Ohio State then-senior cornerback Marcus Williamson (21) prepares to tackle a Nebraska player during the Ohio State-Nebraska game on Oct. 24. Ohio State won 52-17. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
A few years ago, Marcus Williamson was working on his resume for life after football.
Williamson’s collegiate career was not going to plan and his quality snaps on the field were few and far between. Despite the lack of payoff and glory, Williamson kept going, however, because the fight in him would not let him quit.
Now in 2021, the graduate defensive back is coming off his most impactful season with eyes set on a final opportunity to make a name for himself in the fall — one made possible by the free year of eligibility given out by the NCAA. With his aspirations on the football field alive and well, Williamson said it is the mentality he forged on the mat that has led him to this moment.
“I’ve never been a quitter, and just having that mindset that whatever it is I’m just going to fight through it,” Williamson said. “Just keeping going, just keep fighting. You never know what will end up on the other side and I think God has just had a plan for me. If he didn’t, I still wouldn’t be here.”
Williamson said he grew up in a household straight out of a sports movie. With his dad, Marlon Williamson, pushing him to participate in sports and work out, Marcus Williamson has always known the life of an athlete.
Although he developed into a four-star defensive back recruit, Williamson said his first sport growing up was wrestling.
Bleeding into his high school career, Williamson said wrestling did not carry the glory that other sports, such as basketball, did. Instead, Williamson said the unglamorous sport developed his fight and grit.
“There’s not a lot of glory in wrestling,” Williamson said. “I remember growing up and all my friends grew up playing basketball, I went to school with Kaleb Wesson — you know, big hooper — and I’m in the back, in the gym just wrestling, just getting better, just having that fight in me.”
Transitioning to Ohio State, Williamson dealt with injuries and competitive secondary rooms that made playing on Saturdays difficult.
Throughout his early years at Ohio State, Williamson said he was fearful of getting hurt. But with his career as a Buckeye coming to a close, the defensive back said his drive comes from a desire to improve.
“I’ve really just seen myself take off in the last few months since the season’s ended, just having that mindset and that approach to this year, and it’s been great and I can’t wait to see the results of me doing that,” Williamson said.
Pairing a new individual mentality and with the teachings of recently-elevated secondary coach Matt Barnes, Williamson said there is a big emphasis on improving and developing the culture of the unit — which is coming off a season that didn’t meet the group’s standards.
Despite Williamson’s experience, Barnes said spring ball — which was lost after only three practices in 2020 — will benefit both the young and veteran members of the secondary.
“There’s a handful of guys that are really, really veteran guys that maybe didn’t need quite as much development,” Barnes said. “It’s really the whole roster that really missed a lot of that development, so we’re really concentrated, focused on just developing all these guys.”
Looking for more development, Williamson said the game experience he accumulated in 2020 was invaluable as it offered a chance for him to see where he needed to improve as a football player.
The Ohio native played safety at times the past season, but Williamson said he has been focused on working at the slot cornerback position ahead of his fifth season with the team.
“I’ve definitely been working more in the slot this year and trying to really just hone my coverage skills as well as the physicality aspect of football,” Williamson said. “Just trying to bring that physicality back to the position and coverage skills and use my skillset to the best of my ability.”
Although his fight remains dedicated to football as his final season is scheduled to kick off in September, Williamson said the mentality he developed playing sports will serve him in any aspect of his life going forward.
“Even if it doesn’t go as planned, just having this opportunity to continue to do the sport that I love and to continue to have that wrestling and that fighting mindset has just taken me so far in life and I hope it takes me farther,” Williamson said.
