Special-teams player approaching the end of an eventful career
Bruce Adams, Chronicle Staff Writer
Terrell Williams helped launch a new era of Cal football in 2002 when the Bears' running back threw a 71-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage in the season-opening 70-22 win over Baylor. Near the end of this year's Big Game, he connected with tight end Craig Stevens on another trick play, this time for a 14-yard touchdown that completed the scoring in the 27-3 win over Stanford. In between, it's been a strange journey for Williams, who will end his career at Cal in the Las Vegas Bowl against BYU on Dec. 22. Williams sums it up this way: "I played a lot, I got hurt and then we got some ballers." The time line begins in 2001 when the then-freshman tailback led Cal in rushing with 688 yards in Tom Holmoe's last season as coach. Then, under Jeff Tedford in 2002, Williams was the second-leading rusher on the team -- gaining 139 yards -- even though he missed the last three games with a severe knee injury. He redshirted the next year, rehabilitating his knee and spending most of his time on the scout team. Finally healthy again in 2004, he saw limited action as one of the backs behind J.J. Arrington. He became a fixture on special teams. And this year, he still has played mostly on special teams while those "ballers" - sophomore running backs Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett -- have gotten the bulk of time.
"I actually enjoy watching them," Williams said. "I love all the backs we have." Williams is fine with his role on the team now, coming to grips with some realities during his redshirt year. "You can't take life for granted," he said. "Be grateful for the opportunities you have. ... I realized special teams is my calling. How I view myself now athletically isn't the way I would have viewed myself earlier. My role on the team now is just as important as my role before." Williams, who has rushed for 82 yards and one touchdown this year, is confident in his abilities, and he doesn't necessarily concede anything to Lynch (1,052 yards and seven touchdowns) and Forsett (962 yards and six touchdowns). "As far as coach Tedford's offense goes, they fit the roles better," he said. "On any given play, they can bust however-long a run." Williams has become a sideline mentor to Lynch and Forsett. "I like that they run to me for help, ask me what I saw," he said. And he has become a fan, saying of the heralded Lynch: "That's my dude, man. He gets it done. He's an amazing back to watch." Williams still hopes to get a NFL tryout. But that's not his end-all. "My mom always told me to have a backup plan," he said.
For Williams, that's a career in fashion design. "It's something I really find fun to do all the time, expressing yourself through what you wear," he said. He first became interested in fashion in high school in San Diego, doing silk-screen designs.
Next year, he plans on enrolling at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in San Francisco. He majored in social welfare at Cal, with a minor in landscape architecture to satisfy an FIDM requirement. He also has taken courses in art and drafting, and he has learned how to sew. "They need males," Williams said. "They're yearning for males to give fashion a different perspective." He noticed the one-sided world on his first visit to FIDM. "They have 385 people enrolled, and 28 are guys," he said. "What a great ratio if you're looking for a relationship. Why haven't guys taken this up?" He said some people who don't know him roll their eyes when they hear of his career of choice. "They try and pull away my masculinity," he said. "I've spent 13 years playing tackle football. ... I just laugh at it."
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