Williams defeats obstacles, earns position

Little League football said senior Levron Williams was too big to play running back. He was talented enough to play both offense and defense, but they would not let him carry the ball.\n"I was supposed to play running back the year I started to play, but they had a weight requirement I had to meet, and they said I was overweight," Williams, the Hoosiers starting running back, said. "I was kind of bigger than everyone else."\nWilliams said his future as a running back began in middle school.\n"I just showed them I could run the ball and they let me play running back," he said.\nThe idea to keep Williams, who towers at 6 foot 3 inches and 228 pounds, away from the ball is eerily similar to his lack of carries at the beginning of this season. But after being second string against N.C. State in the season opener, Williams has returned to the starting backfield for the Hoosiers. After two games, Williams' leads IU in rushing, with 119 yards on 20 attempts. \nWilliams' football career at IU began as a question mark when he fell just short of the required ACT score. He spent his freshman year as a non-qualifier, and was not allowed to participate.\nDespite sitting out the season before, Williams started five games in his first season on the football team, and played in nine total games. His play was hindered by a reoccurring ankle injury he suffered during a practice, but the injury did not stop him from averaging 9.3 yards per carry and 21.5 yards per catch.\n"I get water in my eyes and goose bumps when I think of how far Levron Williams has come," coach Cam Cameron said. "Everything that was said that he couldn't do, he's done. And again, he has to continue to improve. I take my hat off to him."\nWilliams, who spent most of the 1998-99 season at tailback and wide receiver, caught the ball for more than 100 yards against Ohio State. The Hoosiers open the Big Ten season against the Buckeyes this Saturday, a team they haven't faced since Williams' personal record-making game. \n"The last time I played them in '98, had a successful game," Williams said. "I will just come out on Saturday and work hard again." \nAfter an injury-plagued first year, Williams' second season at IU contrasts the 1999 season where he earned All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honors. During his 2000 season, Williams rushed for a total of 821 yards, four more than his total the year before.\nCurrently in his senior season, Williams is less than 200 yards away from having 2,000 career rushing yards and 1,000 career receiving yards, which would make him the only player in Div. I football to accomplish this.\n"Levron is a great player, and when he puts his mind to it that he's going to go out and play well, he's going to play well," senior cornerback Sharrod Wallace said. "He does it in practice, so he's going to do it in the game as well."\nBut according to Williams, whose cousin is former IU basketball standout Calbert Chaeney, football is not his favorite sport to play. \nWilliams played on the basketball team at Bosse High School in Evansville, and in his senior year, he was awarded Player of the Year by the Evansville Courier .\n"I was a pretty good basketball player in high school," Williams said. "I actually like basketball more than football. I didn't look at my basketball offers in high school, so I didn't get the chance to explore that."\nAside from his general studies major, Williams takes classes in art, a hobby he began in elementary school. According to Williams, his favorite objects to draw are landscapes, human figures and cartoon characters.\nApart from his football skills that have made him arguably IU's second-most exciting player, Williams isn't sure he'll be remembered for anything but being a "funny guy." \n"Levron's a clown," junior tight end Kris Dielman said. "He works hard in practice, but he's goofy, and he likes to clown around a lot. He's pretty serious before the games, and when the game starts, you know he's ready to play"