ATHENS -- The average Georgia football fan might not know the name Andrew Williams -- but it's a safe bet they've noticed him on the football field.
Williams (No. 47) has spent the better part of last two seasons flying down field on kick off coverage, smacking into opposing blockers and ball carriers -- and drawing oohs and ahhs from fans thanks to a complete abandon for his own well being.
"It's definitely a rush," Williams, a redshirt senior from Blairsville, said. "It's the purest form of football; it's part of the game that's never changed."
Over the past two years, Williams -- also a reserve strong safety -- has made his fair share of tackles for the Bulldogs coverage team and impressed Georgia coaches enough to go from walk-on to scholarship player.
"That was a great feeling," said Williams, who was awarded with the scholarship before the 2007 season and again before the '08 season -- scholarships have to be renewed every season.
"My time here has been indescribable," Williams said. "Playing football for Georgia is unbelievable, and then you've got living in Athens on top of that."
Yet Williams' Georgia experience may never have happened if not for a knee injury during his senior year at Union County High School.
The starting quarterback and safety for the Panthers in 2002, Williams was on his way to a scholarship at the University of Kentucky -- until he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
"That really scared people off," Williams said. "I thought I was going to end up at Kentucky. I still had chances to play Division I-AA ball."
Yet National Signing Day came and went, and Williams still had no school to call his own -
Friday
October 25th, 2024
8:24AM
