This was in the Birmingham News this morning written by Aub's beat writer: Linebacker Willie Williams, one of the nation's top recruits from Miami's Carol City High School, visited Auburn last weekend. But the player-turned-author - he's chronicling his recruiting excursions for The Miami Herald - may have talked himself into a difficult situation. After praising Florida State for buying him four lobsters, two steaks and shrimp scampi at one meal, the boisterous Williams complained his trip to Auburn featured just ribs, buffalo wings, shrimp and, worst of all, spinach dip. Not even the Tigerettes, the athletic program's hostesses, could cheer him up about spinach dip. "You know how it is, those girls are supposed to be there to cheer you up," he told The Herald. "But I told them, `I ain't no animal, and I ain't going to eat no plant.' It was disgusting." Williams also said a party he attended after that was the highlight because none of the "farmer girls" he saw on campus earlier were seen at the party. "I was kind of worried all Auburn had to offer was those farmer girls that talked funny," Williams said. "But the girls at the party weren't farmer girls at all. I thought they must have bused them in from Miami." Uh-huh. Take four lobsters and call Florida State in the morning. Charles Goldberg covers Auburn University athletics for The News.
btw I'll add that FSU is pandering to the lowest common denominator once again...and it has never surprised me in the past that a significant % of FSU players have trouble with the law and with school rules - and it won't surprise me when Willie Williams turns out to be another one.
This stuff is hilarious. Thanks Jeffinbama. Here are both the articles for everyone's enjoyment. On trip, FSU has Williams' number BY MANNY NAVARRO [email protected] RICHARD PATTERSON / FOR THE HERALD AT THE TOP: Linebacker Willie Williams of the Class 6A State Football champion Carol City Chiefs is the top-ranked recruit in the state. Willie Williams' weekend visit to Florida State felt like a scene from Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. From a ride on a private jet to chowing down hundreds of dollars worth of steaks and lobster tails at Tallahassee's most elegant restaurant The Silver Slipper, Williams ate up the royal treatment. Williams enjoyed it so much that he says FSU has moved back into a tie with the University of Miami in the battle for his services. ''After this visit, it's 0-0 again,'' said Williams, who will also visit Auburn and Florida. ``UM had taken a lead when they won the Orange Bowl. But I had such a great time [at FSU], I'm torn again. I guess UM and FSU are going to overtime on me.'' THE RIDE Williams had been on a plane before, but not by himself. ''When I got to Miami International Airport, this guy was waiting for me,'' Williams said. 'He was like `Mr. Williams, right this way.' When I got on the plane, I was like 'Where's everybody else.' It was me, the flight attendant and the pilot. I was bugging out.'' Williams slept most of the flight. When he arrived at Tallahassee Airport, defensive line coach Odell Haggins was there to greet him. ''When he picked me up, he had a box of chicken wings for me,'' Williams said. ``I was starving, but there was only like two wings. I told him `Coach, we're still going to dinner right?' ``He took me to the hotel. This place was beautiful, nicest place I've ever stayed. It was called The Radisson. I was impressed.'' ALL YOU CAN EAT But nothing impressed Williams more than when he sat down for dinner with nearly a dozen other recruits -- including Northwestern cornerback Trevor Ford and Killian cornerback J.R. Bryant. ''Dinner was tight,'' Williams said. ``We had our own section in the restaurant, but the only thing that bugged me was that I sat all the way in the back -- so I was the last one to get my food. ``Coach Haggins told us to order as much as we wanted. I ordered a steak and a lobster tail. The lobster tail was like $49.99. I couldn't believe something so little could cost so much. The steak didn't even have a price. The menu said something about market value. I was kind of embarrassed so I didn't order a lot. 'But then I saw what the other guys were ordering, I was like, `Forget this.' I called the waiter back and told him to bring me four lobster tails, two steaks and a Shrimp Scampi. It was good. I took two boxes back with me to the hotel.'' After dinner, Williams met his tour guide -- defensive back Antonio Cromartie. But he quickly urged the coaches to find him a new one. ''That boy was on crutches,'' Williams said. ``I would have had to hop around campus everywhere. Besides, I wanted somebody who played my position to take me around.'' Cromartie was immediately replaced by linebackers Ernie Sims, Willie Jones of Carol City and A.J. Nicholson as well as defensive lineman Clifton Dickson of Northwestern. ''After dinner, we hit the clubs,'' Williams said. ``I had a great time with [fellow recruits] Xavier Carter, Xavier Lee, Aaron Jones and Kenny Ingram. All of us really bonded and had a great time. We got back late -- and we paid for it