Razorback great stresses attitude, effort for students
Television personality D.J. Williams, a former standout tight end for the Arkansas Razorbacks, emphasized the importance of positive attitudes and effort for choices made by students at the Southwest Arkansas College Preparatory Academy’s year-end event Friday at National Park College.
Several hundred students from SWACPA’s five sites in Hot Springs, Malvern, Arkadelphia, De Queen and Nashville attended Friday’s event in the NPC Wellness Center gymnasium. About 500 students participated in SWACPA during the 2017-18 school year through the five partner institutions of NPC, Henderson State University, Ouachita Baptist University, College of the Ouachitas and Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas.
Paulette Blacknall, former director of the Education Renewal Zone at Henderson, originally began work in 2009 on SWACPA in Arkadelphia as an academic intervention for high school students at-risk of dropping out. The goal of the program was to better prepare students for
college and careers.
The academy now includes
17 school districts. First-year SWACPA and ERZ Director Greg Wertenberger invited Williams for an opportunity to celebrate students from all five sites to complete the program.
Williams said he wakes up at 3 a.m. every weekday, arrives at his television station by 4:15 a.m. and is on air by 5 a.m. He said he is regularly asked about his positive attitude and energy.
“It’s very simple,” Williams said. “It’s because I just love my life. I love everything I do. I backtrack year after year after year and I really think, ‘Wow, I do love my life.’ I feel like I have had an incredible life and a lot of incredible experiences.”
Williams was a star, multisport athlete at Central Arkansas Christian in Little Rock before his distinguished career in Fayetteville. He won both the John Mackey Award, presented to the nation’s top tight end, and
2010 Disney Spirit Award as college football’s most inspirational player in his senior year.
The Green Bay Packers drafted Williams in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He spent two years with the Packers before short stints with the Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Washington Redskins.
Williams said he enjoyed the privilege of being able to attend star Packers receiver Randall Cobb’s recent destination wedding and meet up with Green Bay Pro Bowl stars Jordy Nelson and Aaron Rodgers. Williams noted his dubious performance on the “Beat Shazam” television show hosted by Jamie Foxx this month, playing with Super Bowl champions Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski in New England, and meeting actor Ashton Kucher and members of the Boyz II Men group at the Kentucky Derby.
“From where I started to where I am now, it doesn’t match up,” Williams said. “If I were to tell people the beginning of my life compared to the end, people would think there was no possible way I made it to do these incredible things.”
Williams said he does not shy away from the details of his early life. Domestic violence was a common occurrence in his home as his father suffered from alcohol and substance addiction.
His mother decided they should leave their home one night when his father did not return. His father was out indulging in illicit drugs with his own father, shot another man seven times and led police on a high-speed chase before he was apprehended and sentenced to 26 years in prison.
“Once I got to high school, I started realizing I don’t have to be like my dad, who was like his dad,” Williams said.
Williams said football came naturally for him, especially as he determined more effort and more energy reaped more rewards. He said he surrounded himself with good people and learned attitude and effort were two main factors he could control.
It was a professor at the University of Arkansas who Williams said taught him how he always has choices and they can make a lasting impact. He said many young people do not understand how their choices can affect their futures.
“Once you start approaching everything and understanding if you can control your attitude with any given situation and your effort in it, then literally anything is possible,” Williams said.
“The thing about the attitude, a lot of people have a very, very bad perspective on a lot of things. They’ll say, ‘This is terrible,’ and, ‘This is terrible.’ I always encourage people; if you change the way you look at things, sometimes those things you look at change.”
Williams said students in SWACPA are entering a time of increased competition in their lives. He said success is important, but so is failure.
The Packers cut Williams in the preseason of his third year in the NFL and he spent two months with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Former Razorbacks quarterback Ryan Mallett, Brady’s backup in New England at the time, reached out to Williams and the Patriots later signed him after Gronkowski suffered an injury, but then Williams was sidelined with his own long-term injury.
Williams spent time with Tampa Bay in 2014 and the Redskins in 2015, but it was a December 2014 invitation which propelled him to his current role. He was invited by the television station to provide insight into the Razorbacks’ matchup against the Texas Longhorns in the Texas Bowl.
The station later hired Williams full-time. He warned against the influences of negative factors, such as bullying and “fake friends.”
“When those things affect you, you have to understand if those people do not care about you and they truly do not want what is best for you, just act like they do not even exist,” Williams said. “Just move on.”
Williams said he is appreciative of the support he has received from his mother and a close circle of family and friends.
“Your future is whatever you want it to be,” Williams said. “It does not matter if you come from a family that has millions of dollars or if you lived in shelters like I did for two years with absolutely nothing, and hopefully somebody dropped off food so you can eat.
“It does not matter. As long as you control the things you can control and have an extreme, incredible amount of effort in everything you do. Just wake up with a smile each and every day.”
High school students in participating districts can apply to take SWACPA classes each year. The program is offered to provide continual academic enrichment and support, improve graduation rates, improve ACT scores, decrease college remediation and to increase degree attainment in the region.
Classes meet on 10 Saturdays throughout the school year and for a two-week closing boot camp in the summer. NPC President John Hogan praised the students for making the choice to participate.
“There are a lot of things you could have chosen to do this summer,” Hogan said. “Instead, you dedicated yourselves to making things better for your future.”
The Hot Springs site at the college includes students from Cutter Morning Star, Fountain Lake, Hot Springs and Mountain Pine High Schools. Co-facilitators LaTaschya Barnett, director and community outreach coordinator for NPC’s Career Pathways program, and Hot Springs Middle School teacher Debbie Byers lead classes on the college’s campus.
Certificates were presented Friday to all completers and upcoming completers in attendance. The boot camps for NPC and the joint site for Henderson and Ouachita finished on Friday.
The summer session for Cossatot’s De Queen site concluded a week ago. Cossatot’s site in Nashville will continue through next week and the Malvern boot camp at COTO will start on Monday.
Arvest Bank sponsored lunch for all attendees Friday. Mid-America Science Museum welcomed the students Friday afternoon to tour the exhibits and meet with representatives from a dozen colleges and universities.