Which team would you rather see UCF play: Tulsa or UTEP? There were about half as many UCF fans as Rice fans at the game. It was a great game to see in person!
That explains why Leon Williams often found himself leaving his street-ball games, where the parked cars served as yard markers, and the granite-like turf fields he played on in high school with bruises and scraps all over his body.
Those rough conditions might have made his exterior hard, but it's been Williams' up-and-down career as a Miami Hurricane that's toughened his interior, transforming this 22-year-old from boy to man.
Williams came to Miami in 2001 as New York City's greatest high school prospects in the last 25 years. Stardom was expected, but his erratic play and difficulty defending the pass have limited the senior to five starts.
But entering Saturday's game against Virginia, which will be his final opportunity to run through the smoke inside the Orange Bowl, Williams has no regrets about choosing Miami, and is very appreciate for the lessons his career has taught him.
"You may not always get what you want," said Williams, a Parade All-American coming out of Brooklyn's Canarsie High. "When things are thrown at you in life you have to be able to bounce back. When they throw you lemons, make lemonade. You've always got to be able to come out and still perform."
And that Williams has, standing out despite serving as UM's backup middle linebacker. He hasn't complained once this season even though he's been far more productive than sophomore starter Romeo Davis, contributing 45 tackles to Davis' 30.
"I don't know if it's been an all-star or all-world career like you envision for a Parade All-American coming in, but he's been very productive for our team," Coach Larry Coker said. "I'm sure he'd like to have more opportunities, but it is what it is."
As Williams puts it, it's life, which is something he's learned how to adapt to and appreciate, considering he nearly lost his mother, Veronica Simms, during the September 11 terrorism attack on the World Trade Center.
Simms, a secretary for the Hartford Insurance Company who worked on the 70th floor of the second of the Twin Towers to fall, said her life was spared because she arrived late for work that morning.
As she exited the train station, Simms saw smoke coming out of the Twin Towers, then ran to safety. She eventually got home by walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, helping others as they made the long trek to their borough.
Williams spent most of that day frantically trying to reach him mom, not knowing what had happened to her before receiving a call later that afternoon. He said the traumatic experience helped him appreciate life more, and brought his family -- which includes his mother and his older brother, Mario Campbell, 28 -- even closer, to the point where a day never passes without Williams calling his mom.
"We were close before, but that just brought us closer," Simms said. "It taught him what's really important in his life in terms of priorities. God first, family second, school, then football."
While Williams' sights are set on playing in the NFL, he predicts his proudest moment will be when he walks across the BankUnited Center stage this December to receive his degree in liberal arts. He'll be the first member of his immediate family to graduate from college.
As erratic as his playing career has been, he has drawn interest from NFL scouts, many of which believe he'd be better suited to play in a 3-4 scheme as a rushing linebacker. Even his position coach, Vernon Hargreaves, wonders what could have been if UM tried to utilize this 6-foot-3, 235-pound Adonis of an athlete at a different position, possible as a defensive end, tight end or fullback.
"He's a pretty good looking sucker isn't he? I tell him that all the time. He looks exactly like they are supposed to look," Hargreaves said. "The reality is, who knows when it's really going to click on. I might be getting him ready for a 10-year career in the NFL, I don't know. He's probably going to click it on as soon as he gets out of here."
"There are a lot of things I learned here I can take with me off the field," Williams said. "For me, it's still been a success because I'm not the same person I came here as."
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