the next day.'' Williams and other recruits were late for Saturday morning's tour of the campus, which was supposed to start at 8 a.m. ''Some guys like J.R. showed up really late,'' Williams said. ``All in all, it was a good day. They talked to us about their tutoring program. If you start struggling with your grades, they have a program set up that can help. To me, you have no choice but to be successful in school. I was impressed with that.'' After the tour, Williams said the players were treated to lunch at Doak Campbell Stadium. But it wasn't the type of meal the players had been treated to the night before. Just sandwiches. LUCKY NO. 17 Lunch was followed by what Williams referred to as the highlight of the trip. ''They told us to take a walk into the locker room,'' Williams said. ``When we went in there, they had jerseys with our names on it. They even had my No. 17. I told them `Isn't that number retired for [Heisman winner] Charlie Ward? Coach [Bobby] Bowden was like, `For you Willie, we'll bring it back.'' Williams and the rest of the recruits then lived a childhood dream when they were each introduced on the Jumbotron screen as the 2004 starting lineup for the Seminoles. ''We all had our Seminoles jerseys on, and they told us: `Run out on the field about 10 yards,'' Williams said. ``I was so pumped up, I just kept running. I ran the entire field.'' Following a trip back to the hotel and a nap, it was time for dinner again. ''I asked Coach Odell, `Where we eating tonight?'' Williams said. 'He was like, `The stadium.' I thought he was playing. Then we ended up eating at the stadium again. I guess we spent all their money the night before.'' What the recruits didn't know at the time was that they were in for a treat -- a trip to Bobby Bowden's home for his wife's homemade deserts. ''Coach Bowden was cool, but Ms. Bowden was the bomb,'' Williams said. ``I swear, she must be related to Betty Crocker or something. When we walked into that house, it was like walking into a Publix Bakery -- banana pudding, chocolate cake, cheese cake. I had one of everything. I didn't want to leave.'' THE CROCODILE HUNTER After dessert, Williams returned with his hosts to their dorm room, but quickly learned a few interesting facts about Sims, the top recruit in the nation last year. ''I like Ernie, but there is no way in the world I'd be roommates with him,'' Williams said. ``In fact, I don't know how [Dickson] does it. Sims thinks he's the Crocodile Hunter. It's like the Discovery Channel in his room. 'When Cliff and I walked in, Ernie was sitting on the sofa with a snake around his neck. He was like `Come in, Willie, give me five.' I was like 'Nope. I'm staying by the door.' I kept the door wide open. I was like, `If this man stands up with this snake, I'm outta here. 'I thought I was at the Metro Zoo. He had three snakes, three spiders. Not just any spiders -- poisonous ones. Tarantulas. He had scorpions. I asked Cliff, `How you deal with this.' He said, 'Man, I don't know.' '' The next morning, Williams and Bowden talked -- one on one -- for nearly 20 minutes. ''We talked about everything,'' Williams said. ``The jersey. The trip. Next year's starting lineup. He told me if I came, they'd leave me at outside linebacker and give me a real good shot at starting next year. That was all I needed to hear.'' Next Tuesday: Williams details his trip to Auburn. Auburn fails to get Williams BY MANNY NAVARRO [email protected] RICHARD PATTERSON / FOR THE HERALD AT THE TOP: Linebacker Willie Williams of the Class 6A State Football champion Carol City Chiefs is the top-ranked recruit in the state. If his trip to Florida State was a perfect 10, then Willie Williams' weekend at Auburn was a few notches below. After getting spoiled with his own private jet ride to FSU, Williams was downgraded to sharing a flight with with seven other players. The expensive steak and lobster tails he had been treated to by the Seminoles were replaced by a steady diet of finger foods and ribs. But he did enjoy a two-night stay at the Auburn University Hotel, where he encountered ''the biggest bed in the world'' and a bathroom with its own waterfall. Williams said he enjoyed the trip but not enough to rank with his co-leaders -- Miami and Florida State. ''Auburn opened my eyes a little bit,'' Williams said. ``But they closed them, too.'' THUMBS UP Hialeah running back Anthony Campbell and Deerfield Beach quarterback Brent Schaeffer were among the seven other players along for the ride to Auburn. Williams said he enjoyed the company, but was worried because the plane experienced turbulence. ''We could see [the pilot] and he could see us,'' Williams said. 'One time, the plane starting shaking. So I asked [the pilot] `Is everything OK?' He turned around a gave me the thumbs up and didn't say a word. Then when it happened again, he did the same thing -- thumbs up. 'I looked at the other guys and was like, `This guy has to be related to Ebert or something.' '' The plane landed safely at around 3 p.m. Friday. Williams and the other recruits were dropped off on campus to meet their hosts. Before heading out to dinner, the recruits waited for the Auburn coaches in the hotel lobby, where a spread of shrimp, cheeses, cold cuts and fruits awaited. ''They told me they heard about my trip to FSU and how I love to eat,'' Williams said. 