I’m not one to jump behind caskets and act like someone meant a ton more to me than they ever did. When someone dies I look up to I acknowledge them, the situation and try to carry on.
Some effect greatly. I never was a huge Kobe Bryant fan aside from collecting his basketball cards as a pre-teen, but for a variety of reasons that death hit me like a ton of bricks. Maybe it was because he was only a few years older than me, maybe it’s because he was one of the last athletes from my youth that appeared bigger than life and invincible or maybe it’s because I’m a new father of a young daughter and thinking about all the details of his passing was just flat out difficult to imagine.
Former Notre Dame defensive tackle and key member of the national championship team in 1988, George Williams, died this past weekend at just 50 years old after suffering from hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.
I’m not going to pretend to know a ton about him or act like he was one of my favorite players because that wouldn’t be sincere. I was familiar with the name, could tell you his position but I couldn’t share for a second how great of a player he was or how great of a person he was because I simply just have no memories as I was just two when Notre Dame won it all in 1988.
Williams played a key role in Pat Terrell’s game-winning deflection against Miami in the famed Catholics vs. Convicts game of 1988 and after doing some reading, it’s obvious he was absolutely adored by his teammates.
Tim Prister of Irish Illustrated does a great job breaking down games, recruiting and so much more but has a knowledge of Notre Dame football history that few can touch. He wrote a worth-while piece about Williams on Wednesday morning that is worth reading in full when you have a few minutes as he gets quotes from some of the biggest names attached to that ’88 squad.
Here’s some of what Prister got from one of Williams’s former teammates, Reggie Brooks:
“As a player, absolutely tenacious,” Brooks said. “I was on the scout team and I was trying to run away from him most of the time. It was tough sledding watching the o-line trying to block him.
“He was one of the fiercest nose tackles I played against. So quick and explosive for a big guy. Extremely agile. He was coming for you.”
After college Williams spent part of 1992 with the Cleveland Browns.
George Williams was just 50 years old and is survived by his wife and two children.