School can be challenging. Kids can be mean and even might make fun of someone’s physical insecurities. Being the biggest kid in the class and having a speech impediment, Connor Williams faced the worst side of bullying. The Miami Dolphins’ center had to undergo a lot of bullying and isolation during his childhood.

But Williams took the hate as motivation to turn his life around, and after years of working on himself, got into the league in the 2018 NFL Draft. This turnover journey took a lot of hard work and courage. Williams is grateful not just to his parents but also to his bullies for making him the man he is today. A victim of bullying, the center revealed how his parents helped him use the hammer of bullying to mold himself into the NFL star he is today.

Picked on but never picked

A letter written by Williams on the official NFL website addressed to his bullies caught their attention, and even had a few of them apologize for their actions. But that wasn’t Connor’s intention. Through the letter and multiple interviews, Williams recalls his 4th-grade self not being picked during drafts held for football at school. He described feeling “humiliated knowing that I would be left only to watch.” So, to avoid being hurt every time, the young Connor decided to make rounds on the track instead.

A giant of a kid and cheered on by his whole family, Williams finally decided that he couldn’t bear to watch the others play the game he so loves while walking on the track. On learning of his son’s change of heart, Jimmy Williams, Connor’s father, decided to install two pull-up bars in their garage, put the P90X workout routine on, and help his son realize his potential. Throughout his journey to the summit of his career and life, Williams had his two bastions of hope treading alongside him. Jimmy Williams would often take his son out to the movies, especially if his plans with his schoolmates fell through.

Debbie Williams, Connor’s mother, would talk to him, check up on him, and, according to Connor, would want to “fight my fights for me.” By the beginning of his sophomore year, Connor, with the support of his two pillars, had become the ‘cool kid’ he so sought the company of, with 38 offers and a mindset strong enough to make his dreams come true.

When Connor Williams surprised his father with a new car

The Dolphins center has always given his parents credit for making him the star he is today. Just before his 2018 draft, Williams decided to give thanks to his father in the sweetest way possible. Jimmy Williams had driven a 2004 Hyundai Sonata for the past ten years. Entering a new phase of his life, the NFL, Williams wanted to change that.

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In an emotional video filmed in collaboration with Hyundai, Williams asks his father to drive him to the starting point of his career, Coppell High School. During the journey, the father-son reminisced about his high school days when his dad would drive him to practices. On reaching the destination, Jimmy got an unexpected surprise: a new car as a gift from his now grown-up son.

From being the butt of jokes in school to working on himself to reach the NFL and making peace with his past bullies, Connor Williams has come a long way. And throughout his journey, the center credits his parents for being a constant catalyst to positive change.