Play-Maker Williams Shows Hard Work Does Pay Off

By Keith Mann
Lincoln -- It is a common axiom that success does not come without hard work and perseverance. Coaches and parents alike preach that those virtues are needed to reach your goals.

For many college football players, true hard work begins once they leave the comfort of high school and realize the sacrifices necessary to succeed in a major college program. In the case of Nebraska senior linebacker Demorrio Williams, hard work has been a way of life ever since he was a youngster in the small East Texas town of Beckville.

Williams comes from a single-parent home and was raised primarily by his mother and grandmother. Life wasn't easy in Beckville, and Williams quickly learned those who hoped to get ahead could not rely on others.

"When I was young I knew times were hard, and I was doing little odd jobs on the side to earn my own money, so I didn't have to ask my family for it," Williams said. "It taught me discipline and it taught me to take care of myself and not try to drain anybody else, but try to go out and get it on your own."

It didn't take Williams long to realize that his way of earning it "on his own" might be on the football field. Williams starred at Beckville High, a small school that played in Class 1-A, the smallest in Texas high school football. As a senior in 1998, Williams made 115 tackles and had seven interceptions from his safety position and earned all-district honors.

The college offers did not pour in for Williams. He considered attending a junior college, but instead sat out the year and worked in Beckville. The year of hard work in the oil fields of Texas only increased Williams' desire to utilize his talents on the football field.

The next fall, Williams enrolled at Kilgore Junior College, where he quickly made an impact in 2000. Williams was a second-team JUCO All-American as a freshman, after leading the conference in tackles. His sophomore season brought more success, as Williams made 127 tackles, including nine sacks and led Kilgore to a perfect 12-0 record.

Throughout Williams' stay in junior college he considered the experience a steppingstone to Division I football. His perseverance paid off when scholarship offers rolled in during his sophomore season. Williams chose Nebraska, but also received strong interest from Colorado, Florida, Texas A&M and Texas.

Williams arrived in Lincoln in time for spring football in 2002. He dominated the spring game, leading many to believe that the fall would bring more of the same. Williams earned a Blackshirt from the start of the season and led the team in tackles with 92 stops during his junior season. However, for Williams it wasn't the season he envisioned. Nebraska finished just 7-7 and the fleet, play-making linebacker made just one sack all season.

That was last season, before an off-season of hard work and commitment not only by Williams but the entire Husker team. A new defensive coaching staff greeted Williams and his defensive mates in the spring and the transformation began. Nebraska's new defensive scheme under first-year defensive coordinator Bo Pelini seemed to be tailor-made for Williams.

"It is a blessing for me because they (new defensive coaches) have made it happen for me this year," Williams said. "I feel like they let me go out there and play the game that I want to play. When Coach Solich and Coach Gill recruited me, I was all over the field. Last year, I wasn't doing that, but this year the defensive line is doing a great job of keeping guys off of me and letting me run free to make plays."

Husker opponents can attest to the fact that Williams is, in fact, running free. Williams made a Nebraska linebacker record three sacks against Utah State, a game in which he single-handedly changed the momentum. Williams forced fumbles on consecutive sacks of Aggie quarterback Travis Cox and left a significant impression.

"If you really want to know, I can still feel him," Cox said after the game. "He was the best player out there today. I've never played against anyone like him."

Utah State head coach Mick Dennehy echoed Cox's sentiments.

"We don't have an athlete like him," Dennehy said. "He's a difference maker and those two turnovers were a major, major, major difference in this game."

That effort, which earned Williams Big 12 Defensive Player-of-the-Week honors, is just a taste of what Williams has accomplished in the first half of the season. Through six games Williams has made a team-leading 58 tackles in helping Nebraska to a 5-1 start. The 6-1, 215-pound Williams has lined up at rush end in pass-rushing situations, helping him to a team-leading 6.5 sacks and a pair of fumbles caused, and picked up his first career interception against Missouri last week, stopping a scoring threat in the red zone.

