LOXLEY, Alabama — Sherman Williams knows all about second chances.

“There weren’t a lot of opportunities in my neighborhood,” he said. “You had to work really hard to make good decisions and stay away from drugs and gangs.”

A native of Prichard, Williams led the Blount Leopards to the 5A State Championship before signing with the University of Alabama, where he would help the Crimson Tide win a National Championship for Coach Gene Stallings in 1992.

He would go on to earn All-SEC and second team All-American honors in 1994, and in his senior season was named MVP of the 1995 Citrus Bowl.

He was selected by the Dallas Cowboys with their first choice in the second round of the 1995 NFL draft and, as a rookie, earned his third championship as part of the Super Bowl XXX championship team.

“I am so blessed to have so many positive opportunities in my life,” he said.

After playing five seasons with the Cowboys, Williams’ world came crashing down when he was arrested in 2000 for three counts of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and a separate plea for passing counterfeit currency and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

“I let some of those bad things that I grew up with in my youth come back to hurt me as an adult,” he said. “I had a lot of fame and a lot of money and I was not equipped to handle it.”

Williams said he came out of prison in 2014 as a born-again Christian with a mission to do something to help youth with similar backgrounds, along with others who were looking to make positive choices in their lives.

With that in mind, Williams and David “Deuce” Palmer, his roommate at Alabama, decided to form the Palmer-Williams Group. Palmer, also an All-American at Alabama who would go on to play seven seasons with the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL, now teaches and coaches baseball at a high school in Birmingham.

 “He and I were raised in similar backgrounds and wanted to do something to help those kids make positive decisions in their lives,” Williams said.

Through the Palmer-Williams Group, Williams and Palmer host a spring football camp for youth every March at Memorial Field on the former campus of Blount High School and sponsor a youth football team, The Prichard Cowboys.

They also formed the Lifesync Academy, a 10-week program open to youth ages 9 to 14 which teaches basic life skills such as financial literacy, ethics and the lifelong value of education and the rule of law. The program also addresses the pitfalls of alcohol and drug abuse, as well as premarital sex.

 “We want to get these kids involved as early as possible making positive life choices, so they don’t end up making bad decisions like I did as an adult,” Williams said.

Williams also wanted to use his influence to encourage young people who were making positive decisions in their lives. Young people like 17-year-old Hunter Baker, a recent graduate of Robertsdale High School.

Williams, who lives in Mobile and works as a car salesman, said he met Baker while the two were working at Terry Thompson Chevrolet car dealership in Fairhope and struck up a friendship.

Through working with Baker, Williams learned of the young man’s love of car racing and his aspiration to be a professional racecar driver.

“That’s what the Palmer-Williams group is all about,” said Williams, “encouraging youth like Hunter who are making those positive decisions in their lives and encouraging him to follow his dreams, all the way to NASCAR if that’s what he wants.”

So when Williams heard that Baker would be driving at Deep South Speedway in Loxley on May 21, he decided to come and support his friend.

He also sold and signed copies of his book “Crimson Cowboy: The rise and fall of a three-time champion,” for fans at the racetrack. Proceeds from the book go to benefit the Palmer-Williams Group.

He also participated in the Running-Man Challenge at the racetrack, where drivers did his signature dance, “The Sherman Shake.”

If you would like to learn more, visit palmerwilliamsgroup.org. More information about Williams’ book can be found at crimsoncowboy.com. You can also find Crimson Cowboy information on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or by emailing info@palmerwilliamsgroup.org.