Brown Opponent Spotlight | Super Bowl son spurned gridiron

Adrian Williams won't be the second African-American quarterback to win the Super Bowl.

The son of former Washington Redskins quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams, Adrian went down a different path. Or, at least, chose different sport - he's now Brown's backup point guard as a freshman.

While he played football in his first year of high school at Wheeler in Atlanta, hoops ended his chances of following in his father's footsteps. It was a choice, but not completely.

"I hurt my knee in a pep rally, going up for a dunk. I broke the growth plate in my knee," Williams said. "After that I had to have surgery, so I decided to just concentrate on basketball."

His father knows that his son would have had a future in football had he stuck with that sport. Adrian was a quarterback as well as a safety, grabbing seven interceptions his freshman year.

"As good a basketball player he is - and I'm not saying he's the greatest - I thought he really could have been a pretty good football player, too," Doug Williams said.

With his focus on the hardwood, Williams has developed into a solid basketball player.

Playing for a program that often produces Division-I players, he averaged only 12 points per game his senior year. But the point guard has become a major contributor for Brown this season. As a freshman, Williams has played in all 24 games and is averaging 18.4 minutes and five points, the team's sixth-best total.

"Adrian has always been one of those guys that's under the radar; he's not a flashy guy," the elder Williams said. "I remember telling him in high school 'If you don't take any shots, none of them will go in the basket.' But that didn't faze him."

Doug, who is now a personnel executive for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, tries to find time to watch Adrian's games online and talks to him after nearly every one.

"He doesn't know too much about basketball, so he just gives me advice on the whole," Adrian said.

People often tell Adrian about how great Doug was, and that they wish he could have seen his dad play. Adrian said he "probably got 15 text messages" when Doug brought out the Lombardi Trophy to the Giants this year, the 20th anniversary of his 340-yard, four-touchdown performance.

Adrian could have let his prestigious family history get to his head, but he's never really had the chance.

"Honestly, I've never even seen the game, I've only seen clips from it," he said.

However, the freshman gets to keep up with his dad's current position a few times per year during training camp.

"I've got another son that's 15 years old, and it's good to see them two together," Doug said.

"Adrian's more laid back, but the other one thinks he's the man."

Adrian is doing his own thing, and both he and his dad are fine with that.

"What Adrian has done is what I wish for him," Doug said.

"He finished high school, got into a good university, will get a college degree and do what he wants to do. At the end of the day, that's the most important thing."

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