Cougar fans see Dom Williams lining up against the cornerback on Saturdays, standing at 6 feet 2 inches tall and 190 pounds. During his three seasons at WSU, Williams has grown into an elite receiver for Cougars. Williams lead the Cougars with 16.2 yards per catch, and also recorded seven touchdowns last season.

Sometimes it’s hard to see football players as more than just a set of numbers and statistics.

But if you peek underneath Dom Williams’ helmet and look past the numbers, what you will find might be a surprise. Yes, Dom Williams is a staple in the exciting air raid offense that draws thousands to Martin Stadium. He offers exciting long and clutch catches. He gives two extremely devoted fans a chance to run back and forth across the Crimzone with a giant picture of Williams’ face when the receiver turns one of those receptions into a touchdown.

Cougar fans already knew that. What they didn’t know is that Williams is much more than just a football player. His is the best kind of a success story.

In today’s society it is easy to dwell on the negative. It is human nature that we remember the negative experiences far more often than the great experiences. We remember those who were cruel just as much as the people who were great.

But some people possess the ability to rise above their struggles, hardships and negative aspects of their lives in order to succeed. Their successes are the ones that should stand as a light to people in similar situations.

Williams has that kind of ability and he is that kind of light. His life has been anything but easy and yet the first thing noticed about him is his easy smile and kind demeanor. That same, easy going man ruthlessly conquered the Portland State defense last Saturday.

Then again, his life has been about using football as an outlet and escape from the violence and poverty that surrounded him in his home outside of Los Angeles in Pomona. When his grandpa died, he kept playing. When his brother was killed, he kept playing. When his grandma was sick, he kept playing.

The football field has remained a place of solace for Williams ever since he started playing at the urging of his brother and grandma.

“I never really liked football until my junior year of high school,” Williams said. “Growing up I was always a basketball player. My freshman year my older brother told me to come out and play.”

Williams played basketball, volleyball and football through high school. He was given the chance to play volleyball collegiately but decided to play football instead. He based his decision off the wise words of his grandma, who he views as his motivation and driving force.

“My grandma has raised me my whole life, she has done everything for me, that’s who I do it for,” Williams said. “Before kickoffs I say a little prayer and think about my grandma.”

Despite battling the poverty and violence around him growing up, his grandma and sports kept Williams on the straight and narrow. Despite the brutal hits that kept coming, Williams kept getting up.

“I got hit pretty hard my freshman year by some guy,” Williams said. “He hit me really hard too; I had to sit out for four or five plays.”

He never gave up. When life hit him harder than any defensive back could, when he wanted to let the city life swallow him, his grandma was there to remind him what he was fighting for: a pass out of the poverty and violence that surrounded him.

By his junior year of high school he turned his attention solely to football again at the wise words of his grandma urging him to continue with football and he began to notice that he felt more comfortable. He began to get offers from colleges his junior year.

“As far as recruiting, Garey High has been an afterthought for probably two decades,” Cougfan.com Managing Editor Barry Bolton said in an article written during Williams’ season as a redshirt freshman. “Despite double and triple teams, Dominique led them to the playoffs as a senior, the first time the school had been in many, many years, but it’s not known for its football. A lot of college coaches just don’t make it a regular stop.”

And so Williams broke through the odds yet again. With the help of highlight videos and a playoff showing during his last season with Garey Senior High School, Williams landed himself interest from several schools.

In spite of never having even heard of Washington State University, he accepted the invitation to visit and signed with the university soon after. He fell in love with the family atmosphere of the campus and small town, which stood in stark contrast with the big city in which he grew up.

The team gave him the fatherly figure he was missing in the coaches and the brotherly bond with his teammates on the field, and that bond shines through Williams and his goals for his time here.

“I just want to be the best that I can be for them.” Williams said. “I love this team too much to not give them my best on every play. I want our team to keep connecting; we do great things when we connect.”

Williams has certainly been connecting with the offense. Ever since he beat Marquess Wilson for the starting job, Williams has been a strong part of the receiving corps. Head Coach Mike Leach has noticed Williams’ stability and team mentality being mirrored by others just as he allows himself to learn from those around him.

“When Dom is really focused his plays consistently. His technique is what has helped him improve. Recently he is a steady guy, I think he helps keep some of those other guys steady,” Leach said. “I think they have also brought good things out of him. Some of the real physical guys have made him more physical.”

Williams understands the give and take better than most. His success depended on him continuing to give even after so much was taken from him. And he did. Williams is one of the top receivers not only on the team but also in the Pac-12. He is currently ranked in the top 40 after only three games with 253 reception yards.

It probably would have been easier to just let himself be engulfed by the cycle of poverty, to succumb to the violence and just be. But then again Williams has never been very good at just being.

From being a standout three-sport athlete in high school to the success he has found on the field at WSU, he has always made sure that he excelled with the things he devoted his time to. And the great sense of team work and enthusiasm that he shows has made him pretty unforgettable.

“I want to leave the legacy that when people think of me they will think ‘Hey, he was a hard worker. He did what he did for the team, not just for him, the individual as a team,’” Williams said. “He was a team player. Whatever anybody wanted him to do, he would do special teams or sidelines, anything.’”

Williams probably doesn’t have to worry about people not remembering his work ethic, if anything the only thing people will be forgetting is that he is human. He does drop passes and get beat on routes, but when you are looking at Dom Williams the person, it is hard to see anything but the smile and hear anything but the laughter.

Despite being at WSU for four years now, he has not forgotten his roots. When Williams is done with football and graduated, he wants to become a parole officer, go back to the Los Angeles area and work with kids. He wants to show them that there is a way out. Not an easy way, but a way.

“When you grow up in poverty, low class areas, people don’t think you can make it out. But I just want to be that shining light to kids,” Williams said.

Taking perceived darkness and turning on the light in his own life, Williams wants to dedicate his life to helping other people see the light as well. Maybe it is fate that he ended up at a school whose football program was in the dark depths of a team that hadn’t even caught a whiff of a bowl game in years and now, as he enters his last two seasons with the team, a glimmer of light has appeared.

Fate or not, Williams is a part of what is turning this program around, and there is no doubt that he will continue to turn things around for anyone around him who is willing to put in a little work.

Like that small freshman who was hit so hard years ago yet rose again, you can bet that Dom Williams will continue to rise, and take those around him with him.