Denver Native (Carol)
09-15-2010, 10:47 AM
http://www.denverpost.com/krieger/ci_16077526?source=rss
When Champ Bailey looks at Perrish Cox, Syd'Quan Thompson and Cassius Vaughn, the Broncos' triumvirate of rookie defensive backs, he sees a similar trio from five years ago, the class led by the late Darrent Williams.
"It's such a mirror image," Bailey said the other day. "Those three guys that I had then — Darrent, Domonique Foxworth, Karl Paymah — and these guys I have now, it's like the same guys. Perrish happens to be from Oklahoma State, and he and Darrent remind me so much of each other. Very confident, very skillful."
If Bailey sounds like a proud older brother, that's pretty much how he thinks of it. Which is why, almost four years after Williams' murder, the all-pro Broncos cornerback is determined to keep his former teammate's memory alive.
"These guys that come in, just like the group we've got this year, they're like my little brothers," Bailey said. "I've got to make sure they're OK. Part of me wishes I could have done more to help prevent that night. But there's nothing I can do to change the past."
He can do something about the future, though, which is why he's teaming up with John Lynch and some other former Broncos teammates to raise money for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver, home to the Darrent Williams Memorial Teen Center. Rosalind Williams, Darrent's mom, plans to return to Denver for Monday's fundraiser at Morton's, her first trip to Colorado since Willie Clark was sentenced in April to life without parole plus 1,152 years in prison for her son's murder.
She is eager to move on from the ugliness of the trial testimony to the hope offered by the center named for her son.
"To sit in the courtroom with a person like Willie Clark that has no remorse . . . ," she said by phone last week, leaving the thought unfinished. "I mean, during sentencing, he was basically sitting there laughing and talking to his lawyers. I just think it was so disrespectful.
"I take it one day at a time. I can't say it gets easier. You just learn to cope with it day by day. It's all just so senseless, every time you think about it."
Meanwhile, Darrent's son, Darius, turns 11 next month.
"This year we're going to go ahead and redo his room into a Denver Bronco room," Rosalind Williams said. "I think he's ready for that. Give him his dad's furniture so he can have that memory.
"Of course, he plays little league football, and he wants to have the No. 27 at all times. Darrent's daughter (Jaelyn) is running track, and she's really, really fast. We're so proud of them. They miss him dearly, but their mom keeps them really busy in extracurricular activities and things like that."
The teen center named for Williams is at the Broncos Boys & Girls Club in Montbello. His former teammates want to ensure that his legacy is providing at-risk kids with alternatives to the gang lifestyle his killer embraced.
"They've got a great capture rate with the younger kids," said Lynch, the former Broncos safety. "But all of a sudden, you get to sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth grades, it's not real cool to go to the Boys & Girls Club. So you build a nice teen center for them, and you make it a cool place for them to go. We did the same thing in Tampa, and they started showing up. That's what made me a believer specifically in that teen center, and we're hopeful they can have the same kind of results at the Broncos Boys & Girls Club."
When her son's murderer was convicted in Denver District Court last spring, Rosalind Williams delivered a heartfelt plea to address the problem of gang violence. Now she's trying to play her part in that effort.
"Just doing what we're doing now — trying to save one child at a time so that they won't be influenced by the guys in the neighborhoods that drive the fancy cars or have the jewelry or are supposed to be the bad actors. So they won't fall into that," she said.
"Where the teen center is located, I think that's so significant in trying to change things and trying to help just one child at a time. That's all we can do. We can be big brothers, big sisters and mentors for the children."
At the end of our phone conversation, I wished her a good trip north.
"OK," she said, "but you guys stay on top of it as far as gang activity and doing things to change the city. Because if it happened to us, it could happen to anyone, and we don't want other people going through this. OK?"
When Champ Bailey looks at Perrish Cox, Syd'Quan Thompson and Cassius Vaughn, the Broncos' triumvirate of rookie defensive backs, he sees a similar trio from five years ago, the class led by the late Darrent Williams.
"It's such a mirror image," Bailey said the other day. "Those three guys that I had then — Darrent, Domonique Foxworth, Karl Paymah — and these guys I have now, it's like the same guys. Perrish happens to be from Oklahoma State, and he and Darrent remind me so much of each other. Very confident, very skillful."
If Bailey sounds like a proud older brother, that's pretty much how he thinks of it. Which is why, almost four years after Williams' murder, the all-pro Broncos cornerback is determined to keep his former teammate's memory alive.
"These guys that come in, just like the group we've got this year, they're like my little brothers," Bailey said. "I've got to make sure they're OK. Part of me wishes I could have done more to help prevent that night. But there's nothing I can do to change the past."
He can do something about the future, though, which is why he's teaming up with John Lynch and some other former Broncos teammates to raise money for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver, home to the Darrent Williams Memorial Teen Center. Rosalind Williams, Darrent's mom, plans to return to Denver for Monday's fundraiser at Morton's, her first trip to Colorado since Willie Clark was sentenced in April to life without parole plus 1,152 years in prison for her son's murder.
She is eager to move on from the ugliness of the trial testimony to the hope offered by the center named for her son.
"To sit in the courtroom with a person like Willie Clark that has no remorse . . . ," she said by phone last week, leaving the thought unfinished. "I mean, during sentencing, he was basically sitting there laughing and talking to his lawyers. I just think it was so disrespectful.
"I take it one day at a time. I can't say it gets easier. You just learn to cope with it day by day. It's all just so senseless, every time you think about it."
Meanwhile, Darrent's son, Darius, turns 11 next month.
"This year we're going to go ahead and redo his room into a Denver Bronco room," Rosalind Williams said. "I think he's ready for that. Give him his dad's furniture so he can have that memory.
"Of course, he plays little league football, and he wants to have the No. 27 at all times. Darrent's daughter (Jaelyn) is running track, and she's really, really fast. We're so proud of them. They miss him dearly, but their mom keeps them really busy in extracurricular activities and things like that."
The teen center named for Williams is at the Broncos Boys & Girls Club in Montbello. His former teammates want to ensure that his legacy is providing at-risk kids with alternatives to the gang lifestyle his killer embraced.
"They've got a great capture rate with the younger kids," said Lynch, the former Broncos safety. "But all of a sudden, you get to sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth grades, it's not real cool to go to the Boys & Girls Club. So you build a nice teen center for them, and you make it a cool place for them to go. We did the same thing in Tampa, and they started showing up. That's what made me a believer specifically in that teen center, and we're hopeful they can have the same kind of results at the Broncos Boys & Girls Club."
When her son's murderer was convicted in Denver District Court last spring, Rosalind Williams delivered a heartfelt plea to address the problem of gang violence. Now she's trying to play her part in that effort.
"Just doing what we're doing now — trying to save one child at a time so that they won't be influenced by the guys in the neighborhoods that drive the fancy cars or have the jewelry or are supposed to be the bad actors. So they won't fall into that," she said.
"Where the teen center is located, I think that's so significant in trying to change things and trying to help just one child at a time. That's all we can do. We can be big brothers, big sisters and mentors for the children."
At the end of our phone conversation, I wished her a good trip north.
"OK," she said, "but you guys stay on top of it as far as gang activity and doing things to change the city. Because if it happened to us, it could happen to anyone, and we don't want other people going through this. OK?"