Rightful Home

Editor's Note: This feature was originally published in the Oct. 3 edition of The 5th Quarter, the Daily Leader's online weekend football publication. Select content from each 5th Quarter will be made available for free the following week. Subscribers can access the full edition in flipbook format immediately upon release.

When Kyle Williams received the call from the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame selection committee that he will be part of the Class of 2022, he reacted like a football coach would.

He happened to be in coaches meetings at Ruston High School preparing for the following week’s matchup with Mississippi power Oxford High School.

“My first reaction was, ‘Hey, we’re here game planning for our next opponent. We’re working here,’” Williams said with a laugh.

He’s football through and through.

It’s the main reason why he received that call after an exceptional career at three levels — Ruston High School, LSU and the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.

“Seriously, it’s very humbling,” Williams quickly added. “It’s a very big deal any time you are honored by your home state.”

Before Williams terrorized quarterbacks and running backs in the SEC or the NFL, he was honing his skills as a defensive lineman at Ruston High School, where is now the defensive coordinator for the 4-1 Bearcats. He was the state’s Class 5A Defensive MVP as a senior before signing with LSU and playing for Nick Saban.

In 2003 Williams was part of the Tigers’ national championship team that defeated Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl to win the BCS national championship. He played in 46 games and started 33 for LSU, earning second-team All-America honors in 2005, his final season in the SEC before entering a long and productive career in the NFL. He finished his career in Baton Rouge with 140 tackles, 26 tackles for loss and 16½ sacks for his career.

Williams will be joined by five other LSU athletes in the Class of 2022, a fact that is not lost on him.

“LSU is a place you go to in order to compete at the highest level in college,” Williams said. “You play there to become the best version of yourself as an athlete. I think that’s why you see so many Tigers in the Hall of Fame.”

He’ll be joined fellow LSU athletes Steve Duhon, the late Eric Andolsek, Claney Duplechin, Susan Jackson and Britni Sneed Newman.

“I never had the chance to meet Eric (Andolsek),” Williams said of the late LSU lineman, who was tragically killed in the prime of his NFL career. “People around LSU talked about him in such high regard. He’s like extended family. It will mean a lot to be inducted alongside him.”

It didn’t take long for Williams to establish himself as a cornerstone for the Buffalo defense and a team leader for the Bills. He played 13 seasons in Buffalo in 183 games with 178 starts. His best season was in 2013 when he totaled 68 tackles with 10½ sacks and 22 quarterback hits.

The Hall of Fame spotlighted his NFL career with this description: “When he retired, regarded as one of the franchise’s greatest leaders and the ‘heart and soul’ of the Bills, Williams ranked fifth in team history in tackles (610) including a club-record 48.5 sacks by a defensive tackle.

"After announcing his retirement late in the 2018 season, Williams had three tackles in the season finale against the Miami Dolphins. He also lined up at fullback and escorted quarterback Josh Allen into the end zone for a touchdown. Then, in what turned out to be the final play of his career, the 35-year-old Williams drifted out of the backfield and caught a 9-yard pass."

Also set to be inducted as part of the Class of 2022 are former New Orleans Saints All-Pro guard Jahri Evans, the late Tony Robichaux, a standout college baseball coach at McNeese State and UL-Lafayette and the late Dr. Eddie Flynn, who as a Loyola-New Orleans student won the 1932 Olympic welterweight boxing gold medal for the USA.

Williams’ addition to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame will bring the total of members with ties to Lincoln Parish to over 70 of the hall’s 367 members.

“When you look around and see how many people from this small community have been honored, it’s overwhelming,” Williams said. “To be included in that group next summer will be the ultimate honor.”

The first class in the Hall of Fame, which is located in Natchitoches’ historic downtown district, was enshrined in 1959 and included baseball’s Mel Ott, world champion boxer Tony Canzoneri and LSU football great Gaynell Tinsley.

This past year the hall inducted two classes just a few months apart due to the COVID pandemic in 2020. The Class of 2022 will be enshrined Saturday, June 25, at the Hall of Fame’s home to culminate the 63rd Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Celebration June 23-25.