Some players of Williams' stature may be apprehensive about moving into the trenches against linemen who have more than a 100-pound weight advantage. However, typical to his hard-nosed approach Williams welcomes the role.

"I really like that spot. It is fun and it is so physical," Williams said. "I just like being in a spot where it is nasty. It is about being versatile and it is another way to contribute to my team. My roommate, Fabian Washington, is a cornerback and I want to help him out. I don't want those guys out there on an island because it is hard to cover a receiver all day."

His play has made him one of the front-runners for the Butkus Award, given to the nation's top linebacker. Williams is also on the Lombardi Award watch list and figures to receive his share of consideration for All-America honors and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.

In his typical low-key style Williams does not let the attention he has garnered go to his head. His focus remains on team goals.

"My main goal right now is doing what I can to help us win the Big 12 North," Williams said. "If I keep going out and making plays, I feel like all that other stuff will take care of itself. Any awards you get just comes along with that. Our number one goal is to get to Kansas City for the Big 12 Championship Game."

The Blackshirts have fed off Williams' play. Nebraska ranks second nationally and tops the Big 12 in total defense, allowing less than 260 yards per game. The Huskers also rank among the nation's leaders in forcing turnovers with 21 in six games, matching last year's 14-game total.

Williams said those numbers are a testament not only to the hard work that is demanded by the Husker coaching staff but also the comfort level of the Husker defenders.

"I don't think guys are thinking as much as they were last year," Williams said. "I think last year we were worried about making mistakes and coming out of the game. This year, everybody is playing so hard. People might still make mistakes, but nobody knows it because they are going full speed."

Williams also said the defense is much closer off the field this season. That is a result of the bond that was forged during winter conditioning when Williams and the other seniors took ownership of the 2003 team. Williams' leadership in the off-season was noticed by his teammates and he was elected one of four captains for the season, becoming the first junior-college transfer to be elected captain since at least 1957. The respect of his teammates is as important to Williams as any post-season honors that may come his way.

"It never crossed my mind that I would be a captain," Williams said. "I am just blessed that these guys here would let a guy that hasn't been around, step into a program and fit in with them. A lot of guys don't get the chance to fit in like this."

A lot of players also don't get the chance to have a nearly perfect fit with their position coach, but that is how Demorrio feels this season. Not only do he and first-year linebackers coach Jimmy Williams share the same last name, they also share a common background, and similar tough mentality. In addition, Jimmy Williams can relate his experiences from 12 years of hard work during a successful NFL career.

"Coach Williams, I can look at him as something of a father figure," Demorrio said. "He has been the places where I want to go. I ask him questions all the time and he relates to it. He is the type of guy that isn't going to tell you something just to make you happy. He's going to tell you the truth. That's what I really like about him.

"I was talking to him at the Southern Miss game, and he told me that his mom had worked at a Howard Johnson's and I was telling him that my grandmother cooked at the community center. He said that when he made it (in the NFL), he told his mom that she didn't have to work anymore and I want to do the same thing for my family. When he tells me stuff like that it makes me want to work harder."

Williams genuinely looks at the respect of his teammates and first-year defensive coaches as a blessing, but at the same time does not take his success and position lightly.

"You have to appreciate everything you have," Williams said. "It is a blessing, but you have to be humble about yourself and you have to put yourself in the right places. You can't be out there doing anything foolish. All the hard work you have put in to get where you are, it wouldn't take but a second to lose everything that I have worked for."

Hard work and Williams have never been strangers and that doesn't figure to change.

Williams' next obstacle will be finding a position in the National Football League. His size is smaller than that of most NFL linebackers, meaning he may have to make a position switch to succeed at the next level.

"That is the next challenge," Williams said. "I want to do it because I want to be the one that gets my grandma and my mom and the rest of my family out. Whatever I have to do to get that done is what I plan to do.

"I have to take pride in working hard. I was really the only man in my family. It was basically my grandmother and my mother raising me and I had to work hard. There are a lot of goals I'm trying to reach, and I've got to keep working because the mentality I take is that if you don't work, you don't eat."