It had been more than 40 years since Chris Williams had been on my radar when I visited with him at Tioga last Friday night.
He was in a special seating area for honored guests at Tioga High School’s football stadium, otherwise known as the “Indian Reservation.” The place was packed. Young and old, and black and white came not only because the Indians were playing their blood rivals, the Pineville Rebels, and everyone expected a good game, but because they wanted to pay tribute to Williams.
The youngest of four boys of Rev. and Mrs. James Williams, Chris Williams is 65 now, and he had been invited to come to Tioga from his home in Buffalo, N.Y., because his Tioga jersey number 24 was going to be officially retired in a halftime ceremony Friday night.
Chris and his wife, Darlene, whom he met in Buffalo, have been married 40 years, and their two sons, Chris Jr. and Cody, both played defensive back for Colgate. Chris Jr. is a district manager for a brewing company and Cody is a financial consultant. Chris and Darlene have three grandchildren. Chris spent some years after retiring from the NFL as an assistant high school football defensive coordinator, and he worked 30 years with underprivileged children.
“I’ve been following football at Tioga for 50 years, and there never has been a better football player at Tioga,” said Eddie Laborde, who was a senior linebacker at THS when Williams was a freshman in 1973. “He rushed for 1,000 yards as a freshman, and that was after his fifth or sixth game!” A grinning Laborde pumped Chris’ hand, and their chat was interrupted by shrieks and groans from the fans as Ayden Tate outraced several Tioga defenders into the end zone.
“That Tate is something else,” Williams said of Pineville’s junior running back, who went on to rush for a school-record 400 yards and four TDs in a 39-36 stemwinding win over Tioga.
Kevin Vanek, who was a stubby, pine knot-tough offensive guard while Chris was a running back for the Indians, was sweating on this Indian summer September night and smiling from ear to ear as he greeted his former teammate.
“Kevin was the guy who pulled around the corner in front of me on so many sweeps,” said Chris. “He was shorter than me so I could see the eyes of the defenders coming towards me,” Chris said, “and I’d just say, ‘Mister, you’re fixin’ to get laid low,’ because he was a devastating blocker.”
Williams first flashed speed as a toddler when the family home burned to the ground. Chris, the family story goes, swiftly crawled out of the burning house into the yard without anybody’s help. By his freshman year at Tioga, he ran a 9.9 100-yard dash. By his senior year, he was a blue-chip recruit and regarded as one of the five best running back college prospects in the state, even though half his prep career was cut out by a knee injury.
On this night, one of the first memories he shared was how he and running back Nathan Johnson of Winnfield and Joe Delaney of Haughton were chosen to play in the Louisiana High School All-Star game after their senior seasons in 1976. He spoke with disbelief that Delaney, who went on to earn All-America honors at Northwestern State and was a star NFL running back with Kansas City before a shocking drowning death, was ranked third at running back behind him and Johnson. Delaney, then under most recruiters’ radar, was moved to a receiver position for the all-star game.
“That should’ve been reversed because he was better than both me and Nathan (who played four years for UL-Monroe),” said Chris, who fashioned a stellar college career at LSU. He finished as the SEC and LSU career leader in interceptions with 20. He was a two-time first-team All-SEC pick as a sophomore and senior (’78 and ’80). He was a second-team All-America by Football News as a senior and was selected to play in the Senior Bowl in 1981.
Until this past weekend, he had never been invited to be an honorary captain before an LSU football game, but his friend and former LSU teammate Greg LaFleur changed that.
“I asked Greg if he could get me some tickets to the LSU game (at home against UCLA) on Saturday,” said Chris, “and he said he would report back to me. Next thing I know, he said he had 10 tickets and they wanted me to be an honorary captain.”
It’s a fitting honor and long overdue. But Williams, who owns a winter home in Naples, Fla., where he and Darla will settle down in October, wasn’t complaining. It’s not in his nature to complain. Nor does he boast.
When Laborde brought up Williams’ “one-hand snag for an interception” against USC in an epic 17-12 home loss in 1979, Chris downplayed what was acrobatic pass theft as a “nice play.” It was one he made early in his junior season that broke the school career record for interceptions at 13. He was step-for-step with wide receiver Kevin Harris on a bomb from quarterback Paul McDonald when he batted the ball, juggled it and then made a diving catch in the end zone to prevent a Trojan score.
Yet another fond memory for Williams was his heroic 60-yard punt return for the deciding score in a comeback 20-17 win over Tulane in the Superdome as a freshman in 1977. It atoned for Alexandria’s Bobby Moreau having a punt blocked and returned for a Green Wave touchdown late in the first half. It also eased the pain of Williams’ having an earlier 50-yard punt return nullified by a clipping penalty.
What’s more, he said he went into the contest “with a chip on my shoulder” because he was recruited by Tulane but got the feeling the Green Wave didn’t give him enough respect. “I wanted to show ’em what they missed out on.”
A second-round draft choice of the Buffalo Bills, Chris had an uneventful three years in the NFL. His career was cut short by a slowed step from too many knee injuries. His oldest brother Terry, who played football at Peabody and Grambling and was a high school athletics director in California, was among those celebrating him Friday night at Tioga. Terry, Chris said, has been the most influential person in his life “without a doubt.”
“He’s a role model for me,” said Chris. “He opened my eyes to having God in my life, and he stressed the importance of making my grades and getting a good education, because the football will go away, but an education is something they can’t take away.”