SEATTLE – The young man in the wheelchair smiled.
A big smile. A smile that said everything was going to be OK.
And it was.
“I saw him at the spring game,” a reporter friend of mine said, “and he was so happy.”
She said it as if she couldn’t believe what she was about to write.
That the young man with that huge smile I had seen at Safeco Field recently, that the young man who seemed so filled with joy at the University of Washington spring football game, that that young man was no longer with us.
Curtis Williams was dead at the age of 24.
I didn’t know Curtis personally.
About all I knew was that he had overcome some rough beginnings, that he was a fine young man, that he was well-liked and respected by his UW teammates, and that he was an outstanding football player. It was an accident in a game during the 2000 season that left him paralyzed below the neck.
But it hadn’t dampened his spirit. He had planned to come back to school this fall and complete work on his degree.
Husky athletic director Barbara Hedges visited with him when he was on campus two weeks ago and recalled that he was “very upbeat.”
“He was thrilled to see his teammates and to meet with the academic services staff about completing his degree,” said Hedges, who was in Spokane on Monday at the Alumni Association’s annual Coaches Tour golf tournament. “He had only six more classes to finish.
“We asked Curtis if he wanted to go down on the field during the spring game and he told me no, but he was looking forward to coming back to campus in the fall and wanted to be back on the field for a home game. We were all looking forward to that moment.”
Now an unspeakable grief had overcome his former teammates, as many of them gathered in the team meeting room off the tunnel that leads to Husky Stadium. “We shared a lot of stories about what we thought about that young guy,” said Keith Gilbertson, the team’s offensive coordinator. “You never want to lose the memory of a guy who was that hard-charging, who was a true Husky.”
Greg Carothers was the young man who replaced Curtis in the Husky lineup after his injury. Carothers called him a “warrior” on the field and “one of the nicest people you could ever meet” off the field.
Ex-Husky Joe Jarzynka remembered him “flying around, taking people’s heads off over the middle. He was one of the true competitors on this team.”
The word “courage” came up when people talked about Curtis Williams.
His coach, Rick Neuheisel, also in Spokane, said, “Although he was confined to his wheelchair, Curtis taught all of us associated with Husky football the true meaning of the word courage. I think anyone who met or was associated with that kid … will find it hard to ever feel sorry for themselves.
“I choose to take this time to celebrate Curtis and his memory. As his brother, David, told me today, ‘He’s somewhere right now and he’s running fast.’ “
I have seen too much death in recent years. Too many good people gone too soon.
My son, Mike, a sweet, gentle, loving guy. He made you feel good just by his mere presence.
Will Nessly, a friend and my first boss at The Herald. He could tell a story like no one else.
Dick Erickson, the former Husky crew coach and one of the true characters I’ve ever known. He could cut through the bullsap with his legendary “this is just another dog and pony show.”
Dick Armstrong, the sometimes hard-on-the-outside but always soft-on-the-inside former Snohomish High School football coach. Players went to him as boys and came away as men.
Jim Muhlstein, husband of Herald columnist Julie. He was as solid a newsman as there ever was and a softball player par excellence.
Jim Averill, the “Walker” at Everett Giants/AquaSox baseball games. A guy with the gentleness of a kitten and the insight of a wise man.
And now Curtis Williams, a courageous young fellow with a strong will to make the most of life even in the face of severe hardships.
“I will always admire Curtis for … inspiring all of us to learn to persevere in tough times,” Neuheisel said. “We always said that he was a warrior on the field. What we learned was that he was a warrior in life.”
A warrior with a smile that said it all.
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