Special bond
By Christy Cabrera Chirinos
Staff Writer
Posted October 29 2004
The table is spread with small buckets of rice and beans. Two whole chickens sit between them. One reaches for a bottle of hot sauce and douses his meal liberally. The other drowns his bird in barbecue sauce.
Looking at the two of them, it jumps out that this is just one of their few differences. Their thought processes are so similar that when Vladimir Richard arrived at the home of his best friend, Gerald Williams, earlier in the evening, the two broke out in laughter when they realized they were wearing identical shorts.
Richard, a stocky 6-foot-2, 250-pound defensive lineman, had arrived after a long practice at Piper. Williams, a linebacker at Boyd Anderson, had propped his lean 6-5, 225-pound frame on the couch to wait for the friend he calls his "brother," to arrive for dinner.
But their frames, schools and taste in chicken are where the differences end. Even their blue-and-white cell phones, which ring constantly through their meal as college coaches hope for a precious few seconds with either one of them, match.
"We're the same," Richard said, looking across the table at his best friend since middle school. "We have so much in common, that when we go to college, there's no one I want to share a room with. We're both neat. We don't stay up too late. We're basically alike."
Considering the two met over a middle school basketball fight, they've come a long way.
Tonight, they will find themselves as the opposition on the football field when Piper tries to keep its playoff hopes alive against Boyd Anderson.
Piper needs an upset of the Cobras plus a highly improbable South Plantation victory over Plantation to force a three-way tie for the slot as the District 8-6A runner-up. Williams' Cobras are in a much better spot; a win over Piper, and they clinch a spot in the regional quarterfinals.
And that's why despite the fact the two are so close, tonight will be different.
"We both have to step up as men, and we know there's going to be a whole lot of trash-talking," Williams said.
That becomes evident after a few more moments of conversation.
Richard looks up in the middle of his meal and says, "You know, we put a Gerald Williams in today."
Williams is often called on in short-yardage situations to block as a fullback for the Cobras, and the Piper coaching staff knows it, creating the simulated Williams for practice.
Williams stops eating to raise an eyebrow.
"You did? What for? You can't stop me."
And it is then, when Richard's laugh fills the Pollo Tropical restaurant, where they are laying waste to two tables of food, and he covers his face to keep from losing his composure.
"We're going to smack you in the mouth, and you know it."
If Richard and Williams have their way, it will be the last time they'll line up against each other for a while. The two, who have never attended the same school, want to be classmates at least once. While there were brief discussions about mid-summer high school transfers, they decided to remain at their respective schools.
They knew they could be together in college. They decided that any school that wanted one of them better want them both. And the University of Florida did.
The two orally committed to play for the Gators in July, but with Ron Zook's firing earlier this week, things have changed. Both say they still want to play for Florida, but their options are open once more. They plan on taking their five visits together and trips to Tennessee and N.C. State have already been set. Auburn has also moved into the mix and neither ruled out Miami or Florida State.
"Either way, we're going to school together," Williams said. "We're a package deal."
Dinner is winding down and the two phones on the table keep ringing. Williams reaches for his and speaks to the recruiter on the other line. After a few minutes, he covers the mouthpiece and looks at Richard.
"614?" he asks before handing the phone over.
"Ohio State, I'm pretty sure," replies the 3.9 GPA student regarding the area code before launching into another conversation with yet another one of the coaches hoping to sway them.
One South Florida coach has already seen enough of Williams and Richard to know the two can be a powerful combination. Frank Hepler's Plantation Colonels have already notched wins against Boyd Anderson and Piper. While he doesn't know the players personally, he is confident their on-field presence will make any college coach happy.
"If I were a college coach, I'd take them both," Hepler said. "Whether they're buddies or not, they're talented. The fact they know each other so well is only going to help them interact on the field more quickly."
And that's what Richard and Williams are hoping for. At least after tonight.
"This situation is a true blessing," Richard said. "This doesn't happen every day, even to be on the same side of the ball. When he's behind me, I know he's going to let me know what I'm doing wrong and vice versa. We're going to be on the field together as one and if we fall, we're going to fall together.
"It's good to know that."
