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The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

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Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
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QB Troy Williams Wears His Family “On His Sleeve”

If there is one thing that has remained a constant throughout Troy Williams’ entire football career, it’s his family and he isn’t afraid to show it — quite literally actually.

Williams has a portrait of his uncle Mark tattooed on his right shoulder and a tattoo for his dad on the inside of his right arm that’s paired with an Impala.

“That’s [my dad’s] Impala,” Williams said. “It was my uncle Mark’s, his brother, and he still has it in the shop and we’re real into lowriders, so I thought it’d be cool to put his lowrider right there.”

On Williams’ left wrist, he has one for his younger sister. He has the name of his grandmother, Jewel, tattooed on his left shoulder, he has one for his mom on the inside of his left arm with a crown and on his lower right arm he has one for Carson, Calif.

Junior quarterback Troy Williams (3) participates in spring practice at the Eccles Football Center, Thursday, March, 24, 2016. (Chris Samuels, Daily Utah Chronicle)
Junior quarterback Troy Williams (3) participates in spring practice at the Eccles Football Center, Thursday, March, 24, 2016. (Chris Samuels, Daily Utah Chronicle)

“If I wanted to get a tattoo, I wanted to make sure it meant something to me and show everybody how important family is to me,” Williams said. “And it just gives me a reminder of what I’m working for and why I’m doing this.”

Although Williams could never forget why he plays the game he loves, there’s no better motivation than when he looks at his arms and sees his loved ones right there beside him. So when he was named a captain for the 2016 season after only having been a part of the Utah football program since January, it was not only an honor for him, but his family and his hometown.

Williams is making his second stint in the Pac-12 this season. His first go-around was when he was a freshman at Washington, but he eventually transferred to Santa Monica college and he started attending classes at the U this past spring.

Williams did sit out the majority of spring due to what he said was a tear in his teres major muscle, but it never deterred him; it only motivated him to work on other aspects of his game.

“I think that was the major sign that God was telling me, ‘You need to take a break, man.’ I’m 100 percent now and I’m ready to go,” Williams said. “[I did] a lot of praying, a lot of film study, conditioning, just making sure my body was right whenever it was time for me to come back.”

So with a focused mindset like that, Williams being named a captain isn’t as unexpected as someone would think.

Head coach Kyle Whittingham has continuously mentioned how strong of a leader Williams is and how well he is able to command the offense. When Williams was named a captain, it wasn’t that shocking.

“It speaks volumes to what his peers think of him, because it’s voted on by the players,” Whittingham said. “That lets you know what his teammates think about him and the respect that they have for him, which is good — you want your quarterback to be in that situation.”

More often than not, Williams is one of the last guys to step off the field following practice. At first, it was more so because he had to fight for that starting job. Now, it’s because he wants to keep it that way.

“Anything can happen at any given moment, so I’m just going to keep coming in and competing everyday and working my hardest,” Williams said. “I’m going to continue to stay in the film room with coach [Aaron Roderick] and continue to gameplan and hone in on the small things and just go out there and perform.”

By putting in that extra time in the film room, the weight room and staying late after practice, it all makes him a better leader, because admittedly, he’s not always going to be the most vocal guy on the field. Williams prefers to lead by example, and when he needs to convert on an important third down he hopes he can come through in the clutch for his squad. Wide receiver Tim Patrick thinks he can.

Patrick has noticed the extra attention to detail Williams puts on and off the field and because of it he is positive the team is in the right hands.

“Him getting down the whole playbook, knowing the different coaches on the defense, helping us out, watching film after practice until 10-10:30 at night, I haven’t seen anybody work like that,” Patrick said. “He makes me want to work harder, just by him putting in the extra work makes me want to hop on the bandwagon.”

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@kbrenneisen

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