Golf and football: Andrews' Williams hopes to prove himself on the gridiron again

Shaud Williams hasn't played football in more than a year.

He participated in Larry Johnson Celebrity Golf Tournament on Thursday at the Odessa Country Club's Links Course, but don't think he's switching careers.

"It's my first time here," Williams said. "They called and asked and I said, ‘Yeah, I'll do it. I'm not good at golf, but I'll go out there and support the tournament.' "

 Williams, an Andrews football and baseball star in the late 1990s who is considered the town's best athlete ever, is still holding out hope to play football again. Undrafted out of the University of Alabama, where the running back rushed for an SEC-best 1,367 yards in 2003, Williams played for the Buffalo Bills from 2004 to 2007.

He sat out last year after not getting picked up by a team. Now, a "couple of teams are showing interest," he said, including some in the United Football League, which is scheduled to start its inaugural season this October.

Williams said he'll probably wait until August to decide whether he wants to continue following the football path.

Still, the itch is there.

"My thing is right now I know I can still play," Williams said. "I'm in the best shape of my life. I work out four or five times a week. I'm in shape. I know I can still play on that level and I'm just waiting for that opportunity to show that I can."

 Williams has made it to every level in football, yet one of his favorite moments in his sports career was his senior year at Andrews, when the baseball team won the Class 4A state championship in 1999. Williams was the leadoff hitter and shortstop and scored the winning run in the title game.

"I just really can't put it into words," said Williams, who was selected in the 13th round of the Major League Baseball Draft in 1999 by the Atlanta Braves. "I don't know if you saw the picture, but, like, I cried. It was such an emotional experience that words can't really describe it."

He followed the Mustangs in their run to the Class 3A state tournament this season. Andrews lost 4-3 in a state semifinal game to eventual champion Carthage.

 Williams badly wanted Andrews to win it all, so this team could experience what he did.

"I really wish - and I'm happy for them and Coach (Rodney) Gardner and how well they did - that they could have won it," Williams said. "That just would have been such a neat deal.

"Just the atmosphere of winning the state championship is unbelievable."