Marcus Williamson stood up, turned toward his mother, smiled and raised his hands above his head to make a celebratory “O” as she snapped a photo of him with the school’s band playing in the background.
For years, his parents – Maron and Tamar – had dreamed of this moment. Of their middle son, a Westerville native and rising senior cornerback at Ohio State, graduating from the university in just three years. On May 3, that day came. It just didn’t go as they once expected.
Rather than the traditional graduation garb with a cap, Williamson wore a white and gray sweatshirt with matching sweatpants. Instead of packing into Ohio Stadium with the rest of the graduates and their families, the Williamsons watched an online presentation with Tamar connecting her phone to broadcast it on their television in the living room.
“In terms of graduation, it was kind of, how can I put it,” Marlon said. “It was a rewarding but disappointing moment for me because my oldest son, which his name is Matthew, he graduated from Ashland University. I was able to see him walk across the stage and we were there and we were taking pictures afterward.
With Marcus, to be a graduate from The Ohio State University, for years I looked forward to going down to the university and seeing him walk across the stage. A heck of an accomplishment. He did it in three years. That's a testament to his hard work and effort.
“But we made the most of it.” Shortly after the ceremony concluded, Marcus walked outside of his house to excitement. His mother had contacted family and friends who drove by as part of what his dad called a “car parade.” Out of their windows, they cheered, honking and yelling congratulations to him. Their neighbors soon came outside to wish him success and happiness.
“It turned out to be a really nice situation,” Marlon said.
There’s a decent chance Marlon will get a second chance to see his son graduate from Ohio State. With law school as the long-term goal, Marcus is planning to attend the John Glenn College of Public Affairs for graduate school next year.
As he’s doing that, of course, he’s also gearing up for his senior year of football as a Buckeye. In a normal, coronavirus-free year, he’d have gone through a final slate of spring practices while trying to capture one of the two open starting cornerback jobs. Instead, camp ended in March after just three practices, forcing everybody out of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
“Just like in life, man, you're going to have challenges and you're going to have to adjust,” Marlon said. “I think Marcus did a great job of adjusting.”
Luckily, as Marlon put it, Marcus is a “stone’s throw” from his family’s home in Westerville. Rather than moving back in with his parents, he’s been able to stay at his apartment with his roommate, who’s a senior on the men’s soccer team.
That’s especially beneficial for his parents, who’ve done their best to keep Marlon’s 78-year-old mother healthy. Since he often works on home projects, Marlon went down to his shop to grab her an n95 mask the moment he found out of COVID-19 gets transmitted. For the rest of his family, he rushed out to buy the last pack of surgical masks he found at a local Kroger.
Marcus’ younger brother, an incoming freshman defensive back at Bowling Green, has moved in with his brother. So whenever either of them returns home, Marlon said, they make sure to keep their distance from their grandmother or wear their mask, doing what they can to maintain proper social distancing.
“Nothing is 100 percent, man, but you can just be smart and try to protect yourself the best you can and the loved ones around you as well,” Marlon said.
Since Marcus and Myles are living together, they’re working out together with the same personal trainer they’ve used for years. As a father, Marlon likes the dynamic, and he also sees the progress in Marcus.
“Really, I don't think he's missing a beat, to tell you the truth,” Marlon said. “I see the maturity with him and really taking ownership with making sure he's getting his rest and taking care of his diet and training and training hard. Because you're going to be able to tell when guys come back who's been training and who hasn't been training. I think we're excited about the future and we're going to go out there and he's going to compete like he always has.
“And I'm just hopeful that we have a season.”
Marlon isn’t alone in that thought. He does, however, have reason to root for it to happen more so than most others.
If the season goes on without a hitch and he’s allowed in the stadium, he’ll get to see Marcus’ Buckeyes take on Myles’ Falcons at Ohio Stadium in the Sept. 5 season opener.
“if they're both on the field at the same time, that's just, I don't know how I'm going to feel at that moment, man, but I know I'm going to be excited,” Marlon said. “We're rooting for them to stay healthy and to keep fighting.”
Just sayin': It's really a good news family story on Marcus. He's definitely a STUDENT-athlete......
