Chette Williams knows a thing or two about second chances. In 1982, he was kicked off the Auburn Tigers football team.
Coaches told him there had been too many drunken nights, too many fights and too many bad grades.
But instead of falling into self-pity or depression, Williams went to teammate Kyle Collins and asked him to read aloud from the Bible.
He then asked Collins to pray for him, and in the same night he lost football, Williams gained something else — Jesus Christ.
He rejoined the team shortly after his conversion and now, 26 years later, serves as team chaplain.
Williams also serves as the Auburn campus director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), which allows him to help players avoid many of the same problems he faced.
‘Hard Fighting Soldier’
Williams’ recent book, “Hard Fighting Soldier,” tells his story and shares the testimony of other Auburn players and friends who have both seen and found God’s hand in college football.
“College football is special because God can use it to teach people a lot of different things,” he said. “Think about diversity. On the Auburn football team, there is a huge amount of diversity, and from that diversity, we are supposed to create one unified team.”
The purpose of the book is to help spread the gospel, and based on the number of e-mails and letters Williams has received from people thanking him and telling him how the book has impacted their lives, he believes it has been successful.
“It was a book saturated with prayer before it went out, and the prayers have been answered,” Williams said.
And “Hard Fighting Soldier” couldn’t have come at a more opportune time either. Recently the news has been filled with stories of college athletes making mistakes and getting in trouble with their school and even the law.
But for Williams, there is a simple answer.
“The solution is Jesus Christ and having a personal relationship with Him,” he said.
So instead of simply waiting for a football player to fall and make a mistake, Williams tries to intercede with them beforehand.
He encourages freshmen to avoid future problems by making their education a priority and getting involved in organizations like FCA, which presents athletes with the challenge of receiving Jesus as Savior and Lord and serving Him in their relationships and the fellowship of the church.
Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville recognizes Williams’ importance to his football program and players.
“He’s not a miracle worker,” Tuberville wrote in the foreword to “Hard Fighting Soldier.” “He’s just a man who understands and who knows the Lord.
“Ask a player what Chette means to him, and he’s likely to say, ‘He’s like a father. He’s always there for me.’”
Williams is there pointing athletes to the church.
“The church is the key,” said Williams, who holds a master of divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. “The church is the bedrock. All we are here to do is point kids to the church.”
He believes it’s important for the church to view college athletics as an opportunity for ministry and not as something to keep at a distance.
“There are players — 17, 18 years old — who face some really tough and deep issues. They need someone to talk to,” Williams said. “The church needs to get involved and welcome them.”
His book is available at chettewilliamsministries.com, amazon.com and bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million.
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