Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1529781
14 NOV. 30, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA A neyas Williams doesn't wear his emotions on his sleeve. He's rather stoic, a slick smile signi- fying his every mood. The Notre Dame freshman running back wears a tattoo under his sleeve, though, serv- ing as a reminder of who he should and shouldn't be. It's a newspaper-script font "W" with barbed wire branching out from either side, connecting his bicep to his triceps, connecting him to a father he hasn't known for over eight years. Williams' dad, Lydell Williams Jr., died of a heart issue brought on by sub- stance abuse in September 2016. He was 38. Aneyas was 10. A sixth-grader. A pallbearer. Lydell, barbed wire and a big "W" cov- ering his own arm, went to Georgia to get his life on track in his mid-30s. He never returned. He wasn't around his son much for his final four years. The mem- ory of him, his accomplishments, who he was before his demise? That never left. Aneyas knew just who his dad was, and, in a sense, he was exactly who Aneyas wanted to be — one of the best football and track stars to ever attend Hannibal (Mo.) High School. "Hannibal is 100 percent a foot- ball town," Hannibal head coach Jeff Gschwender told Blue & Gold Illustrated. "And when one of your legends dies, it's a pretty big deal around here. I'm sure that did affect Aneyas quite a bit." It did. It drove him. "After dad passed, I feel his drive for his dreams grew even bigger," Aneyas' sister, Aliviah Williams, told Blue & Gold Illustrated. Early in his freshman year, Aneyas real- ized he had what it took — the innate ath- leticism and determination to match — to eventually become a legend of his own. But that's when the boy who hardly dis- played his feelings, the boy who scored 4 touchdowns in his first varsity game, let his guard down. And let it all out. After his awe-inspiring debut perfor- mance, Aneyas gave his mother, Sarah Williams, a huge hug, in front of every- body, tears flooding down his face for all to see — if he could ever lift his head off his mom's shoulder. He couldn't. Didn't want to. Why would he? "When he broke down on that field I think it was kind of like, 'Man, this sucks. I'm happy, I want to share this with my mom, but I also want to share this with my dad. There is a part of me that's miss- ing,'" Sarah told BGI. "I think that kind of followed him here to Notre Dame. "Each accomplishment. Each of- fer. Decision day. His first touchdown. There is a certain part of him — he's proud, he's happy — but there is a cer- tain part of him that's missing." 'THAT KID' Lydell played at Southern Missouri University. His talent was always going to take him to the next level. Aneyas? More than talent. His everything was always TALK OF THE TOWN Freshman running back Aneyas Williams is driven by the memory of someone he'll never get back — and never forget Williams rushed for 112 yards and 1 touchdown on 23 carries while also catching 7 passes for 86 yards in his first nine career games at Notre Dame. Inset: Williams with his father, Lydell, who passed away in 2016. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER; INSET COURTESY WILLIAMS FAMILY