Dave Feit’s Greatest Huskers by the Numbers: 96 – Jimmy Williams and Lawrence Pete

Tom Osborne, John Wooden, and one of the great walk-on stories in Nebraska football’s history.

Counting down the greatest Nebraska football players by jersey number. | HuskerMax

Dave Feit is counting down the days until the start of the 2025 season by naming the best Husker to wear each uniform number, as well as one of his personal favorites at that number.  For more information about the series, click here.  To see more entries, click here. 


Greatest Husker to wear 96:  Jimmy Williams, Defensive End, 1978 – 1981 

Honorable Mention:  George Andrews, Brett Maher, Lawrence Pete, Jim Skow, Steve Warren 

Also worn by:  Titus Adams, Leslie Black, Marquis Black, Aaron Curry, Carlos Davis, Jason Jenkins, Brandon Johnson, Lawrence Pete, David White, Camden Witucki 

Dave’s Fave:  Lawrence Pete, Defensive Tackle, 1985 – 1988 


Over the years, there have been a ton of remarkable stories of players who walked on to the Nebraska team.  You’ll read a few of them in this series. 

But for my money, nothing can top the story of Jimmy Williams, and his brother Toby (who was a finalist for the “Greatest” title at #97). 

The Williams brothers didn’t go out for football as high school sophomores in Washington, D.C.  As juniors, they played sparingly.  The each made the all-league team as seniors, but their only scholarship offers were from Richmond and Virginia Union.   

Their father, James, knew his sons could play at a Division I school.  So, he began a letter writing campaign, sending dozens of letters to coaches across the country asking for a chance.  A tryout.  Only two schools – Auburn and Nebraska – wrote back.  They picked Nebraska – partially for their reputation, and partially because they agree to look at Jimmy and Toby. 

Jimmy Williams in action against Auburn in 1981. | Nebraska Athletics

When the Williams brothers tried out in Lincoln, Tom Osborne and his staff saw two scrawny kids (Jimmy weighed 185 pounds and ran the 40 in 4.8 seconds) with poor fundamentals, who had played against weak competition.  But the coaches also saw potential.  The boys could be Cornhuskers – if they paid their own way.  

Their first year was rough – and not just in the football program.  The boys are two of eight siblings.  Paying two out-of-state tuitions was a challenge.  “Everything was new to us: the environment, the quality of football, everything,” Jimmy told the Washington Post in 1981.  “A couple of times, they cut off our food because we were a couple of days late paying our bill. Things got ugly for a while.” 

The boys benefited from the systems that Osborne had in place.  Boyd Epley’s strength and conditioning program helped their slow and scrawny frames.  Academic supports helped them adjust to the rigors of college.  As for the deficient fundamentals, Osborne and his staff utilized a teaching style that Osborne borrowed from a different coaching legend:  UCLA basketball’s John Wooden.   

Jimmy Williams was a Detroit Lion for most of his 12-season NFL career. | Manny Rubio-Imagn Images

Despite John Wooden’s record-setting success, he never talked about winning.  Instead, he focused on the process.  Break the game down into components.  Here is the proper way to lace your cleats.  This is the correct three-point stance.  When the ball is snapped, step here with this foot while your head and hands go there.  And so on.  Stack those building blocks on top of each other, much like Wooden’s famous Pyramid of Success, until the desired end result is met. 

Jimmy was placed on scholarship after his freshman season.  Toby would join him a year later. 

By the time he was a senior, Jimmy Williams had bulked up to 227 pounds but had dropped his time in the 40 to a blistering fast 4.34 seconds.  Williams used that size and speed to become an All-American and the 1981 Big 8 Defensive Player of the Year.  He recorded 10 sacks in 1981, which was the school record (1981 is the first year that sacks were tracked as an official stat).  His 10-sack season is still tied (with four others) as the 10th-most in a season. 

Jimmy Williams was a first-round draft pick and played 12 seasons in the NFL.  He has gone on to become a college assistant coach, spending the 2003 season on Frank Solich’s staff. 

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Lawrence Pete vs. Colorado in 1988. | Nebraska Football Media Guide

It’s hard to accurately describe the mythical appreciation I had for Lawrence Pete as a kid.  In his playing days, the Huskers would only be on TV three or four times a season, with two of those (the Oklahoma game and the bowl) happening after Thanksgiving.  So for a 12- or 13-year-old kid, the majority of what I knew about the team came from what I heard on the radio. 

I can vividly remember being in the car on a Saturday afternoon driving through Millard.  My dad was listening to the game on KFAB.  Pete sacked the quarterback, and the announcers (Kent Pavelka and Gary Sadlemyer) mentioned that Lawrence Pete was the strongest Husker ever.  EVER!   

Do you understand how mind-blowing that was to me? Nebraska had been so great for long with legendary players on both sides of the ball, and this guy was the stronger than any of them?  He could bench press 500 pounds!?!  Holy Husker Power, Batman!  He had to have muscles on top of muscles.  Look out, Oklahoma!  There’s no way your stupid Sooner Magic is going to be able to block this guy! 

That turned out to be true, as Pete and the 1988 Blackshirts kept Oklahoma out of the end zone for the first time in 46 years. 

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