2010 Football Summer Preview: Getting To Know...
The 2010 MAC Football season is quickly approaching and as part of our preview we would like to give you an inside look into the lives of our student-athletes. You can find the schedule of student-athletes we will preview by scrolling to the bottom of the page or by clicking the "Getting To Know" advertisement on the front of our homepage or football page. You can also stay up-to-date with our player features via Twitter, Facebook or our new fan blog at MACFootballNation.com
Be sure to visit www.mac-sports.com on Friday, July 30th to watch live video interviews with the league's head coaches and student-athletes as we kick off the season with our 2010 MAC Football Preview at Detroit's Ford Field
Getting To Know...Ohio's Marcellis Williamson
Marcellis Williamson is a senior defensive lineman for the Ohio Bobcats. Williamson finished the 2009 season with 46 tackles, including 12 solo stops on the Bobcat D-Line. He added six and half tackles for loss, one and half sacks and recovered two fumbles. Williamson helped the Ohio defense rank second in the MAC in scoring defense and first in turnover margin last year. The 6'1", 340-pound Williamson is a native of Warrensville Heights, Ohio. Below is a closer look at the Ohio defensive lineman...
1. Why did you choose Ohio University?
Ohio was really interested in me and was the first school to come see me play. Devlin Culliver was my head coach in high school and he played at Ohio as a cornerback. He told me not to pass up this opportunity.
2. What is your greatest accomplishment off the field?
I really just try to focus on helping our younger guys and to be a role model for them. I want them to stay disciplined and understand what it takes to be a student-athlete at Ohio University.
3. What are your goals for this season?
I want Ohio to be the #1 overall defense in the MAC and to stay #1 in forcing turnovers. I want us to get further than we did last year by winning the MAC Championship and winning our bowl game.
4. How did you get started playing football?
My dad was my coach growing up. That is all that my four brothers and I were doing in the summer...playing football for him. From there, I just stuck with it and, since then, I've always loved the game of football.
5. What would you like to be doing in ten years?
I want to be somewhere making great money, preferably in the NFL.
6. What would your ideal job be? (outside of playing sports professionally)
I want to coach football, preferably defensive line, at my high school back home.
7. What's the best part of being a Division I athlete?
The best part is being part of a team, a legacy, making history and being an inspiration for others (young kids) that look up to you.
8. What is something people don't know about you?
Sometimes, I might come off as too nice or generous. I'm a Pisces, so I'm supposed to be laid back a little, but I don't want to my kindness to be interpreted as weakness.
9. Who was your greatest athletic influence?
It would have to be my brother Denayne Dixon. He just graduated with a criminal justice degree from Edinboro University. In high school, he was one of the top tight ends in Erie and now he's playing for the Erie Storm (American Indoor Football Association). He's gone the furthest so I'm trying to emulate him.
10. What is one movie you could watch over and over again and not get sick of?
I'd say Any Given Sunday. I really like the storyline and theme and how it talks about brotherhood and fighting for the next man. It emphasizes that the game is about inches. I still get chills every time they go out for the championship game in that movie.
