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Fountain of Middle Age
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| Many young boys grow up with a burning desire to play college football. Some of them never outgrow it. Joey Williams is over 40, with a wife and four children. Did we mention overweight and out of shape? Even odds like that didn’t stop this Tennessee titan. He dropped 80 pounds, muscled his way onto a team and along the way inspired a community. Reed Galin reports. | |||
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Joey Williams :“I was a 340-pound couch potato when I thought about this.”
“This” was the dream Joey Williams couldn’t seem to shake. His wife thought …
Susan Williams: “He’s going though his midlife crisis.”
His son thought …
Kyle Williams: “Surely, there’s no way.”
Still, 44-year-old Joey Williams had a dream.
Joey Williams: “Before I passed away in my life, I need to feel what it was like to play college football and this was my opportunity.”
(Nat Sound: Joey works out on field with team)
With his family’s blessing, the office supply manager – now 80 pounds lighter – quit his job, enrolled at Lambuth University and tried out for the team.
Joey Williams: “Someone asked me, ‘What are you out here for?’ I said I was searching for the fountain of middle age.”
Dreams and reality didn’t mesh right away.
Kyle Williams: “Well, the first morning when he told me to tickle his feet cause he thought he was paralyzed, I was kinda scared.”
For this United Methodist, despair turned into prayer.
Joey Williams: “I prayed to survive it, is what I prayed to do.”
Perhaps it worked.
Coach Vic Wallace/Lambuth University: “He has earned his spot at being one of our football players.”
(Nat Sound: Crowd yells)
It’s never too late for dreams to come true.
Joey Williams: “There’s not a better life teacher than football.”
Joey Williams learned that the hard way – back in 1976.
Joey Williams: “Well, I’ve had one regret my entire life and, when I talk about it, I may get emotional about it (starts to cry).”
A knee injury sidelined his football career. Williams had to give up a college scholarship and never got to play.
Joey Williams: “And for 25 years, I just regretted every football season when it came around, that I did not take that chance and push myself to that next level.”
Now he plays with no regrets.
Joey Williams: “And after this experience here, there’s not anything—work, church or life—that I can’t handle now. There’s just nothing I can’t do.”
Younger player: “He’s all right. He’s all right for an old man.”
Joey Williams: “That’s because I promised to feed them after the game (laughs).”
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Williams’ next goal, he says, is to make it to the end of the season in one piece. He claims his secret of success is “Want-to.” He says you can’t just say you’re going to do something; you’ve got to “want to” do it. Joey Williams works in the mornings, then heads over to campus for classes and football practice. Those keep him busy until about 10 at night. His wife Susan wears a special jersey at the games, with numbers 76 and 74 on the back, to support both her son and her husband.