FRESNO, Calif. -- Not every college football player who was paralyzed last year will march heroically back onto the field a year later.
Last Saturday, Adam Taliaferro, a former Penn State cornerback who broke his neck last year making a tackle against Ohio State and was told he would never walk again, walked unassisted to midfield at Beaver Stadium before the team's season opener and waved to a crowd of 109,313 that gave him an emotional ovation.
It was an inspirational and moving climax to Taliaferro's remarkable comeback, which some people have called a miracle. There has been no miracle for Curtis Williams. But he was cheering, too, as he watched Taliaferro's moment on TV.
''I was happy for him,'' Williams says. ''At least one of us came back.''
They were injured in almost the same way, Taliaferro and Williams, sticking their heads in harm's way, trying to stop a ballcarrier and ending up on the ground, motionless.
Taliaferro probably will never play again. But Williams, who was a 5-10, 200-pound senior safety for Washington with NFL potential, probably will never walk again. Or wave to a crowd. Or hug his daughter. He is paralyzed from the neck down, and only a major medical breakthrough in the treatment of spinal cord injuries will change that.
He is 23 years old.
Unlike Taliaferro, he will make no dramatic return when his former team opens its season Saturday in Seattle against Michigan. But his story does include a David-slays-Goliath victory. And it includes a hero who seems too good to be true.
Williams' older brother, David, has taken Curtis into his house and practically devoted his life to caring for him, starting when he spent a month with Curtis in the Stanford hospital after the injury. Curtis could have ended up in a nursing home. David says, ''I would never have allowed that. I mean, he's only 23 years old. I just couldn't see that.''
A week ago a long-running battle between the Williamses -- primarily David -- and the NCAA and its catastrophic insurance carrier, Mutual of Omaha, was resolved in the Williamses' favor. The change in policy increased the annual benefit for in-home nursing care from $100,000 to $250,000. Before that, the insurance company's position was that Curtis would have to be moved into a nursing home to receive around-the-clock care.
''Though it's Curtis' situation that clearly brought it to light, the change is not being made just for Curtis,'' says Mike Robbins, senior vice president of American Specialty Insurance Services, which administers the NCAA policy.
Robbins adds, ''It's atypical of insurance companies to make a change and certainly to make it retroactive so it applies to people . . . already injured.''
The NCAA was able to change the contract by extending it a year, says NCAA spokesman Wally Renfro, who said the premium paid by the NCAA was raised as a result of the change.
His brother's keeper
David Williams, 37, has made a nice life for himself in Fresno since he played football at Fresno State. He has a good job, a wife, two daughters and a pretty, three-bedroom home with a boat in the garage and a pool in the backyard.
But he has been willing to turn that idyllic life upside down.
Curtis has a nurse with him from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and from midnight to 8 a.m. Monday through Thursday. On weekends, though, there is only family. David and his wife, Chris, keep the doors open to Curtis' bedroom, which used to be a study, and to their own bedroom down the hall. That way they can hear the alarm if something goes wrong with the ventilator. At least once each night, Curtis must be turned so his skin doesn't develop ulcers. His bowels must be cleaned.
Some nights David gets only a few hours' sleep. And although he has a lot of responsibility as a manager at a medical waste disposal firm, he must be home by 4 p.m. to relieve the daytime nurse. Sometimes half his day is spent battling with the insurance company and other companies that supply the equipment Curtis needs.
Even though the insurance policy was changed in their favor, it won't mean much unless they can find nurses who have the training necessary to care for a quadriplegic and are willing to work weekends and nights.
In June, Curtis underwent surgery to implant a phrenic nerve stimulator -- a breathing pacemaker -- that allows him to breathe without a ventilator. But it could also result, David says, in the insurance company deciding Curtis doesn't need as much nursing care.
''If it wasn't my brother, I'd probably think, 'Wow, this is a lot of work,' '' David says. ''But it's my brother, so I don't really think about it.... My biggest thing was to make sure that Curtis had some quality of life.''
