Duke Williams 'has been nothing but perfect' for CFL's Edmonton Eskimos
Updated Jul 5; Posted Jul 5
By
Mark Inabinett
minabinett@al.com
Former
Auburn wide receiver
D'haquille "Duke" Williams has been named a
Canadian Football League Top Performer of the Month for June along with Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly and Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Jeremiah Masoli.
Williams had 14 receptions for a league-leading 308 yards with touchdown receptions of 88 and 64 yards for Edmonton in the opening month of the CFL's 2018 season.
"He's been nothing but perfect in all the areas, and I have nothing but respect for Duke since he's been an Eskimo," Edmonton coach
Jason Maas said. "He's learned a lot and has obviously become a better person from everything he's been through. ...
"He wants it. He wants to be great. He comes out every day and he's dependable."
That might not sound like a description of the same wide receiver who played at Auburn.
Williams had a promising junior season for the Tigers with 45 receptions for 730 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games in 2014. But two suspensions, including for the Outback Bowl, foreshadowed his 2015 campaign.
Williams played in five games and caught 12 passes for Auburn as a senior before
being dismissed from the team on Oct. 5, 2015. Coach Gus Malzahn dismissed Williams when the wide receiver was
involved in an altercation outside a bar after the Tigers' victory over San Jose State on Oct. 3, 2015. The
brawl left reserve center Xavier Dampeer with a jaw injury that caused him to miss the rest of the season.
"I did stuff I wasn't supposed to do, and the world doesn't revolve around me,"
Williams told the Eskimos' official web site. "It's a team thing, so I had to pay the consequences. It was all mistakes by me. I just made dumb decisions while I was there. It was nothing they did. It was all me."
Williams now calls his stop at Auburn "
one of the best times of my life."
"I could have easily given up on life after getting kicked out of school,"
Williams said. "I know a lot of people counted me out. They thought it was over with for me."
In his second CFL season, Williams told the Edmonton Sun his time in Canada had been good for him.
"I grew up. It was all growth,"
Williams said. "Before I came, I was immature. I was selfish. I thought everything revolved around me when it didn't. I just grew as a man and grew as a person. I came here, and I began finding myself and who I am.
"Once I came up here, it just hit me. I started loving the game more. I discovered how much I love this game. I love the CFL. I love the players. I love the players who are not even on my team. They're all playing here because they just love what they do. That's what was missing in me before I came here. Once I came up here, it just hit me: I had not been loving the game; I was just out playing the game.
Williams said he thought every CFL follower could see how happy and grateful he is for his opportunity in Canada, but that probably wasn't the case in the United States.
"Everything I did good, they don't talk about, but everything I did bad was in the limelight,"
Williams said. "Up here, they talk about (the good things), but not back in the States. They're not talking about how I'm accomplishing what I want to do or my attitude or how I haven't been in trouble for a long time. But when I got kicked out, it was 'Duke this' or 'Duke that.'
"It was painting a picture of me, but basically painting this picture that I'm a bad guy when I'm far from a bad guy."
Williams and the Eskimos return to the field against the Toronto Argonauts at 4:30 p.m. CDT Saturday at BMO Field in Toronto. Edmonton has won two of its three games while the Argonauts are winless in 2018.
