Looking for a path to NFL
Former Boone standout Bracy-Williams will try to make Apollos roster
The last time that most people saw Marvin Bracy-Williams on a track, he was competing in the semifinals of the 100-meter dash at the 2016 Olympics.
Running in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was exciting. Combined with the quest for a medal, the buzz of the crowd energized the Orlando native.
Bracy-Williams cherishes those memories, yet he wanted more. He longed to play football again. “The thrill of the game is everything,’’ Bracy-Williams said. “I’m not knocking track. … You can do everything right and false-start. That’s your race.
“You can play 69 bad plays of football. On play 70, if you get it done, you can win the game. There’s just something about that that speaks to my soul.’’
A former Boone High School standout, Bracy-Williams, 25, is listening.
He is trying to earn a spot as a wide receiver with the Orlando Apollos as the Alliance of American Football franchise participates in a leaguewide training camp Friday in San Antonio. Orlando will begin its debut season against the Atlanta Legends on Feb. 9 at UCF’s Spectrum Stadium.
“Kind of embodies what the league is looking for, right?’’ Orlando general manager Tim Ruskell said of Bracy-Williams. “We’re looking for guys that can be developed, that we feel they have NFL skills, pro skills, but they just need that little period of development.’’
After Rio, Bracy-Williams confronted a career crossroads.
He could continue as a sprinter or return to football, the sport he has played since he was 6 years old.
Bracy-Williams checked the clock. He would have been in his late 20s if he attempted another run at the Olympics in 2020 in Tokyo. Returning to football might not have been possible by then. He was losing precious time. “Honestly, I consider myself a football player who was running track,’’ Bracy-Williams said.
Bracy-Williams, who used to go by Bracy but has added his father’s last name, never ran track before joining the track team at Boone in 10th grade.
“I didn’t know what track spikes were,’’ he said. “I just called them cleats.’’
Bracy-Williams captured three 100- and two 200-meter state championships with Boone, where he excelled in two sports.
Phil Ziglar, the Braves’ football coach at the time, called BracyWilliams “the fastest kid in North America probably at the time.’’ He was so fast that coaches adjusted the number of steps that their quarterback normally dropped back to throw, just so the ball was released sooner to compensate for Bracy-Williams’ exemplary speed.
“If we had a quarterback who could throw the ball deep, far enough, we might have been even better,’’ Ziglar said.
Bracy-Williams signed with Florida State, but he never played a game for the Seminoles.
After a redshirt season, he quit football to turn professional in track.
After recovering from hernia surgery last year and leaving the running world, he said he got a look with the Dallas Cowboys but was not signed. Bracy-Williams signed with the Indianapolis Colts in 2017 and Seattle Seahawks last summer. He was waived shortly before the regular season both times.
“He’s right on the cusp of being ready,’’ Ruskell said.
Bracy-Williams has impressed Apollos wide receivers coach Willie Jackson, who went to UF and played eight seasons in the NFL.
“He can be one of the more explosive players in the Alliance,’’ Jackson said.
Bracy-Williams, who resides in Clermont, has not played in an organized game since the 2012 Under Armour All-American Game in St. Petersburg as a highschool senior.
His skills will require fine-tuning if he is to reach the NFL, but Bracy-Williams tends to move quickly.
The next step is to make the Apollos’ 52-man roster. That quest will begin Friday.
“I deserve this opportunity,’’ Bracy-Williams said. “I promise you I will make the most of it.’’
“Honestly, I consider myself a football player who was running track.” — Marvin Bracy-Williams