Captain Chronicles | '1': Williams Turns Jersey Number into Nickname, Identity

Isaiah Williams feels the pressure that comes with wearing the number "1" on his chest. It's a number he's worn ever since he was 6 years old, and it's the "#1" mentality that has created the sky-high expectations he holds himself to every single day.

Whether it's the thought of winning the Heisman Trophy as a freshman before ever stepping foot on campus, wanting to play quarterback as a 5-year-old in a league full of second- and third-graders, or being Illinois' highest-ranked QB recruit in over a decade, Williams does not shy away from big goals in his quest to be the best.

"My coach was like, 'Which jersey number do y'all want?' Just like that, I went to pick out '1,'" Williams said. “Right when I went to pick out '1,' everybody in the house was like, 'That fits.'”

The first year Williams started playing football at the age of 5 is one of only two times the St. Louis native has worn a number other than "1;" the other occasion came when he wore #40 as a freshman playing on the varsity basketball team in high school. Despite being the youngest – and smallest – kid on the field, Williams' coach decided to play him at offensive line.

The switch ironically came out of concern for Williams' safety, which was a relief for his mother, Ashley Harris. Though her son was outmatched in weight and height, Harris proudly cheered him on as he gave his all, regardless of any natural obstacles thrown his way.

"I remember him going out, doing his best, and showing that he wasn't afraid to get out there with anybody who was bigger than him," Harris said. "He had a lot of heart and always played hard. When Isaiah picked #1, I had a lot of faith in my son, and I knew that he was gonna be the one. That was my way of encouraging and motivating him. I let him know if I see it in you and I believe in you, all you have to do is put in the work and you can be the one."

That unwavering support continued the next year, when Williams switched teams. Eager to get out of playing offensive line and linebacker, Williams shifted his focus to running back, a position in which he immediately thrived.

As Williams got older, he moved from running back to quarterback, a position he played throughout high school and into his first two seasons at Illinois. It was during his time at Trinity Catholic High School that Harris realized how gifted her son truly was.

Receiving invites to college camps, playing in the Under Armour All-America Game, and earning offers from 40 Power-5 programs, 13 of which reside in the Big Ten, Williams decided to continue his academic and athletic careers at Illinois, less than 200 miles from his hometown of St. Louis.

Entering his freshman campaign with the expectation that he would hoist the Heisman Trophy at the end of the season, Williams played in just four games in 2019, including a debut appearance at wide receiver during the Redbox Bowl.

With that season, though, came a wave of self-doubt and a loss of confidence, but Williams ultimately used it as fuel to the fire. It served as additional motivation, and though it did not result in immediate success, it laid the foundation for the rest of his Illini career.

"After that freshman season, just being down on myself after coming in thinking I was gonna win the Heisman, thinking I was gonna help turn the program around and it didn't happen, reality hit and it messed up my confidence a lot," Williams said. “I never thought it would turn into this. I never thought I would get to this stage again."

When the new coaching staff arrived after the 2020 season, Williams made the permanent switch to wide receiver, a position at which he has flourished. Leading the team in catches and receiving yards in each of the last two seasons, Williams knew he would fit in just fine with the new opportunity after going through some initial hesitancy.

"Going into the first practice, I was like, 'I'm not sure. I really don't know if I want to play receiver. I still want to be a quarterback,'" Williams said. "I gave it a try. That first practice, I was unsure, but after that practice, I was like, 'This is what I need to do. This is home. I don't want to go back.' It felt natural, so I stuck with it."

In his fifth season with the Orange and Blue, Williams has reversed his fortune and embraced the challenges thrown his way. Now a consensus preseason All-Big Ten receiver and a nominee for national award watch lists, including the Maxwell Award and Wuerffel Trophy, he heads into the 2023 campaign as a two-time captain for a program he has invested everything into.

With the title of captain also comes a bigger spotlight to give back, not just to his teammates, but to the wider Champaign-Urbana community. Williams views his legacy as both on-field and off-field responsibilities, and he has found his role helping people in every walk of life.

