Latest news with #DeShaun
Chicago Tribune
08-08-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Receiver DeShaun Williams bowled over Naperville Central's opponents with blocks. At Toledo, bowl games await.
Wide receiver DeShaun Williams' first contact with Toledo's coaches came before he transferred from St. Francis to Naperville Central for his senior year. 'I first started talking to them in my junior year,' he said. 'But that drifted away.' The talks resumed last fall as Williams excelled for the Redhawks as both a receiver and a running back. 'Their special teams coach, Stan Weber, was in a year ago recruiting Jake Stanish,' Naperville Central coach Mike Ulreich said. 'He noticed DeShaun as well.' Williams had already committed to Indiana State. But things changed in February. 'The receivers coach at Indiana State left, and then they changed offensive coordinators,' he said. 'A lot of the coaches that I had talked to either quit or got fired, so I decommitted.' That's when Weber pounced. 'They heard I decommitted, and coach Weber said he suggested me to the coaches, and that's when they started contacting me,' Williams said. 'Toledo offered me a position on their roster, and I took it.' The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Williams, who had 55 catches for 636 yards and nine touchdowns to help the Redhawks reach the Class 8A state semifinals, is joining a program that has played in 12 bowl games since 2010. The Rockets (8-5), who haven't had a losing season in head coach Jason Candle's nine-year tenure, beat Pittsburgh 48-46 in a six-overtime thriller in the GameAbove Sports Bowl last season. 'Coach Candle is a really good coach,' Ulreich said. 'I got to meet him a few times when he's been in our building. It's just kind of an impressive operation.' One in which Williams thinks he will thrive. 'Seeing the NFL talent they always produce really excited me,' Williams said. 'My receivers coach has coached at Power Five schools and coached NFL talent that is still in the league today, so that was a major thing.' Indeed, Toledo receivers coach RJ Fleming has had seven players who have reached the NFL. That's a goal for Williams, of course, who is relishing his first training camp. 'At first it was a real adjustment,' Williams said. 'It's like a six- to seven-hour day, but it's really fun. 'You get to learn a lot about football, and my coaches so far have told me a lot of good things. They've told me I've learned the playbook pretty fast, I'm fast and physical at the top of my routes. A lot of nights you've got to study the playbook like it's a test.' Even if Williams passes every test, he probably won't see any action as a freshman. The Rockets have a large receiver room, led by four returning senior starters. 'So long as I keep working and learning the playbook and really continue to grow with the team, I feel like I could see some time sophomore year maybe,' Williams said. That patience will serve Williams well, according to Ulreich, who witnessed those traits last season. The Redhawks started slowly offensively as quarterback Sebastian Hayes, who was coming back from two torn ACLs, learned the offense. 'The most impressive thing about DeShaun was just what a great team player he was,' Ulreich said. 'We didn't throw the ball a ton the first couple weeks. DeShaun never said a word about it. All he did was block like crazy. 'The first weeks of the season he had some really impressive, physical blocks, and as the season went on those two started to get into a rhythm.' Indeed, Williams caught two long touchdown passes from Hayes during the Redhawks' 24-7 win over Lyons in the state quarterfinals. That turned out to be the final win of Williams' final high school season. 'It was so memorable,' he said. 'From the summer with the morning workouts, it was all so special. 'Coach Ulreich really does a good job teaching you the game and really the understanding of football. His plays were a lot like college plays formation-wise and really scheme-wise. He coaches you like you're a college athlete, and he does so much to prepare you for the next level.' Williams, in turn, helped prepare his younger teammates. 'He proved what type of team player he was by what he did when he didn't have the football,' Ulreich said. 'He made some pretty vicious blocks on the perimeter, so he earned a lot of people's respect doing those things. 'By the end of the year, we had some young guys with us. It was kind of fun watching him mentor those guys as well. He was a great guy to have around and a really great teammate.'
USA Today
11-06-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
I first went to jail at 11. Coming home at 32, I entered a different kind of prison.
