Dorsey senior football players Joshua Coleman and Mychai Williams were recently honored by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, John Ferraro Los Angeles Chapter. The organization hosted its 58th annual Scholar Athlete Award Banquet at Sofi Stadium; all the student athletes and their families got a tour of the stadium. The honorees were presented plaques in the Rams’ and Chargers’ locker rooms.
In the fall, Coleman will be going to Morehouse College and Williams will be attending Colorado State. Coleman noted how the honor was “a great accomplishment.”
“I’m glad that my senior year and all of my achievements while I was being at Dorsey was recognized by people who run the College Football Hall of Fame and other huge businesses,” he said.
Williams noted how prioritizing his schoolwork was important when it came to balancing the duties of a student athlete.
“It meant a lot to get noticed for not just athletic ability, but my smarts,” Williams said.
Williams’ father, Stephenson, knows that getting achievements like the Scholar Athlete award takes hard work and commitment.
“Hard work pays off, stay on the grind,” Stephenson said. “The future is bright for any young person if they would just focus. If you’re all in, stay all in.”
After taking academic courses during previous summers, Coleman was able to graduate early. This gave him time to influence his teammates to become high-performing student athletes.
“The main focus for me was making sure that my teammates stayed on their academics, trying to keep them tight with the academics so that they were able to play for the season,” Coleman said. “That was where most of my attention was.”
Coleman’s father, John, recognized his work ethic in football and in academics.
“He worked very hard,” John said. “We’re just extremely proud of everything that he’s done athletically, but more in the classroom and how he treats people.”
Williams and Coleman were two of seven student athletes who were awarded. Around 60 student athletes were up for the awards, according to Christian Gascou, president of the John Ferraro Los Angeles Chapter.
“Everybody had at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA, so that’s impressive; for four years to be at least a 3.2 or higher in high school while playing football,” Gascou said. “In the community, they’re all active, mentoring, coaching, helping with tutoring, whatever they can do.”
This year marks the first time the John Ferraro Los Angeles chapter held an in-person banquet since the COVID-19 shutdown. Both Williams and Coleman aspire to compete at Sofi.
“Getting to tour the whole stadium was really cool,” Coleman said. “Just seeing that I’m closer to my steps as I’m going through my next phase of my life in college … I am one step away from getting here.”