One of Williams' biggest sources of pride and inspiration comes from his involvement with Tuscola Flag, a youth NFL flag football league with over 100 kids from the C-U community. After working with fourth- through sixth-graders in his first year with the league in 2022, alongside Illinois defensive lineman and fellow 2023 captain Keith Randolph Jr., Williams served as a coach for seventh- and eighth-graders this summer.

He views himself as a role model and a leader who local kids can look up to, though he also emphasized having fun and teaching football and life skills. After initially finding it difficult to get kids to open up, Williams created deep and meaningful bonds and relationships with several of his players despite the big age gap.

"Every single day, that would be the highlight of my day, just seeing how happy they were," Williams said. "At first, they were so shy, didn't really say anything, didn't talk. They noticed after a while, 'Hold up, they're normal just like us. They love to have fun.' It was crazy to see how open they were, and how they were literally sharing their life stories with us. It was a crazy experience seeing that growth.

"I love working with those kids because they're the next generation that's gonna help change the world. Those kids literally were the highlight of my day, every single day I got to coach them. When I think of giving back, I feel like there are a lot of things that money can't buy. I love being out there, being that guy that's on the front line giving back. I feel like that's huge when it comes to giving back: actually being out there, and them seeing your face. It was a very life-changing experience."

Williams is also an active member of several organizations on campus that promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. A representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Williams serves on the executive board on EMPOWER, which promotes and uplifts Black student-athletes on campus, and he was selected to represent Illinois at the Black Student-Athlete Summit in Houston in May 2022.

As a moderator for the university's Black History Month panel in February, an on-campus host for the Big Ten Equality Coalition in March, and a team speaker for the football program's Juneteenth celebrations, Williams has served as an advocate and a voice for Black student-athletes at Illinois, in the Big Ten, and throughout the college athletics community.

Harris credits several people for instilling the tenets of charity and advocacy in her son, and she is incredibly proud of the work Williams does throughout the community. Watching from afar, seeing the work he does on and off the field brings Harris pride and joy.

Williams traveled to Kenya this summer as part of a mission trip with Life in Abundance and CU Church. Spearheaded by Illinois football life coach Jason Epperson, Williams spent five days in Nairobi, Kenya, using the trip to interact with people living in the Kibera slums and throughout the local community. The group -- which also included teammates Tip Reiman and Kenenna Odeluga and Illinois women's basketball's Genesis Bryant -- took a safari tour of the Maasai Mara National Reserve and gave back to the Kenyan population during their mission trip to Africa.

"They have way less than I do, but they were thankful for everything they had and everything they received," Williams said. "It made me want to be more thankful for the little things in life. I feel like sometimes I might get a little spoiled too much, and you start taking the little things for granted and not being thankful for everything.

"It was cool to build connections with people, learning from people that stay miles and miles and miles away from you. I feel like that was the biggest thing was just the networking part of it. That was the main thing we did was we would go from place to place, but the biggest thing from all that was just networking."

Now back in Champaign and gearing up for his fifth season with the Orange and Blue, Williams heads into his second consecutive season as a team captain, an honor bestowed on him following a team vote. He is pushing himself to be much more vocal in 2023 after taking a lead-by-example approach last season, especially as one of the key contributors on offense.

With preseason expectations at their highest point of his collegiate career, Williams is comfortable with lofty goals. It seems like just yesterday that Williams sprinted down the local peewee football fields, juking out opposing defenders and making players miss, traits the junior receiver frequently displays against some of the best teams in the country.

Despite the internal and external expectations, there are few people who strive under pressure more than Williams, the man aptly wearing "#1" proudly on his chest.

"This means the world to me to be captain again," Williams said. “It shows that these guys look at me as a leader, and it's something that I'm looking forward to stepping into. I'm a guy who not only does the right things himself and leads by example, but I can get everybody else to follow me and do those same exact things. That's what I view as a leader: an alpha male, a guy who can not only lead himself but also lead others.”