Aeneas Williams: From Pro Bowl To Rookie Pastor
In his heyday, Rams safety Aeneas Williams was a feared enforcer in the defensive backfield for the Rams and Cardinals, earning his way to eight different Pro Bowls and developing a reputation as the perennial leader of his team’s defense. He was almost a poor man’s past-centric Brian Dawkins at his best, and when Williams walked away from the game in 2005, there was reason to believe he may have had a couple more good seasons left in his tank, even though he was already 37.
(Aeneas Williams has gone from delivering big hits to biblical sermons.)
Well, now we know why he was ready to leave: Williams was about to embark on a second career as an evangelical pastor. Just three years removed from retirement, Williams has a flourishing congregation in suburban St. Louis, his Spirit of the Lord Family Church worshipping in the ballroom of a Crowne Plaza Hotel in Clayton, Mo., according to the ASSOCIATED PRESS, though a permanent home for the church is expected in the future.
In the meantime, Williams is gaining a loyal following of Christians who have taken to his message of experiential faith, trying to help his parishioners find God in their everyday lives. Not surprisingly, Williams has a knack of leaning on his own life in football to express how he developed his own spiritual connection with God.
