He's here, he's there, he's everywhere. As he reaches new heights on the field, Jameson Williams continues to go above and beyond off of it.
Just last week, Williams was named the NFL Players Association Community MVP after hosting a winter coat drive for students at DBG Detroit the Friday after the Lions' win over the Cowboys on Thursday Night Football. The next Monday, Williams was going up and down the aisles of a local Meijer helping kids fill their carts in a Christmas shopping spree with teammates like Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs.
Last month, Williams hosted a free Thanksgiving dinner for Detroit families, after surprising fans the year prior with Kerby Joseph at a turkey drive at a local youth center immediately after a Lions' victory at Ford Field. In October, Williams showed up at the door of a longtime Lions fan who's battling cancer to bring a tailgate to his home, and brought hundreds of children and their families to downtown Detroit for his first annual Halloween trunk-or-treat event with appearances by Joseph and Brian Branch.
At any of the events, you won't find a bigger grin than Jamo's.
"I have a lot of fun, just being out there and seeing faces," Williams said this week. "A lot of (the same) kids come to a lot of the events, so I’m starting to get to know these kids a little bit. It’s huge seeing them get happy and see the excitement that I bring them. That’s part of the reason I keep doing it, too. I just want to make kids happy and just be the light to some who need it. I’m here for people who struggle, and people who don’t even struggle. I’m for everybody. I just want to be there for everybody, and make it easier for them."
A St. Louis native, the 24-year-old Williams has quickly embedded himself in his second home. He hosted Jamo Day in Detroit this past summer, providing backpacks filled with school supplies for kids across both cities.
Between his outreach through the Jameson Williams Foundation and his community involvement with the Lions -- and the fact that he's pacing for 1,000 receiving yards for the second straight season -- Williams is building a case to be a future nominee for the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which honors philanthropy off the field and excellence on the field. Past nominees for the Lions include D.J. Reader, Jared Goff and Frank Ragnow.
At the team's annual Shop with a Lion event last week, which brought out 20 children from five different area youth organizations, Williams was coaching a couple brothers who both wanted a Nintendo system on how to put their $300 gift cards to best use. Community service with a side of financial advice:
"I was trying to tell them, y'all could just get that with one card and then split the other, and that would've been smart because y’all would have had the game, and y'all both wanted the game and y'all could split the game, and then split the toys and clothes, too, 150 each."
Charles Greenwell is a lifelong Lions fan fighting skin cancer. His treatments prevent him from attending games. As part of the NFL's Crucial Catch month in October, and in partnership with Henry Ford Health, Williams showed up with Trevor Nowaske on Greenwell's doorstep in Allen Park with a 'Tailgate in a Box' full of party supplies, food and Lions memorabilia to replicate the game-day experience in downtown Detroit.
The only person who might have been more stunned than Greenwell by the two Lions at his door? His nine-year-old son wearing a St. Brown jersey, especially when Williams and Nowaske stuck around to play cornhole after the surprise.
Williams' foundation centers on strengthening the communities that raised him with a focus on youth sports, education and supporting families in need. His Trunk or Treat event, hosted a couple blocks from Ford Field, featured bounce houses and local food trucks and attracted kids like four-year-old Ace Morris, who went viral for impressing Williams and Joseph with one of his own touchdown celebrations.
Williams' event earlier this month at DBG Detroit provided 250 winter coats to kids in need. And his foundation teamed up with Comerica Bank to make a $10,000 donation to DBG, which offers mentorship, educational support and resources to local youth. To be recognized as the NFLPA's Community MVP for Week 15, said Williams, was "a huge accomplishment for me, and it’s just the start."
"I plan on doing a lot more and building a lot more in the community and just being a face for those who need it and who want it," he said. "It was an honor, most definitely, being named that. I truly appreciate that, and it’s something me and my mom were excited about. We take a lot of time and hard work to put into what we’re doing in the community. And we don’t do it to get acknowledged, but we got acknowledged, and I think that was big for us."