‘He was loved.’ 21-year-old former Person High quarterback dies in a car crash.
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Before David Kleine, a former football coach at Person High School, could finish his sentence, he needed a moment to collect himself.
“This is tough,” he said, his voice raspy as he held back tears.
On Tuesday, Antonio Williams, one of Kleine’s former players, died in a car accident in Durham. Williams, 21, was driving westbound on Highway 70 when he lost control of his car and veered into the opposite lane, according to a Durham police news release. Williams hit a driver in a Chevrolet Silverado head on, which caused Williams’ car to spin and crash into another car.
Williams was taken to Duke Hospital where he died. Williams was not wearing a seat belt when he crashed, according to the release. Police do not suspect alcohol or speed were factors.
For Kleine, Williams was more than just a former player.
“He was in some ways like a second son,” Kleine told The News & Observer Wednesday.
‘The kind of kid he was’
Williams, who graduated from Person High School in Roxboro in 2016, played football all of his four years there and started at quarterback during his junior and senior seasons. He helped lead Person to the state playoffs as a senior. He wore No. 9.
But Kleine will remember Williams most for his personality and what he did off the field.
“He taught me how to be a better coach, better teacher, better mentor, better father and more importantly, a better God fearing man,” Kleine said. “That’s the kind of kid he was.”
“He was loved.”
Kleine said when he started hosting youth football camps, Williams suggested the camps be free so underprivileged kids could participate.
The idea worked, and the next year, the camp had 80 to 100 kids attend.
“It was one of the smartest ideas I had ever heard,” Kleine said.
Careatha Williams, Antonio Williams’ mother, said her son was a selfless person. She said he worried about others before himself, adding that he always wanted to make sure everyone else was OK.
“He was one of the best people I knew in my life,” she said in a phone interview Thursday.
An entrepreneur and a father
Williams’ nickname was Yo-Yo, because of his he could throw a football like a yo-yo. And everyone in Person County knew “Yo-Yo.”
“He had a smile that could light up a room,” his mother said. She said her son enjoyed making others smile and he was the life of the party.
Not only was Williams a son, and brother, but he was also a father. He leaves behind a 2-year-old daughter, Brae’Lynn, and a seven-month old son, Zayden.
A GoFundMe page was started to help raise money for funeral expenses and for his children. As of Thursday afternoon, it had raised more than $8,000.
After playing one season at Ferrum College in Virginia, he came back to Roxboro and became an entrepreneur. He started his own clothing line, called Slum Life, dedicated to his grandfather, who Careatha Williams said grew up in the slums of Hudson, New York. He also had his own detailing business called Old to New.
She said her son told her once that he never wanted to work for anyone ever again, and wanted to be his own man.
And he did that.
This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 6:29 PM.
