Joseph Williams Is Giving Back — To His Sisters, And To A Season He Missed Part Of Last Year
October 16, 2026 | Football
BOULDER — The phone call came from two voices at once, and both of them were crying.
Joseph Williams had bought his little sisters a car. One car, for twins, which he admits is a work in progress.
"Growing up, my whole life, we weren't really fortunate of a lot of things," Williams said Tuesday. "So being able to give my little sister a car — even though I got one of them for my twin sisters — they called me, they were crying on the phone, saying how much they love me, how much it means to them. It's just a big blessing."
The logistics still need work.
"I'm going to get them another one later on," he said. "But twins — one of them, she ain't the best driver. The other one, she's a little better. So they both need to be in the car at the same time."
It was the kind of answer that comes from a player in a good place, and Williams is in one. The Colorado receiver leads the Buffaloes with 32 catches for 454 yards and five touchdowns, has scored in four straight games, and was added to the Biletnikoff Award watch list last week.
The last part, he said, goes back to a conversation he has been having with his mother for years.
"I always told my mom, like, I want to win the Biletnikoff," Williams said. "That's a big dream for me. I've always wanted to win that, ever since I started playing receiver. So being able to get the recognition is just a big accomplishment for me, but I still got more work to do, and I want to go win that award."
A year ago at this point in the schedule, he was watching. Colorado came off its bye week and played Utah, and Williams, sidelined by an injury that cost him most of his first season in Boulder, wasn't on the field for it. He has been asked what he worked on in the offseason to produce this kind of start. His answer had nothing to do with route running.
"I feel like it just was up here," Williams said. "I feel like I had the ability to go do the things I'm doing right now. It just — I was in my own head. I was doing the wrong things. So I feel like me getting out of my own way was just probably the biggest step I took to be able to play this way so far. So just extremely grateful for everything God's put me through."
He has had help staying out of his own way. Danny Scudero, the veteran receiver working his way back from an injury of his own, has been in every film session and every walkthrough, and against Texas Tech he found Williams on the sideline during a scoreless stretch with a message.
"He told me, like, 'You want to be the best in the world? You want to win the Biletnikoff? Go do something for us,'" Williams said. "So he's showing a lot of leadership while he's gone. I feel like when he comes back, he's going to be a real big addition to the room."
The relationship that matters most on Saturdays is with Isaac Wilson, and Williams described a quarterback who treats a missed connection in practice like a problem to be solved before anyone leaves the field.
"He may miss me in practice, we sitting there talking five minutes straight, just trying to get it right," Williams said. "Then after practice, we go work on that same exact play. So he just wants to compete. He's a great leader. I feel like this week is going to be a real big week for him."
Williams, who played quarterback before he was a receiver, said his job as a leader is to make sure the connection extends to Julian Lewis and Kaneal Sweetwyne, too.
"If Isaac goes down, Juju still has to be ready to go in the game. Sweetwyne has to be ready to go in the game," he said. "So if we put something in with Isaac, we still got to implement it into Juju and Kaneal. Because you never know who's going in."
His message to the team over the bye week was about the fourth quarter, where Colorado's last three games have gotten away. The Buffaloes have started practicing for it, in their own way.
"Towards the end of practice, we all meet up in a big huddle and we all start dancing," Williams said. "We all throw our fours up. So we're trying to build that fourth-quarter culture. So when we get to the fourth quarter, it's not nothing brand new to us."
Utah, he knows, will test it. He called the Utes one of the best teams in the country, with a top defense and a top offense, and he hasn't forgotten the game he watched from the sideline last October.
"We got to get our get-back from last year," Williams said. "We can't have another showing like we did last year."
He'll be on the field for this one. And somewhere in Texas, two sisters will be watching from the same car.
Joseph Williams had bought his little sisters a car. One car, for twins, which he admits is a work in progress.
"Growing up, my whole life, we weren't really fortunate of a lot of things," Williams said Tuesday. "So being able to give my little sister a car — even though I got one of them for my twin sisters — they called me, they were crying on the phone, saying how much they love me, how much it means to them. It's just a big blessing."
The logistics still need work.
"I'm going to get them another one later on," he said. "But twins — one of them, she ain't the best driver. The other one, she's a little better. So they both need to be in the car at the same time."
It was the kind of answer that comes from a player in a good place, and Williams is in one. The Colorado receiver leads the Buffaloes with 32 catches for 454 yards and five touchdowns, has scored in four straight games, and was added to the Biletnikoff Award watch list last week.
The last part, he said, goes back to a conversation he has been having with his mother for years.
"I always told my mom, like, I want to win the Biletnikoff," Williams said. "That's a big dream for me. I've always wanted to win that, ever since I started playing receiver. So being able to get the recognition is just a big accomplishment for me, but I still got more work to do, and I want to go win that award."
A year ago at this point in the schedule, he was watching. Colorado came off its bye week and played Utah, and Williams, sidelined by an injury that cost him most of his first season in Boulder, wasn't on the field for it. He has been asked what he worked on in the offseason to produce this kind of start. His answer had nothing to do with route running.
"I feel like it just was up here," Williams said. "I feel like I had the ability to go do the things I'm doing right now. It just — I was in my own head. I was doing the wrong things. So I feel like me getting out of my own way was just probably the biggest step I took to be able to play this way so far. So just extremely grateful for everything God's put me through."
He has had help staying out of his own way. Danny Scudero, the veteran receiver working his way back from an injury of his own, has been in every film session and every walkthrough, and against Texas Tech he found Williams on the sideline during a scoreless stretch with a message.
"He told me, like, 'You want to be the best in the world? You want to win the Biletnikoff? Go do something for us,'" Williams said. "So he's showing a lot of leadership while he's gone. I feel like when he comes back, he's going to be a real big addition to the room."
The relationship that matters most on Saturdays is with Isaac Wilson, and Williams described a quarterback who treats a missed connection in practice like a problem to be solved before anyone leaves the field.
"He may miss me in practice, we sitting there talking five minutes straight, just trying to get it right," Williams said. "Then after practice, we go work on that same exact play. So he just wants to compete. He's a great leader. I feel like this week is going to be a real big week for him."
Williams, who played quarterback before he was a receiver, said his job as a leader is to make sure the connection extends to Julian Lewis and Kaneal Sweetwyne, too.
"If Isaac goes down, Juju still has to be ready to go in the game. Sweetwyne has to be ready to go in the game," he said. "So if we put something in with Isaac, we still got to implement it into Juju and Kaneal. Because you never know who's going in."
His message to the team over the bye week was about the fourth quarter, where Colorado's last three games have gotten away. The Buffaloes have started practicing for it, in their own way.
"Towards the end of practice, we all meet up in a big huddle and we all start dancing," Williams said. "We all throw our fours up. So we're trying to build that fourth-quarter culture. So when we get to the fourth quarter, it's not nothing brand new to us."
Utah, he knows, will test it. He called the Utes one of the best teams in the country, with a top defense and a top offense, and he hasn't forgotten the game he watched from the sideline last October.
"We got to get our get-back from last year," Williams said. "We can't have another showing like we did last year."
He'll be on the field for this one. And somewhere in Texas, two sisters will be watching from the same car.
Players Mentioned
QB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
QB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
QB
/ FootballMonday, October 12
Monday, October 12
Sunday, October 04
Sunday, October 04
