Keith Williams of 鈥楲ast Chance U鈥� reaches next level
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BVM) 鈥� The famed Netflix series 鈥淟ast Chance U鈥� left East Mississippi and touched down in Independence, Kansas for a third season. The show chronicled the Independence Community College football team through the fall of 2017.
The Indy Pirates posted a stellar 9-2 record that year. They won their conference title. They also triumphed in the Midwest Classic Bowl, becoming the only Pirates crew in ICC school history to capture a bowl game trophy.
Jumbo offensive lineman Keith Williams made a huge impact on the team while the 6-foot-7, 300-pounder earned another look from big-name NCAA Division I teams in the process. With a lot of hard work and a simple twist of fate, he carved a clear path to the Mountain West Conference.
Williams departed for Ft. Collins, Colorado to join the Colorado State Rams in 2018, earning a full-ride scholarship. Still, he saw minimal action as a redshirt sophomore. He would then break through in 2019 and start .
Though he saw his share of setbacks over the years. One example 鈥� he actually got rejected by a pair of JUCO programs before he caught on with the Indy Pirates. In addition, he much preferred life in Ft. Collins vs. his time at Independence, and this was evident in his performance.
Williams opened 2020 at the top of the Rams鈥� depth chart. He remained the starter until sitting out the closer of a shortened schedule. No. 77 returned the following year as a graduate student. He started half of the Rams鈥� 12 games. After that, he chose to continue pressing his luck. A few months later, Williams took his chances on the 2021 NFL draft.
Unfortunately, his name was never called. Even so, he wouldn鈥檛 quit in pursuit of a pro football career. That kind of determination most certainly did help him get through some difficult days.
His perseverance paid off as he eventually got drafted by the newly-reformed Michigan Panthers this past February to play in a rebooted United States Football League (USFL). That no doubt validated all of his exhaustive efforts and countless sacrifices.
Prior to JUCO, Williams starred at Overlea High School in Baltimore, Maryland. He collected numerous honors along the way. Those include Additionally, he was picked.
To add, Williams drew interest from several major college teams at the time. Ultimately, he decided to try and better his prospects at the JUCO level. This proved to be a fateful move that helped guide his present success.
The underlying theme here is that things didn鈥檛 come easy for him. Williams had to earn everything he has, down in the trenches.
The east-coaster took to football as a youth, since his father played the game. As a result, he literally grew up on the field. Now playing as a professional, he鈥檚 got a baby daughter and his fiancee is expecting a son. Chances are, his boy will grow up the same.
