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'Never give up': Middle-aged dad pursues football dream

9/25/2003 News media contact: Tim Tanton · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn.

A television segment, photographs and other items accompany this report.

By Cathy Farmer*

LINK: Click to open full size version of image
Joey Williams (right), a 44-year-old offensive guard at United Methodist-related Lambuth University in Jackson, Tenn., works out with players less than half his age during football practice. Williams says playing college football is the realization of a lifelong dream. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. Photo number 03-307, Accompanies UMNS #456, 9/25/03


LINK: Click to open full size version of image
Joey Williams (74) and his son Kyle warm up before a home football game at United Methodist-related Lambuth University in Jackson, Tenn. Joey Williams, 44, says playing college football is the realization of a lifelong dream. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. Photo number 03-303, Accompanies UMNS #456, 9/25/03


LINK: Click to open full size version of image
Lambuth University offensive linemen Joey Williams (right) and Michael Moore (left) block Bethel College defender Cliff Barna during their game at Lambuth in Jackson, Tenn. Williams, 44, says playing college football is the realization of a lifelong dream. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. Photo number 03-306, Accompanies UMNS #456, 9/25/03


LINK: Click to open full size version of image
Joey Williams exults with football fans at Lambuth University in Jackson, Tenn., as he leaves the field after a series of downs. The 44-year-old offensive guard says playing college football is the realization of a lifelong dream. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. Photo number 03-302, Accompanies UMNS #456, 9/25/03


LINK: Click to open full size version of image
Members of the Lambuth University football team, including 44-year-old offensive guard Joey Williams (74), hold hands in prayer before a home game at the United Methodist-related school in Jackson, Tenn. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. Photo number 03-304, Accompanies UMNS #456, 9/25/03


LINK: Click to open full size version of image
Susan Williams (right) congratulates husband Joey after his first college home football game at Lambuth University in Jackson, Tenn. Susan wears a shirt with numbers 74 for Joey and 76 for their son, Kyle, who plays on the team with his 44-year-old father. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. Photo number 03-308, Accompanies UMNS #456, 9/25/03


LINK: Click to open full size version of image
Joey Williams (left) talks to his son Kyle after coming off the field during a football game at Lambuth University in Jackson, Tenn. Joey Williams, 44, says playing college football is the realization of a lifelong dream. The Sept. 20 home game against Bethel College will be the pair’s only college game together. Kyle Williams, a senior, will miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. Photo number 03-305, Accompanies UMNS #456, 9/25/03
JACKSON, Tenn. (UMNS) - Joey Williams' favorite Psalm runs through his mind every time he puts on his Lambuth University football uniform and runs through the gates of L.L. Fonville Field.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me," whispers the 6'4", 290-pound offensive guard with the salt-and-pepper hair.
Playing football on the college level is the realization of a dream for Williams.

Now, 44 years old and the father of four, he is pursuing that dream - a dream postponed by injury and life.

"I was recruited out of high school to play football at Tennessee Tech," Williams says, "but I injured my left knee my senior season. The play was already over when somebody hit me, folding my knee right down to the ground. By the time I trotted off the field, my kneecap was around to the side."

Doctors told Williams another hit to the surgically repaired knee might mean never being able to walk right again.

"Basically, I chickened out," he says ruefully. "But I've regretted it ever since. All through the years, I've thought, 'What if?'"

Abandoning his dream, he got on with the business of life, marrying his high school sweetheart, Susan Hamilton, fathering two boys and two girls, and becoming a partner at Tom Lawler's Office Supplies in Jackson.

He also gained a little weight along the way - somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 pounds.

"Jan. 26, 2002, I decided to get in shape," Joey says. "I went to LA Weight Loss, because I need someone to report to, and I started exercising. I couldn't even walk a half mile when I first began."

Joey and Susan also joined a Step Aerobics class that meets twice a week at their church, Lambuth Memorial United Methodist.

"Joey told me that if he got in shape, he wanted to play football for Lambuth University ," says Susan, his wife of 24 years. "I knew he was serious, too. When he says something, he means it; he's not just talking."

Making the cut

Joey's son Kyle, 21, a senior offensive tackle at the United-Methodist related school, was skeptical when his dad announced plans to play football for the Lambuth Eagles.

"When he first told me he was going to try to play, I said that was great, neat. Actually, I said, 'Yeah, that's great, Dad' while thinking 'and I'm about to go to the moon, too!' ''

Williams called Lambuth head coach Vic Wallace. The coach laid it on the line: Joey would have to be a full-time student and make it through the grueling two-a-day practices in the heat of the summer.

Says Wallace: "I thought to myself at the time, if he's capable of making it through two-a-days, I would find a way to get him on the field."

Ginger, 15, and Allison, 18, Joey's daughters, helped their dad get ready by running with him in the heat of the day. His son Cody, 11, took to calling him the "Bald Eagle." When he faltered, his wife Susan offered encouragement.

By the time he reported for the cardiovascular trials, Joey had dropped his weight to 256. "I even had to get on a weight program to gain muscle back," he said. "I weigh 290 now, but it's a lot firmer."

Williams passed the trials. "Even when we first started, Joey did better than half the linemen on the physical test," Wallace says.

But that was only the first hurdle.

"The two-a-day practices were such a physical demand on me, I didn't know if I'd make it or not," Joey says.

He moved into the dorm with the 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds trying to make the team. Kyle was his roommate.

"I had a very religious experience with God when I was 15," Joey says quietly. "And I had another one during these practices. For six days, I didn't know if I'd make it or not."

"Yeah," Kyle says. "One morning before we got up, he asked me to come over and tickle the bottom of his feet. When I asked why, he said he thought he might be paralyzed!"

Joey says he prayed for strength. "I was quitting emotionally.

"On the last day, one of the coaches came up to me and said, 'Well, Joey, you made it!' I actually jogged off the field. In my room, I looked at the diary I'd been keeping, and in it, there was a bookmark Susan had left. It was the one about footprints in the sand.
"I'd been thinking that God hadn't answered my prayers because it was so hard. But when I saw that bookmark, I realized that it was God's footprints on that football field, not mine."

Words to live by

The other players on the team seem to have accepted Joey as one of their own, though there was some confusion in the beginning.

"They started out calling me 'Mr. Williams' or 'coach' until I explained I was just another guy trying to make the team. I finally convinced them to start calling me 'Joey.' "

He laughs a little. "Now some of them call me 'Dirty Joey' because I didn't know 'leg whipping' had become illegal since I played. One of the coaches saw the guys going to the bench rubbing their shins and came over to warn me.

"Hey," Joey exclaims, "these boys outweigh me by 55 pounds, and they're 25 years younger. I need all the help I can get."

A sign behind his desk at Lawler's says "Never Give Up" in large, bold letters. Joey had one like it made for Freddie Mitchell, a player on Kyle's high school team who was paralyzed after breaking his neck during a scrimmage.

"Never Give Up" is the slogan Joey Williams lives, breathes and embodies.
# # #
*Farmer is director of communications for the Memphis Annual (regional) Conference of the United Methodist Church.

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