This past season has been an extraordinary one for those Oregon
Ducks. The Ducks were the PAC-12 champs after defeating the University of Arizona
on December 5, 2014. Going into the PAC-12 championship game the Ducks were
ranked the #2 team by the playoff committee. On Sunday, December 7, 2014, I was
glued to the television as the final playoff ranking was made. It was then announced
that we were #2 and that we were going to play #3 Florida State in the Rose
Bowl. The grand daddy of all bowl games. I started to scream and yell as my
excitement took over me. When my excitement had subsided enough for me to call Juwaan
I notified him of the news as well.
WE WERE ROSE BOWL BOUND!
Tears rolled down my face as I began to think of all of the places that Juwaan
has afforded us the opportunity to visit through his success in football. All I can say is that we have been truly blessed.
My husband and I had never been to Los Angeles so I began planning for the game
FULL Throttle. As the weeks passed, the excitement built up like I was a
little kid at Christmas. We were given the chance to participate in a once in a lifetime opportunity! This year was the inaugural year of the College
Football Playoffs and we were determined to be there with Juwaan.
As we traveled to LAX, I was glazing out at the clouds and again my eyes filled with
tears of joy as I thanked God for this awesome opportunity. The flight made me reminisce on all the Friday night’s that he would get out of the bath, put on his uniform, and sleep in it so that he could wake up ready for his Saturday morning Pee Wee games. My heart was now overwhelmed with joy and excitement for Juwaan; His dreams are becoming a
reality!
To know Juwaan is to
know that when he sets a goal, he is determined to see it through. Juwaan has
always been hungry to succeed in football. He has played numerous other sports
throughout his youth, including soccer, baseball, basketball, and track but his love
for the game of football overtook everything else.
Once we arrived, there
were so many activities going on surrounding the Rose Bowl but the highlight
for me was attending the parents’ brunch where my husband and I got the
opportunity to speak with the University of Oregon’s Atheletic Director, Rob
Mullens. He walked around to each table and spoke briefly with everyone. We
introduce ourselves as Juwaan Williams’ parents and he finished, “from Tucker,
GA. What an awesome kid. Thank you for allowing us to have him come across
country to be a part of our program.” My eyes swelled up and sigh of relief set in. I thought about every mile that we’ve placed on our cars, every camp, combine
and every piece of advice that Ihad been given. I even thought about the moves that we made to give him the best
opportunity. All I could say was “Thank you God for choosing Juwaan and
allowing us to be a part of the journey.”
Now, on the day of the
Rose Bowl, we were up and out of the hotel by 7:30am. My brothers, Rob and Eric, along with my nephew Eric Jr., and my
husband and I, were all in attendance to see the Oregon Ducks at the Rose Bowl.
We were headed to tailgate with Oregon family, the Pietzolds. The excitement
began to really build up as the team buses pulled up and they walked into the
stadium; game Time was less than three hours away. The look on my son’s face
was focused. He looked straight ahead wearing his Beats Headphones, only
nodding his head when he walked past us. As he walked through the crowd of
fans, I began to pray and ask God for covering over Juwaan and his
teammates.
It’s GAME TIME...the
parent section is always nice sitting. We were in the front row sitting to the
right of the College Game Day broadcast and behind the goal post. My nerves
were crazy to start the game, as the players entered the field and said their
prayers. I said mine too. I asked God to cover them for the top of the head to
soles of their feet and allow them to have fun while the game that they love...
After all, they are still kids! Every time Juwaan lined up for the kick-off
team, he always does the sign of the cross to give praise and thanksgiving to
the man above. At the same time, I repeat the same prayer for Juwaan, asking
God to cover him from the top of his head to soles of his feet. AMEN.
As the game entered into
the 4th quarter, I leaned over to my husband and he said "We gotta play
harder. Florida State is a 2nd half team!" So with 4:00 minutes left in the game, I began to feel overwhelmed. Then with 2:00 minutes left in the game, security was
preparing the stadium for awards. Then the buzzer rang and it was the end of
the game. I watched the young men celebrate their incredible victory and at
that point we all knew that we were headed to the “NATTY”...LET'S GO DUCKS!
Dallas, Texas here were come!
The players were running
around the field looking for family and friends. As I was waiting for the
right moment to yell for Juwaan, my brother leaned over and said, “ I don’t
understand how he hears you over all of these people.” I take that opportunity
and to yell, "JUWAAN” at the top of my lungs. He heard me and came
running. I had been holding a rose the entire game and handed to Juwaan. He was
holding his hat and a t-shirt so he placed the rose in his mouth to give me a
hug and a kiss. A photographer caught Juwaan as he was coming down off of the
wall and taking that sigh of relief, saying “We got a lot of work to do!”
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