. No one in his family would take him in, so he lived on the streets, sleeping behind dumpsters and occasionally breaking into hotel rooms for the night. He also committed what he called "deviant" crimes that landed him on probation.
Probation officers warned him he was headed to prison, and Williams decided then he wouldn't be like the rest of his family.
With help from high school guidance counselors, Williams eventually moved into an apartment and worked three jobs - cooking, washing dishes and delivering newspapers - to pay bills while finishing high school.
He earned a scholarship to Florida State despite not playing football until his senior year of high school. As a senior with the Seminoles, Williams was a third-team All-American last season. He started every game at left guard with 73 knockdowns, allowing only two sacks.
The Titans drafted Williams as a tackle, and he said he looks forward to learning from Hall of Fame lineman Mike Munchak. At 6-foot-4, 340 pounds, Williams is quick off the snap and slides well using skills he learned as a boxer in the Police Athletic League as a teenager.
"Whatever they want, I'm a football player. I'll get in there and do what I need to do," he said.
When football ends, Williams, who graduated in December with degrees in criminology and sociology, plans to return to the streets to help save children from what he lived through. For now, he's ready to live out something he couldn't have dreamed of until recently.
"God had a plan for me," Williams said. "Even though I went late in the draft, God still had a plan. I get to get coached by one of the best offensive line coaches in the country. It's just an honor."
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