The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/418536
BY JOHN BORTON T im Williams faced a tough deci- sion. He could don the winged helmet for one more year, likely add- ing another Big Ten championship ring, or move on with his life. He'd already stayed, and was a two-time champion, in Bo Schem- bechler 's final two seasons as head coach. Now, the outside linebacker from Milwaukee, who had started a handful of games for the Wolverines, performing mostly on special teams, figured it was time to go. He's never regretted that move, gleaning the best from two parallel University of Michigan worlds. "I was proud of everything I was able to accomplish on the field," Wil- liams said. "But the reality of it was, my future rested with what I could do with my mind, and not so much with my body." The redshirt junior spent Thanks- giving evening, 1989, not watching football and pounding down leftover turkey. Instead, just two days be- fore the Wolverines were to host the Buckeyes at Michigan Stadium, Wil- liams holed up to fill out law school applications. The soon-to-be business school grad remembers to this day that tax- ing turkey night. He filled out extensive applications for the law schools at Michigan, Wis- consin, Minnesota and the University of Chicago, but refused to go on. "I had Harvard in my hand," he recalled. "I was so tired, after do- ing four separate applications. I said look, if I can't get into one of these four, then maybe I don't need to go." He went, all right. Three years of law school at Michigan, and on to a highly successful career as an attor- ney. He also went with the blessing and encouragement of his defensive coordinator at the time. That whole period became a blur. The Wolverines knocked off the Buckeyes 28-18 to capture a second straight Big Ten title. Not long af- ter, Schembechler announced he was stepping down as head coach. The Wolverines lost to USC in the Rose Bowl in agonizing fashion, 17-10, an apparently successful last- WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Tim Williams Saw Beyond The Field, And Scored Williams, an outside linebacker, lettered in 1987, 1988 and 1989, earning Big Ten cham- pionship rings and trips to the Rose Bowl the final two seasons. PHOTO COURTESY TIM WILLIAMS