Before Randy Moss. Before Jason Williams. Before Greg Bell, Kelly Sutton and Erick Wood ...
Before all those great athletes, DuPont High School had football quarterback Danny Williams.
Our area may never see another Moss or J-Will, but in the fall of 1972 and '73, DuPont option QB Williams packed the stands at H.B. Douglass Stadium as he and his teammates took the Panther program to a new level
Prior to 1972, DuPont was rarely discussed as a possible Class AAA state title contender, but all that changed under Williams. DuPont rolled to an undefeated season in his junior season of 1972 and into the brand-new four-team SSAC playoff. Led by Williams touchdown passes to Keith Hager, DuPont upset favored Bluefield 34-32 in a double-overtime semifinal at the old Laidley Field. The Panthers lost in the championship game to Bridgeport in Parkersburg, and after the season Williams made state history by winning the Kennedy Award as a junior and was named a high school All-America selection for the next season by Letterman's Magazine (he was pictured on the magazine's cover).
As a senior, he led DuPont to a 9-1 record and won the Kennedy Award again (a state first). He was recruited by Bobby Bowden to WVU, where he shared time at quarterback with Dan Kendra.
Williams was an incredible athlete and student and became a Rhodes Scholar at WVU. He was an All-American on the field and in the classroom and spent a year overseas at Oxford.
Williams brought incredible pride to the community with his "aw shucks," Huck Finn modesty and attitude. He was also an All-American story. He lived on Younger Drive up Campbells Creek and was a dominant youth baseball player for Charleston Northeast. Three years ago, when I did a telecast of a Florida State game, Bowden still remembered going "up a holler" to do a home visit with Williams.
Danny Williams is now Dr. Dan Williams in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. However, this weekend, he and his 1975 teammates have been in Morgantown for a reunion.
The 1975 Mountaineers posted a 9-3 record and beat North Carolina State in the Peach Bowl. The highlight of the regular season was one of the most fondly remembered wins in Mountaineer history, a 17-14 victory over Tony Dorsett and Pitt. Williams played a lot of key snaps in the second half of that game, running the option on key drives with running backs Ron Lee and Artie Owens.
When fans across the state talk about great athletes from DuPont, the conversation starts with Moss and Jason Williams. But don't forget about Danny Williams from the early 1970s, who raised the bar for DuPont students and athletes in 1972, 1973 and 1974.
The sense of pride felt by the community when he went on to WVU is hard to describe. He was something special, but he never acted like it.
Reach Frank Giardina at flg16@hotmail.com.