Oct. 28, 2004
Editor's Note: This feature ran in the Oct. 23 edition of the Mizzou football gameday program.
by Emily Allen
Nino Williams II can still remember the moment when he decided that he wanted to play football.
"I remember riding down 10th Street on the east side with my old man, and we saw some kids out there playing football," he recalls.
Nino Williams Sr. asked his son if he wanted to play on a team with other little kids, and after a slight hesitation, the younger Williams said yes. He was soon placed on a team with six and seven year old boys. Nino Williams II was four.
Since then, Williams has made a habit of seeking out intimidating challenges and confronting them head on. It's a trait he attributes to his father - the man he affectionately refers to as "my old man."
"I like his style. He's just true. He's always been about, `If you want it, go get it.'"
Williams has followed that advice from Oklahoma City all the way to the University of Missouri, where he has quickly become a standout strong safety, racking up honors such as Honorable Mention All-Big 12 and 2003 Team Defensive Back of the Year. Pretty impressive for a player who only one year earlier was an All-American cornerback at Tyler Junior College in Texas.
"I enjoy corner a whole lot," Williams said. " I loved it. It was something I thought I was good at, and I still think I have a lot of corner in me," he said. "But I'm learning to be a safety."
Williams spent his high school days as a corner at John Marshall High School, a school known for its talented football program, under coach Dan Cocanour.
"When you play for John Marshall, you kind of have a reputation to uphold of being one of the dominant teams in the city. It was a cool experience," Williams said.
Another cool experience of Williams' was the opportunity to play for Tyler Junior College following high school graduation. In what he describes as "one of the best decisions that me and my parents have made," Williams credits his time at Tyler with helping him develop the poise and self-confidence he is known for.
"I had just turned 18 and moved five hours away from home on my own," he said. "I was the only cat there from Oklahoma, so, it kind of made me dependant on myself and establish that confidence that I carry."
Along with developing confidence, Williams earned the team's respect and several schools' attention by making 125 tackles, eight interceptions and recovering two fumbles over the course of his two years on the team. The interest that Division I schools expressed in Williams following his junior college graduation was a far cry from the response he received following his high school days.
"I was a little undersized coming out of high school, and I didn't have many offers," Williams said. "Junior college gave me a second chance. Everybody doesn't get it right on the first one. It gave me my second chance."
One of those schools expressing interest was MU. Another was Louisiana State University. Although verbally committed to LSU, the school withdrew when they believed Williams would not be academically eligible for the 2003 spring semester. That's when Coach Gary Pinkel offered something that Williams wasn't expecting - a home at Mizzou.
"I came on my visit here and Coach Pinkel and his staff made it very evident that ... I had a home here at Missouri," he said. "With them putting that kind of commitment into me, regardless of what kind of problems I was having off the field, I felt like that was the best situation I needed to go to."
In making the choice to go to Missouri, Williams essentially chose to move from his familiar position of corner and begin learning the subtleties and nuances of the strong safety position.
"[The switch] definitely wasn't natural, because I made some mistakes last year that usually a newcomer will make."
Regardless of those mistakes, Williams believes that through continued hustle and experience he can become an even better safety than he is a corner.
In addition to adjusting to his new position, Williams found himself adjusting to the rigors of Division I football.
"There's a lot more film study," he said. "Practice is a lot more up tempo and there's a lot of focus in practice."
All of the hard work and practice certainly paid off in a big way. His Tiger debut took place at the Edward Jones Dome against the University of Illinois and was not without its fair share of memorable moments. It was his first game playing Division I football. It was his first game playing as a safety. He broke up passes on two consecutive plays in the final minute. But what does Williams remember most?
"The special thing about that game was that it was the first time that I ever had a game where both of my grandmothers were able to see me play," he said.
Family has always been a huge part of Williams' life. Son of Nino and Tracye Williams, he has one younger sister and one younger brother. Williams credits his family as the reason for his athletic and academic successes thus far, including his college degree- the first on either side of his family. In addition to his immediate family, who come to as many home football games as they are able to, there is always one other person in the crowd cheering Williams on; D'Wayna, his wife of eight months whom he met at Tyler.
"She attends all of the home games and she's made about 75 percent of the away games. She's really supportive," he said.
It is with her continued support that he plans to achieve his goals of making the All-Big 12 team, winning the Big 12 North title, and eventually the Big 12 Championships. He also hopes to play in the NFL, following in the footsteps of his childhood teammates Rashaun Woods and Greg Richmond. Williams then plans to be a coach himself. Sounds pretty ambitious and maybe a little intimidating, but if Nino Williams II has proven anything since he was a four year old out on the football field with his seven year old friends, it is that he can handle it.