Bouncing back

While Lakewood Leopard Cameron Williams has been a standout on the football field and basketball court in the last couple of seasons, his life hasn’t always been that easy.

The multi-sport athlete, a senior on the Leopards’ basketball team, said he plays football because of his uncle. The Leopard senior also throws shot putt and discuss for the track and field team.

“His name is George Williams,” said Cameron, in a recent interview. “Just what he did for Lakewood. He played at (N.C.) State and played in the NFL. I just wanted to be better than him and succeed more than him.”

It was the elder Williams, who once told the younger of the two that the current Leopard wouldn’t be better than his predecessor. “I just wanted to be better and evolve more than him,” the younger of the two said.

“I also played for my mom, too,” he continued. “I’m with my aunt now, but I played for my mom because she thought I could go anywhere with football and she knew it was my favorite sport.”

Williams’ mother passed away in the summer of 2021.

“It’s just to keep pushing,” Williams said, on what his one quote to the world would be. “You’re going to have things that happen in your past, like family members pass away. You’re just going to have to push through and do everything for them and let your family and friends motivate you, coaches make you better.”

“Everything I really do is for my mom, because she passed during high school,” he continued. “So, every time I play a game or before the game starts, I pray. I just do it for my team, family, and friends.”

Sports, Williams said, mean a lot to him and Sampson County. “Sports are one of the biggest things in Sampson County. That’s what everybody likes. Even if it’s just rival schools playing against each other, like Lakewood against Midway or Lakewood against Hobbton, everybody will come out from different counties and different schools,” he commented.

With offers from Catawba University, St. Andrews, Fayetteville State, and Erskine College, Williams says he has been compared to the San Francisco 49ers’ tackle Trent Williams, but Cam Newton is his all-time favorite professional football player. His ideal place to play football, though, is at N.C. State.

“I always wanted to go there because my uncle played there,” he said. “The environment; like how everybody, all the fans are just tuned-in, dancing. I just like the experience I got when I went there for a visit.”