Where are they now: Brett Williams

Brett Williams remembers it like it was yesterday. January 2000, New Orleans Superdome. It's just one minute until game time and the former Seminole lineman is ready to rush on to the field with his teammates. He's only a redshirt freshman at this time, and knows that he should probably be running out with the reserves. But thanks to injury and a little fate, Williams is in the starting lineup as Florida State looks for their second national title.

"Right before the game, they called us out to run out of the tunnel," said Williams. "I remember sitting in the tunnel thinking two years ago I was in high school, and now I'm about to run out and play for the national championship. To say I had a lump in my throat was an understatement. This really escalated to say the least."

And the rest was history. The 'Noles won the title and Williams went on to be a rock in for the FSU offensive line. The former Osceola High (Fla.) star would start in two national championship games at FSU and earned many awards during his career. In 2002, he was selected as a Playboy All-American. He was also the recipient of the Jacobs Blocking Trophy Award twice in 2001 and 2002. That award is given to the top lineman in the ACC.

His career at Florida State was as solid as any lineman to ever wear the Garnet and Gold, but offensive lineman don't get all the credit they deserve. But to Williams, just playing for FSU was credit enough. It was a dream come true and a career that he will never forget.

"I grew up a Florida State fan and always loved them. I was getting recruited by Alabama and Florida. When I took my visit to Alabama I went hunting and killed a big deer, I thought, man I should go to Alabama," Williams said. "I went to Florida, I thought, I don't like (Steve) Spurrier but I like the other coaches and it's only two hours from home. But then I went to Florida State and met Bobby Bowden and it reminded me why I liked them so much. It was a done deal at that point. I tried to be open, but I was a Seminole ever since I was a little kid. That was a dream experience."

But football wasn't always priority No. 1 for Williams, although you would never know it on the field. His friends played a major role in where he is today and his memories with his buddies are something he cherishes a decade later.

"The offensive line went to King's Buffet and they have the all you can eat sushi and everything," jokes Williams. "We would go and eat, sit around and wait until we were hungry and eat again. The people at the restaurant gave us the dirtiest looks because they were taking a loss on us. I think they told us we couldn't do it anymore.

"I think back and the stuff I miss the most is hanging out with the locker room with Coach (Jimmy) Higgins, he was hilarious."

Brett Williams did give the NFL a whirl. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2003 draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. He played through two injury-filled seasons in K.C. before finding himself without a job, but it actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

"I got injured and when I was injured they released me," Williams said of the Chiefs. "While I was rehabbing my knee, I had teams calling me to work out for them, but I knew it was time to hang it up. It was a big jump for me, you aren't making near as much money.

"Once I got out of the NFL, (2005), I went to work for a college campus ministry in Kansas for four years. Then me and my wife moved to Boca Raton, me and (former FSU lineman) Clay Shiver are both down there. We started a non-profit called Palm Branch initiatives. It's a ministry that has a bunch of different college campus ministry, high school assembly, sports camps, missions, that's what we do, that's my employment in Boca."

These days, Williams is married with three kids and dedicates most of his life to his ministry work. It doesn't pay as much as his NFL career would have, but his life is a lot more fulfilled than it was playing ball on Sundays.

"I did not get into that until my senior year in college. At Florida State, there was a strong core of people who are strong spiritually. After being there for four years, that had a big impact on me. That was the impact Coach Bowden had on us.

"Once I got in the NFL in Kansas City, I would go help out with the ministry and help out with college students. I had a lot of fun doing it. I got to a point where I wanted to do that more than I wanted to play football. The toll football had taken on my body, I felt like I would be a backup for my career. I could have either hopped from team to team or hang it up and do this and stay in one place and do something I love. That was my transition."

Ten years ago, Brett Williams had NFL dreams. He lived out his dream, but dreams change. And these days, Williams and his family are back in Florida, living close to family and realizing there is more to life than just football. But ask Brett Williams about shutting down Alex Brown and the Gators, and he'll talk about it all day - but eventually, the conversation turns back to his true love, his family.

"Just realizing that getting married and having kids, you realize life is not about you. You find joy in pouring your life out for other people. As an athlete, you get so much personal success and notoriety, and that was all great, I was thankful to be a Seminole and play in the NFL. But I think life gets a whole lot better when you realize life is about helping other people. That's what I'm getting to now, it's just fun."