James Williams’ long, tragic journey leads to elusive state title with American Heritage
James Williams is often the last player kneeling and bowing his head in prayer before Plantation American Heritage kicks off. He was Friday in Tallahassee before he played in his first state championship.
The free safety walked out to midfield at Doak Campbell Stadium as American Heritage’s captain for the Class 5A championship and then he jogged into one end zone to do what he always does. He thought about his mother, who died when he was only 5 and never got to see him turn into the No. 1 safety in the country and the first person in his family to ever go to college.
He also thought about his grandmother, who was sitting in the corner of the opposite end zone behind the Patriots’ bench to watch her grandson help lead a 24-6 victory. She was the one who put him into football after his mother’s death and she was the one seated beside him when he signed his national letter of intent with the Miami Hurricanes on Wednesday.
“I just wanted to make that lady proud right there. That was my No. 1 goal — make her proud and I did,” Williams said and then he pointed to the sky. “Second of all, I want to thank my mom for everything she’s done for me, putting me on this earth.”
Williams, for all the hardships he lived through early in his life, is almost always smiling. This week, his ever-present grin has been just a little bit bigger.
His week began Wednesday when he signed with Miami — his childhood favorite team — and then watched four-star quarterback Jake Garcia, who he’d been recruiting for months, do the same. He and his teammates then trekked up to the Florida Panhandle to play Tallahassee Rickards for American Heritage’s first state title since 2017. As they celebrated on the Florida State Seminoles’ home field, Williams was front and center in every picture, taking selfies and beaming at the sight of the trophy he has so long coveted.
He had five tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss in the Patriots’ dominant defensive showing, and it was the perfect cap to a high school career with a spotlight on it since he first stepped on to the field for Miami Gardens Monsignor Pace as a freshman.
“It means everything to win this,” Williams said. “I’ve waited my whole life, I’ve waited four years to win me a state title. I finally won me one.”
It was obvious right away he was going to be special. Former Monsignor Pace coach Joe Zaccheo tossed out comparisons to legendary Hurricanes safety Sean Taylor and scholarship offers started to pour in. He committed to Miami before his freshman year was done, and was immediately tabbed as one of the best players in the Class of 2021 as soon as 247Sports.com and Rivals.com put out their rankings.
Every powerhouse in the country wanted to lure Williams and coaches started trying before he could even legally drive a car.
“They’ve been calling back-to-back since he was real young,” said Ira Williams, the star defensive back’s grandmother. “How’s he doing in football? What state he’s in with football? They’ve been calling.”
She has raised Williams and his siblings nearly their entire lives at this point. When Williams was young, he watched his father shoot and kill his mother. Whenever he can, he tries to honor Maria Gibson’s legacy and often it comes through football.
Williams’ grandmother had him start playing the sport not long after his mother’s death as a way for him to find some joy, some mental stimulation and, down the road, a way to stay out of trouble.
“He just took off,” she said.
By the time Williams started playing high school football, coaches across South Florida already knew about him. He’s about 6-foot-5 and 218 pounds right now, and he wasn’t much smaller then. He looked like a defensive end and moved like a cornerback, and college coaches couldn’t believe it.
Williams transferred to American Heritage for his sophomore year, kept performing in a new environment and then decommitted from the Hurricanes as the Alabama Crimson Tide, Clemson Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs all made him a priority. At one point, the plan was for Williams to attend Georgia.
“He was going to go to Georgia,” his grandmother said, “and I was like, Oh my God. That’s too far.”
As a junior, Williams played at Davie Western, but he decided to rejoin the Patriots for his senior year.
He felt like he had unfinished business at American Heritage and he knew the value he could get out of playing for coach Patrick Surtain, who was a two-time All-Pro cornerback for the Miami Dolphins. He promised the coach he would help the Patriots (11-2) win their fifth state title and first since they won 4 of 5 from 2013-2017.
“He says it all the time, ‘I came back to win a state championship,’” Surtain said. “Things got dicey during the season, but we stuck it out. He was our leader on the team, man. He guided the boys and now he’s a state champ. They can’t take it away from him.”
Still a five-star prospect in the 247Sports composite rankings, Williams has never done anything but play like a future superstar.
Scrutiny, though, follows with a reputation like his. A state championship is validation he wanted to before he heads to Coral Gables next year.
“I proved two things: I’m a man of my word. I told them I was going to come back and win a state title,” Williams said, “and, No. 2, the U’s back, baby. The U — here I come.”
This story was originally published December 19, 2020 at 12:23 AM.
