South Florida defensive end Michael Williams has a medical history that would have crushed a person with less determination. The setbacks started at West Bloomfield High School in Michigan, when an ACL injury caused him to miss a chunk of his junior season.
Another ACL injury last year caused him to miss about half of the season.
But when you spend a few minutes listening to Williams talk, you realize that those setbacks never had a chance against his force of will.
"I'm not going to give up. It seems like I've had a lot of things that any regular person would have just looked at and just given up on and turned their cheek and said, oh, maybe it's time to get a job or something else. But I look at football as something I love," he said.
"It's been in my blood since I was a kid, came out the womb, my mom tossed me a football and I think there is a video that's real. There's just no part of me that was ever going to give up. From high school to again in high school, I never saw myself ever leaving the game."
The award's criteria focuses on integrity, leadership, athletic achievement, academic excellence, and service to others.
Couple that with the loyalty he feels toward USF -- head coach Brian Hartline said, "He is South Florida football through and through. If you were to cut him open, green and gold would be coming out"-- and the fact he'll knock your block off on the football field, and you have something special.
That's why he was named the recipient of the Lee Roy Selmon Award, named in honor of the legendary NFL Hall of Fame defensive end and former USF athletics director.
Lee Roy was so special to all of us & Mike Williams is the definition of a @USFFootball Bull. There’s no doubt LRS would have loved MW’s work ethic, resilience & kindness. Very surreal to be w/LRS Jr, have LRS name in the ring of honor in the background & be w/such a deserving… pic.twitter.com/oKY9eLR69R
— Rob Higgins (@RHiggins_USF) August 30, 2026
Josh Celicscar, last year's initial recipient, was given the honor of wearing Selmon's iconic No. 63 for the season. Williams, however, will keep his No. 4 and, instead, wear a uniform patch emblematic of the award.
"Listen, if you were to ask me, just give me one name, not even player, give me one name that just defines what it means to be a USF boy, I would think of no other person but my boy," guard Caleb Cook said. "As you seen, as you heard him talk. He's one of the OGs (old guys) when it comes to this place. Obviously, as y' all know, I'm a new guy here. We have a lot of new guys here, but he's been one of the ones that's been here for years and years and years.
"He's one of the ones who truly built that foundation for us to go even higher than where they were last year. He bleeds the green and code. He is this program. That's exactly why he got that No. 63."
As he approaches his fifth and final season at USF, Williams is fully healthy and ready to hit someone in a different colored jersey. He'll get his chance Saturday night when the Bulls host FIU to open the season at Raymond James Stadium.
His play in USF's Cure Bowl game against Old Dominion showed what kind of motor he has. The Bulls entered that game with a shell of team compared to what they were during the regular season. They were playing with a makeshift coaching staff after Alex Golesh left for Auburn and took multiple assistants and players with him.
Still, Williams came up with seven tackles, including four solo one, one sack and a tackle for loss.
"Going into that game there's a lot of things Going in, knowing that our coach was going to be gone, not knowing if my position coach was going to be here. You know what you got, you know what you can and can't do. Just go ahead and do it. There's nothing else that could happen. You got an offseason, you can recover, Just go out, put everything on the line. And I did," he said.
"From high school to again in high school, I just, I just never saw myself ever leaving the game. Even when I'm done playing, I'm still be a coach, a reporter or something. I'm going to be in football. It's just right now looking back on everything that's happened, I'm honestly very proud of myself."
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