He's Already In The Big Leagues

For those who are fascinated by numbers, Quarterback Doug Williams, 22, of Grambling commands attention. He stands 6'4", weighs 214 pounds, runs 40 yards in 4.8 seconds and has an arm that makes him a "3," or a great prospect, in the parlance of NFL scouts. No wonder. He is throwing touchdown passes at a rate that, game by game, is rewriting Grambling and NCAA records. If his handiwork continues at the same pace, by December Williams will have an NCAA career mark of 90 touchdown passes. And he may be cradling the Heisman Trophy.

As Grambling's starting quarterback for more than three seasons (he took over the job five games into his freshman year), Williams has led the Tiger offense to an average of 475.1 yards per game, making it the most potent in the nation. Primarily because of Williams' right arm, which has accounted for 1,859 yards and 21 touchdowns in six games, Grambling has a 5-1 record and is in first place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The school is certain to have its 18th straight winning season, and it has made an exceptional debut as an NCAA Division I team.

Williams' passing plays remind one of the dear, departed American Football League. One-third of his touchdown throws have covered 47 yards or more, and earlier this season, while bombing Alcorn State with five TDs, Williams teamed with Wide Receiver Carlos Pennywell for a 91-yard scoring play. Williams also has combined with Mike Moore, the tight end who leads the Tigers with 32 receptions for 665 yards and six touchdowns, for an 81-yarder, and with Wingback Robert Woods for an 85-yard touchdown.

Curiously, it was a two-yard toss to Running Back Odell Smith that gave Williams his NCAA career record a fortnight ago. On that occasion the usually sedate quarterback blew his cool along with the rest of his teammates. "I'm not the type to be jumping up and down after something good happens," Williams says, "and I figured the record was sure to come, as close as I was to it. I threw the pass and just walked away as I usually do, until I saw the rest of the team coming on the field, jumping. So there wasn't anything for me to do but join the party and I started jumping, too."

Williams has thrown at least one touchdown pass in every game but one that he has started for Grambling, and in the 35 games that he has played for the Tigers he has passed for 76 TDs and almost 7,000 yards. Williams has already shattered the state records set by the Steelers' Terry Bradshaw and the Grambling marks of the Chargers' James Harris.

There was a time, though, when Doug Williams hardly looked as if he would be a star quarterback. Growing up in Zachary, La., a Baton Rouge suburb, he was frail and wanted nothing to do with football. Baseball was his sport and pitching his game until his older brother Robert hassled him so much about avoiding contact that he went out for the Chaneyville High football team. Doug chose to be quarterback, but satisfied Robert's demands by playing middle linebacker as well. "I was afraid of the contact," Williams admits, "but Robert told me I was going to play. I knew I wasn't that tough but I went in there anyway because he was tougher."

For a quarterback who is a certain first-round choice in the NFL draft, it is ironic that Williams was recruited by only four schools. He turned down scholarships from Southern U., Mississippi Valley State and Wisconsin before he got a baseball offer—which was one year late—from an LSU coach who didn't know that Williams already was enrolled at Grambling.

Because of his experience and intelligence, Williams is virtually a player-coach for the Tigers, many of whom he directs in drills and game warm-ups. In practice last Thursday, Williams went about his work as usual. For nearly an hour, he called routes, took snaps, dropped back, threw and barely exchanged one word with any member of the five-man coaching staff.

NFL scouts admire both his professionalism and his take-charge temperament as much as his physical ability.

"He's an exceptionally fine person," says Gil Brandt of the Dallas Cowboys. "He's articulate, poised, has good leadership qualities and a lot of desire. He's got a big league arm, enormous hands and a good delivery. He tries to force the ball sometimes and will throw it into a crowd, but these things are correctable. He has a lot more potential as a pro prospect than Harris had when he was a senior."