Three weeks ago, as nurses at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, prepared to remove the cancer from Paul Williams’ colon, they wheeled him into room No. 88 for pre-op. None of them could’ve known how much that meant to one of Demaryius Thomas’ oldest friends.
Williams’ nerves settled, seeing that room. And the longtime high school basketball coach told the nurses the story of his pupil Thomas. Of the young boy he’d met in a gym in Dudley, Georgia, and the smile that changed Williams’ life. Of the man who later told Williams he wanted them to travel across the country and speak to kids about their friendship — a young Black man and an older white coach from Georgia — after he hung up his No.