Page 28 - Florida Sentinel 4-8-22

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Hillsborough High And FAMU Standout RB ‘Ike’ Williams Passes
Tampa’s Hillsborough High School standout, Isa- iah “Ike” Williams passed away last week unexpect- edly. He was 66 years old. According to published re- ports, Williams has been battling several health is- sues.
Williams, who helped lead Rudy Hubbard’s Rat- tlers to the inaugural NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship in 1978 and ranks among the program’s all-time rushing leaders, earned several accolades at Florida A&M University.
“Ike,” as he was affec- tionately known, was a Tail- back for the Hillsborough High School Terriers (also known as the ‘Big Red’), where he won honors for the
...High School Student
“JV Starter of Recognition” 1972, All-County, All-West- ern Conference, All-State and 1974 HHS Who’s Who for Football.
After high school,
ISAIAH ‘IKE’ WILLIAMS ...Running back at FAMU
Williams signed with his hometown college, the Uni- versity of Tampa, but trans- ferred to FAMU when the Spartans shut down their program in 1974.
At FAMU, Williams rushed for a then-single sea- son school record 1,274 yards in 1978, finished with 2,077 career yards to rank Top-4 at the time, and was inducted into the FAMU Hall of Fame in 1994.
Following his FAMU ca- reer, Williams returned to Tampa and Hillsborough High, where he was a coach, faculty member and a mem- ber of the school’s Hall of
...Coach Ike in his HHS Hall of Fame tee shirt.
Fame. He later made his home in Orlando, where he resided with his wife, of 41 years, Sharon.
Williams – a 5-foot-8, 170-pounder - made an im- mediate impact at FAMU. He also started on the 1977 team that went 11-0 and fin- ished as the only undefeated team in America, regardless of division. Williams was also part of a stretch that saw the Rattlers go 30-5 from 1977 to 1979.
The 1977 team is also the last undefeated team in FAMU football history and one of six dating back to the 1930s. The Rattlers also won
two Black college football national championships in 1977 (shared with Gram- bling State and South Car- olina State) and in 1978.
Williams’ daughter, Petrea Williams, who re- sides in Orlando, said serv- ices will be in Tampa. A wake service with reflections will be held in the Audito- rium of Hillsborough High School, 6-8 p. m., Friday evening, April 22, 2022. The funeral service is planned for Saturday, April 23, 2022, 11 a, m., at Allen Temple AME Church. He will be laid to rest on Sunday in Or- lando.
Other than his wife, Sharon and daughter, Pe- trea, Williams is also sur- vived by another daughter, 28-year-old, Danielle Williams; grandson, Pe- trea’s son, Trilion Coles, and several relatives in Tampa.
“He (Trilion) was my dad’s pride and joy — foot- ball player at UCF, who will be graduating with his Bach- elor’s degree with honors as a student athlete, just like his grandfather. He’ll be graduating 2 weeks after we bury daddy,” she said.
‘Have Blues, Will Travel’ At Sulphur Springs Museum
The Sulphur Springs Mu- seum will kick off this month with their newest exhibition from the National Blues Mu- seum, opening April 8, 2022: “Have Blues, Will Travel.”
To escape the rural South, musicians traveled along the Blues Highway in search of opportunities. Unfortunately for them, segregation was still a common practice of this time, and there were sev- eral occasions where they found themselves in situa- tions with grueling conse- quences.
This exhibit, inspired by the Green Book - a guide that helped traveling Black Blues
BODIE VALDEZ
musicians find safe places to stay, eat, and perform during the Great Migration - encap- sulates the true struggle that Black Blues musicians faced while traveling and conveys
that the Green Book was much more than a travel guide but rather a lifesaving tool.
To celebrate the opening of this exhibit, we are hon- ored to have Bodie Valdez performing live at the mu- seum! The performance is free and open to the public.
This exhibit is accompa- nied by the Spring Lecture Series, funded by Florida Humanities. As always, lec- tures are free and open to the public, with refreshments served.
The Sulphur Springs and Heritage Museum is located at 1101 E. River Cove St., Tampa 33604.
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