Aeneas Williams started playing college football as a junior. At Southern University. As a walk-on, a week before the season started.
The Cardinals later made him a third-round draft pick. And Williams made himself into a Hall of Famer. On Saturday night, Williams officially joined the most exclusive club in football.
“Begin with the end in mind, and die empty,” Williams emphasized.
Williams, 46, was a four-time All-Pro during a career with Arizona and the Rams. He defended football, explaining that even though the game has its risks, every job has distasteful elements.
He also claimed (tongue in cheek, we think) credit for the new Cowboys stadium. Williams joked that he spoke to the architects regarding the planning for the stadium, that it took 10 years to build it. And so he traces it back to an upset of the Cowboys by the Cardinals in the 1998 wild-card round of the playoffs, when Williams had two interceptions.
And Williams concluded that owner Jerry Jones decided at that moment that it was time for a stadium without a hole in the roof for God to watch, because “God must not be with us anymore.”
God was with Williams in college, nudging him toward football a week before the start of that junior season. And Williams then did what he had to do to reach his potential, trimming his 40-yard dash time from 4.6 down to 4.3 seconds, boosting his profile and standing in the draft.
Williams took it from there, and he now takes it to Canton.