BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — They will hear Bryson Williams talk from the heart. They will hear how the Wisconsin nose tackle turned academic rejection into redemption. They will hear how the 22-year-old "changed my whole life around" in order to cross the finish line. They will hear how he persevered.
Not only has Williams been selected to speak at the Wisconsin School of Business graduation celebration on Friday afternoon, but he will also speak at UW's student-athlete graduation reception that evening. All of this will take place on the eve of Saturday's commencement ceremony at Camp Randall Stadium.
"Everybody has been asking, 'Are you going to do the same speech twice?'" he posed. "No."
And yet, he will address and connect the student with the athlete, not mutually exclusive disciplines, not here. Soon to be armed with his degree (Finance, Investment and Banking major), coupled with 39 games over four seasons in the trenches, he's well qualified to speak on such things.
"The biggest thing that comes from being in a Division I program or any other type of sports program around the country, and specifically Wisconsin, is that grit," Williams stressed. "It's that determination that comes with being at a school and playing in a program like this one.
"It's being knocked down and having to really put your mind into it just to get through."
The summer before his sophomore year, Williams got discouraging news. His application to the School of Business had been denied. Compounding that disappointment was a season-ending knee injury that November. His mental and physical toughness/determination were being put to the test.
"Getting rejected from the business school really changed my life for the better," he admitted. "Before then, I didn't take school as seriously. I didn't take things outside of the football field as serious as I definitely should have. Getting that rejection e-mail was the wake-up that I needed.
"It set my life on a straighter path and a more determined path. And from there, my grades got tremendously better. I was getting A's in classes that I should have been getting A's in. And I was getting A's in classes that were even a little bit tougher.
"Getting denied is also the reason I started joining student organizations and started developing relationships with highly-motivated people who were focused on a similar career path. The whole journey has been part of the man I am now. I'm about to graduate and I'm tremendously thankful."
There was definitely some soul-searching his sophomore year and he later confessed as much on a social media post: "The last 365 days of my life have been everything but simple. From getting denied to the business school to tearing (up) my knee, to losing some important people, etc.
"There were a bunch of times where I felt the world was against me."
Asked about some of the sacrifices that had to made then to ensure his all-around growth, Williams went on to explain, "The whole time period was shaky for me. Definitely a lot of lows. The people I lost were not necessarily holding me back but were not part of the overall vision.
"Once I finally started to make that change to do the things I wanted to do and to be on that route of success — to be who I wanted to be — there were people who I was close with at the time that I had to separate from. That was a hard thing, especially when I was going through such hardships."
He has a compelling story to tell. It's why he filled out an application, a 300-word summary, on why he should be speaking to the business school grads. His resilience was a selling point. As was his identity as a football player in giving what he termed a "holistic" view on student-athletes.
"I was lucky enough to be accepted," said Williams, who last week presented a draft of his speech to an audience of two: the dean and associate dean at the School of Business. "It went really well … running it through them has me feeling very confident and taken away a little bit of the stress."
He has since been "making sure the delivery is as good as the content" in his nine-minute speech.
"I go into applying to the business school and getting rejected," he said of the outline. "Then really just changing my whole life around, doing the things I needed to do in making the improvements and the adjustments to get accepted into the school. So, I hit on a little bit of failure there.
"Then the next portion of my speech goes into the perseverance of the 2022 class through the pandemic … and the opportunities … the abundant opportunities this class has going for us in a really new labor market right now. I finish it off with the thank-yous on behalf of myself and the entire class."
Williams will share more of the same with his student-athlete peers.
"My whole life I've always been someone who has been very real about what's going on and real about the situation I'm in," he said. "And that's helped me overcome some things. I understand the fact that I don't have to be playing on Sundays and on Monday nights to be quote-unquote successful.
"I can make my family proud. I can make myself proud. I can be happy outside of football. That was something I came to learn more and more through injuries. I feel so much humbleness from being selected to be a student speaker this weekend the same way others have been selected for the draft."
He will remind his listeners at both assemblies, "Everyone has their own different path."
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Williams' path started in Rockford, Illinois, an hour drive south of Madison. His high school years were spent in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he was a two-time first-team all-state selection. After committing to the Badgers, he got a late recruiting push from new Cornhuskers coach Scott Frost.
But he stayed true to his word and Wisconsin. He was an early enrollee as a freshman.
Reflecting on his four-plus years in Madison, he said, "So many good things have come out of some of the things that were bad that have happened in my life. I only get one life and I'd much rather not stay up at night thinking about the things that could have or could not have happened.
"I definitely don't have any regrets about how everything happened. I had the most fun ever playing football this last season with my friends — and they're truly friends — all the guys on the D-line. I had so much fun doing that with them that it's just hard for me to have any regrets at this point."
He does have memories, not the least of which was an assisted tackle in the 2021 home win over Iowa. The Badgers were protecting a two-possession lead in the third quarter when the Hawks faced a third-and-2 from the UW 41. Williams helped hold fullback Monte Pottebaum to a 1-yard gain.
On fourth down, Pottebaum was again gang-tackled and stopped; a second half turning point.
"I always wanted to be ready for any situation," said Williams, who had three career starts, all during his frosh season in 2018. "I practiced like a starter. I practiced just so I could have the opportunity to make a big play like that — to get a big stop like that.
"When that opportunity came and I took advantage of it, I was just happy with myself and being able to stay committed even though my college career didn't necessarily go exactly the way I wanted. I stayed focused and continued to work hard when things went against me."
Through the ups and downs, his biggest fan has always been his mother, Liz Calaway.
"I speak to that a little in my speech," he said. "My mom has been there for everything since I was born. She never missed a game. Things weren't necessarily super easy growing up, but she made it seem like it was. Now, I understand how truly difficult things can be in the real world.
"I can't even put into words how grateful I am to have the mother that I have and to have her impact me the way that she did. I just never really understood how hard she was working until I got older and really thought back on it. She worked her butt off."
His mom will be here for graduation. So will his stepdad, dad, grandpa, sister and brother, Donovan. In 2020, Donovan Williams was named Nebraska's Mr. Basketball after leading the state in scoring (28.3 points). After two years at Oklahoma State, he has transferred to the University of Pacific.
"He has found a home," Bryson said of 20-year-old Donovan who, in a twist of fate, also had to endure knee surgery. "We've always been there for each other. We're always cheering each other on. I'm happy that he gets another chance at this thing. He's one of the toughest dudes that I know."
Like so many football players who have moved on to other pursuits, Bryson Williams has begun reshaping his body. He weighed 315 at the end of last season. He's down to 285. "I'll probably find a comfortable weight around 265," he said. "I don't need to be 300 for no reason. Nor do I want to be."
Williams still enjoys working out and running. New York City's Central Park may be an option for the latter when he begins work July 11 at the Morgan Stanley Building on Times Square in Manhattan. Williams had previously served as a summer intern with Morgan Stanley.
"I knew coming into college, I wanted to do business and be a part of the business school," he said. "But as far as my career path, I really didn't have too much of an idea. Through the available resources here, and some of the organizations I joined, I narrowed in on what that path looked like."
His graduation speeches will reflect trials and tribulations, choices and pathways.
"I really am ready (to move on) — I'm going to miss Madison, I love Madison," he emphasized. "I'm extremely grateful and thankful for everything that has happened, good or bad, over these last four and a half years. It's truly shaped the person that I am today."
Even though there's less of him, in the flesh, there's more to celebrate. More than ever.
Williams will thank his mother, Liz Calaway, during his remarks: "Things weren't necessarily super easy growing up, but she made it seem like it was"
