Courtesy Winnipeg Sun:

Wherever Lenny Walls goes, the spirit of Darrent Williams is with him, pushing him to be a better football player and a better person.

“I think about him every day,” Walls said yesterday. “Every time I look at this I think about him.”

The Bomber defensive back points to the ever-present blue band on his right wrist that has Williams’ name on it. He then pulls down the top of his shirt to reveal a tattoo above his heart that reads “RIP D-Will” and features Williams’ number 27 in the orange and blue colours of the Denver Broncos.

“He was a hell of a football player,” said Walls, who will wear No. 27 for the Bombers in honour of his fallen friend. “He was one of the best little corners that I’ve ever seen in my life. He was Pro Bowl-calibre.”

Williams was gunned down in Denver in the early-morning hours of Jan. 1, 2007, after his rented Hummer limousine was sprayed with bullets. Williams was struck in the neck and died on the scene, just a few hours after the Broncos’ regular-season finale. He was 24. A Denver gang member was indicted in the slaying last October.

“He did everything right that night,” Walls said. “He was drinking, and he had a limousine. What did he do wrong?”

Their friendship came about in a strange way, as Williams pushed Walls out of his starting role in Denver. Walls and Champ Bailey were the Broncos’ starting cornerbacks in 2005, but Williams, a second-round draft pick earlier in the year, stole Walls’ job three games into the season.

Read More…