I first went to jail at 11. Coming home at 32, I entered a different kind of prison. | Opinion This isn't about erasing accountability. This is about recognizing rehabilitation, maturity and the human capacity for change. Show Caption Hide Caption More than 12,000 have had their records expunged as part of Project Clean Slate Project Clean Slate, started in 2016 by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, reached a milestone - and DeShaun is overjoyed to be No. 12,000. Fox - 2 Detroit I spent most of the first half of my life in carceral settings. My first incarceration was at 11 years old. By 17, I was serving what amounted to a juvenile life sentence, followed by 15 consecutive years in prison. When I came home at 32, I stepped into a different kind of prison: one built from stigma, systemic barriers and the persistent shadow of a criminal record. That's why clean slate, expungement and pardon legislation aren't abstract policy ideas to me ‒ they are deeply personal, transformational tools that can open doors otherwise locked shut. These aren't about erasing accountability. They're about recognizing rehabilitation, maturity and the human capacity for change. They're about giving people a real chance to rejoin the communities they never stopped loving. After my release, I refused to be defined by my record. Instead, I became the first formerly incarcerated person ever hired by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Delaware. I helped anchor and launch the state's first federal reentry court, a visionary model that is still operating today and successfully serving Delawareans. I didn't just reenter society ‒ I helped reimagine what reentry could look like. But even with that level of access and success, I still faced unnecessary hurdles that clean slate legislation would have helped eliminate. Momentum for record-clearing legislation is growing Across the country, momentum for record-clearing legislation is growing. In recent months, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed the Expungement Reform Act into law, expanding eligibility for record clearance. Thousands of Marylanders who have stayed out of trouble and paid their dues now have a shot at housing, education and employment that was previously denied to them due to an outdated or irrelevant criminal record. This follows a broader national trend. Twelve states ‒ including Delaware, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Utah ‒ have enacted clean slate laws that automatically seal eligible criminal records after a certain period of time. Opinion: I worked for this office under the DOJ. Funding cuts will make you less safe. These laws increase employment, reduce recidivism and improve public safety. And they do it without requiring the person to navigate complicated and expensive legal processes that often disproportionately exclude the poor and people of color. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, nearly 1 in 3 American adults in the working age population has some type of criminal record, most of them for nonviolent offenses or arrests that never led to a conviction. Yet even decades later, these records can restrict access to housing, employment and education. The collateral consequences can be lifelong. We have a moral imperative to clean slates. We also have a financial one. The Center for Economic and Policy Research estimates that the U.S. economy loses between $78 and $87 billion annually in gross domestic product due to the employment barriers faced by people with criminal records. That's not just a policy failure ‒ it's an economic one. Opinion: PTSD can land veterans in prison. Restoring VA care honors sacrifices and struggles. Clean slate laws create stronger, more stable communities. When people can access jobs and housing, they pay taxes, raise their families and contribute to the fabric of our economy. The data is clear: When you give people a fair chance, most take it and run with it. At the federal level, the introduction of the Weldon Angelos Presidential Pardon Expungements Act is a potential game-changer. Named for a man who was sentenced to 55 years in prison for a first-time nonviolent offense and later pardoned, this bipartisan bill would allow people who have received presidential pardons to petition for record expungement. Currently, a pardon removes penalties but not the stigma. Even after a presidential pardon, individuals still face the barriers tied to their record. This bill would be the first of its kind to create a federal pathway for record expungement, offering real relief and real second chances. We have to close the federal gap We are living through a political moment where tough-on-crime rhetoric is once again on the rise. However, the facts don't support the fear. What we need now is not a return to mass incarceration, but a doubling down on policies that work: Clean slate laws, investment in reentry programs and fair hiring practices. These policies have broad bipartisan support. A recent Clean Slate Initiative survey found that both Democrats and Republicans in many states overwhelmingly back record clearance as a pathway to economic self-sufficiency, family stability and safer communities. I'm proud of what I've accomplished since coming home. I've built businesses, created training pipelines for returning citizens, and helped lead justice reform efforts at the local and national levels. None of that would have been possible without the belief ‒ first in myself, then from others ‒ that I could be more than the worst thing I ever did. Clean slate legislation codifies that belief into law. It says to every person coming home: You are more than your past. You deserve a future. Let's make sure our laws reflect that truth, not just for me, but for the millions who are still locked out of opportunity, even after serving their M. Soliman is the founder of Soliman Consulting LLC and is serving a four-year appointment on the Delaware Workforce Development Board.
