A former Manatee County high school football star who overcame a troubled youth to win a football national championship at Florida State and play in the NFL has died at 35.
Todd Williams, who played at Bradenton Southeast High School, was found dead Monday morning at the Sarasota Suites, 7250 North Tamiami Trail, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office said.
Deputies responded to the hotel at 11:15 a.m. and said there were no signs of foul play. Williams' mother, Ozepher Fluker, told the Bradenton Herald her son had complained of stomach pains for about a week and had lived at the hotel for about six years.
Williams, A 6-foot-5, 330-pound offensive lineman, played on the 1999 FSU national championship team that was led by another Southeast High product, receiver Peter Warrick. Williams became an All-ACC selection and was drafted by the Tennessee Titans, for whom he played in seven games in 2004 and 2005.
According to the Herald, Williams returned home after his NFL stint and most recently was a teacher at Manatee Y Technological High.
Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden wrote about Williams in his book Called to Coach: Reflections on Life, Faith and Football.
"When his grandmother died of complications from diabetes in 1993, Todd was basically an orphan," Bowden wrote. "The state planned to put him in a foster home, so Todd ran away. He slept on the streets in Bradenton and later moved to Miami, where the streets were a lot more dangerous. ...
"Before his grandmother died, Todd promised her he would graduate from high school and make something of himself. Todd moved back to Bradenton and moved into an apartment on his own. To pay the bills, Todd worked in a grocery store after school. ... Todd Williams and boys like him made it difficult for me to retire from coaching."