Peyton Williams hobbles through the front door of his grandfather's house in Lewisburg, Tenn., a town of 10,000 nestled amid rolling hills along the Duck River in the middle of the state. The leaves, Volunteer orange, have fallen from the sugar-maple trees. The Marshall County High football field, just down the road, has already been converted to a baseball diamond. Williams grew up in Lewisburg, flipping tractor tires in the backyard to build strength and hunting turkey in his spare time. He enrolled in the Cornersville Youth Football League when he was seven, and two years ago he played at Chase Field in Phoenix as an eighth-grade All-America. He is 6-feet and 211 pounds, and he squats 425.
Only a sophomore, Williams has received letters from Tennessee, Nebraska, Florida State, Mississippi State, Arkansas, USC, North Carolina and Louisville. He's taken unofficial visits to Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Ole Miss. His dream is to play linebacker or defensive end in the SEC. Though stats are hard to come by in Lewisburg, coaches told Williams he had 14 sacks and 48 tackles in nine games this season. He blocked two punts against Cascade. He had a strip-sack on a fourth down against Page. But in the regular-season finale, against Giles County, Williams was blocking on the kickoff team when his return man reversed field. Williams tried to change direction, but his left knee couldn't keep up. The ACL gave out.
Roger Williams used to run a convenience store off Interstate 65, at exit 32. Now, he works at the GM plant in Spring Hill. Sixteen years ago he named his son after Peyton Williams Manning. By then, the name was common around here. Marshall County has three Peytons on the roster. One of Roger's friends unofficially renamed his street Peyton Manning Drive.
Peyton Williams is a Tennessee fan, down to his orange sneakers. He has been to two NFL games, both Colts at Titans. He plays as Manning's teams on Madden. But he is not as zealous as his dad. He doesn't study his namesake every Sunday. He wears number 49 instead of 18. And yet he is a Peyton, which means he is inextricably linked. In a week, he will undergo surgery, followed by months of painstaking physical therapy, followed by inevitable anxiety and doubt. Sitting at the head of his grandfather's dining room table, he eyes the bulky brace on his left knee and wipes the brown bangs from his forehead. Like most teenage boys, he doesn't speak much, but the words carry weight. "When you think that Peyton Manning wasn't able to throw a 10-yard pass, you realize that he really could have quit," Williams says. "It's on you to do the therapy. It's on you to do the work. You decide how you turn out."
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