'They were like, `Willie, Why don't you have a few snacks before we go to dinner.' So, I served myself like six little plates of everything.'' Following the ''snack,'' Williams and the recruits headed for a restaurant called Old Charlie's. After experiencing a long wait for his food on his trip to FSU, Williams made sure to sit at the front of the table near the waiter to order first. ''I really wanted to go to Red Lobster for some more lobster and steak, but they told me the wait was two hours. So I got me some babyback ribs, buffalo wings and shrimp,'' Williams said. ``Even though I ordered first, somehow, I was still the last one to get my food. It took them like two hours.'' During the wait, several of the female hosts, nicknamed the ''Tigerettes'', offered him some of their spinach dip. ''You know how it is, those girls are supposed to be there to cheer you up,'' Williams said. ``But I told them, `I ain't no animal, and I ain't going to eat no plant.' ``But they kept pushing it toward me. It was disgusting. I told them, `I'm from Miami. I don't eat that. You farm people are used to it, but not me.'' Friday night ended back at the hotel, where Williams, recruits and the hosts hung out before going to bed. OUT IN THE COLD The following morning, the recruits toured the campus and talked academics. Williams said everything went well until it was time to board the bus again after eating lunch at the football stadium. ''My host was taking her time, and it was freezing outside -- like 30 degrees or something,'' Williams said. 'All I was wearing was this little T-shirt and jeans. By the time she got to me, two of the shuttles had already left. We jumped on the last bus. I told her, `You think I'm a snow man or something?' She didn't say nothing. Not even sorry. I was [ticked] off.'' Williams said he swallowed his anger and met briefly with the Auburn coaching staff. He said he spoke mostly with linebacker coach Joe Whitt. ''Coach Whitt was great. He told me if I went to Auburn, I could probably play right away,'' Williams said. ``Thing was, I was still kind of mad. And it only got worse.'' SHOWER MESS Williams returned to his hotel Saturday night and took a quick nap before dinner. He woke up late and quickly rushed to take a shower. ''When I walked into the bathroom, it was like Hurricane Andrew in there,'' Williams said. ``Water was all over the place -- dripping from the lights and ceiling. I called downstairs and they told me some pipes had broken. I ended up having to take a shower in Anthony Campbell's room. I wasn't happy about that, either.'' Williams, Campbell and the other recruits then had dinner at the football stadium. After dinner, they joined the Auburn coaching staff inside the stadium and watched a team highlight video. After that, the players were invited to the lockerroom where jerseys with their names were waiting. ''As bad as everything had been up until then, I was happy to see that jersey,'' Williams said. ``When I put on a college jersey, I feel like another person. I told coach Whitt he better move out the way because I was going to tackle him. That part was fun.'' Later that night, the recruits were invited to a party on campus with their hosts. ''The girls at the party were much better than the farmer girls we'd see all day around campus,'' Williams said. ``I was kind of worried all Auburn had to offer was those farmer girls that talked funny. But the girls at the party weren't farmer girls at all. I thought they must have bused them in from Miami.'' ON THE WAY OUT After the party, Williams returned to his room to find it a mess. ''I didn't want to sleep in that room again, but I had no choice,'' Williams said. ``When I walked in, the floors were soaked. I just jumped on my bed and went to sleep. The next monring, Williams met with coach Tommy Tuberville for 20 minutes. ''He told me how he coached Ray Lewis [at UM] and how he thought I had the same potential,'' Williams said. ``That got me really excited about playing for them.'' But the excitement apparently wasn't strong enough. On the way to the airport Sunday morning, Williams said he and the recruits were greeted by the school cheerleaders on the way to the bus. ''One guy decided it was enough for him to commit,'' Williams said. 'They tried to get me to join him. The girls were shouting `We want you Willie. We want you.' I couldn't do it. So I just waved good-bye and got on the bus.'' Next Tuesday: Williams details his trip to Miami.
Spinach Dip U !!!!!! The last time I was down there for a game, I noticed most of the Auburn fans had a smell about them. Now I know what it was. They smell like freakin spinach dip.
Man, he hasn't even started college yet and ALREADY he is judging them by how big the bribes are. Is there any doubt that he won't be looking for illegal "gifts" sooner than later? Kids with his attitude are trouble for a program.