Says Curtis, ''I've always known I could count on David for anything. He's kind of an inspiration to me.''
Another of David's younger brothers, J.D., puts it a little differently.
''He's a saint,'' J.D. Williams says.
J.D., 34, was a star defensive back at Fresno State who played 7 years in the NFL, appearing in Buffalo's four Super Bowls. He is back at Fresno State as the Bulldogs' secondary coach.
''You talk about role models,'' J.D. Williams adds, ''I think David's one of the greatest people who ever lived.''
Recently, David sold his house and bought a 10-acre property in nearby Clovis. There is a house on the property that is similar in size to the one they've been living in, but David plans to build a larger house with Curtis' needs in mind.
David has not touched a fund established by Washington to support Curtis' care that has raised $360,000. But he says he'll use some of the money to help pay the construction costs for Curtis' living space, medical equipment and specialized exercise equipment.
And he's excited about the open space on the new property. ''It's a pecan orchard,'' he says. ''There's a lot of space, and Curtis likes being outside.''
Last Sunday, David took Curtis to Fresno State's game, a momentous 44-24 upset of Oregon State, Sports Illustrated's preseason No. 1 pick.
''He still loves football,'' J.D. says. ''Lately he's been talking about maybe doing some scouting, evaluating talent. He'd be good at it. . . . He's sharp when it comes to football.''
And not bitter.
''It was just an accident,'' Curtis says. ''Accidents happen.''
Curtis is one of eight children -- six boys, two girls -- of Donnie and Viola Williams, who are in their 60s and have had health problems. That's a big reason David stepped forward to care for Curtis. Donnie, a retired farmer, has had a heart attack. Viola has Alzheimer's. They live in Avenal, Calif., about an hour away, and visit Curtis often.
All six boys played football, including the youngest, Paul, a senior at Avenal High who is a Division I prospect.
J.D., who made it to the pros, thinks Curtis might have been the best of them all.
''He's one of the best athletes I've ever seen,'' J.D. says. ''To see him just sitting in the chair and not be able to move, knowing that football was his whole life, is very tough.''
Life goes on
Curtis has a 6-year-old daughter, Kymberly, who lives with her mother in Alaska. She recently visited him for 2 weeks. It was not the first time she's seen him like this, but he wonders what she must think of all the tubes and wires attached to him.
''She's OK with it,'' he says. ''She tells me she loves me. And she tells me she wishes I didn't get hurt.''
He says he stays in touch with the Huskies, particularly safeties coach Bobby Hauck, All-America defensive tackle Larry Tripplett and safety Greg Carothers. When they call, someone holds the phone to Curtis' ear and he is transported for a moment back into the Huskies' locker room.
''I enjoy talking to them,'' he says. ''I like to stay in touch.''
His room is covered with large color photos of the Huskies. One is an overhead shot of the team lined up to form a giant 25, Williams' number.
Curtis spends his time watching TV, listening to music, listening to books on tape, sitting outside, visiting with family. Eventually he wants to get a computer he could operate with his mouth, and he wants to finish his degree in American ethnic studies.
Hauck sends him football tapes to look at. J.D. brings some tapes over, too. ''He's happier when he's watching football videos or ESPN,'' says Williams' daytime nurse, Clark Espinoza. ''Sometimes he gets, not really depressed, but quiet, a little sad. When he's talking about football, his spirit comes out.''
It will surely be out Saturday. There had been some plans for Williams to attend the Washington-Michigan game, but David says the trip would have cost close to $15,000 -- $10,000 just to charter a plane with the proper equipment.
They could have dipped into the fund, ''but I kind of put a stop to it,'' David says. ''I just couldn't justify it.''
David says he and Curtis will make the 13-hour drive to see a game in Seattle this fall, once they get a specially designed van they've been waiting for.
As for Saturday, Curtis Williams won't be walking or waving. But he'll definitely be watching, and college football should remember to applaud him, too.
And his brother.