Jets' Williams brothers play for something bigger in October
Quinnen and Quincy Williams have helped slingshot the New York Jets into relevancy six games into this season. In the 27-10 win over Green Bay in Week 6, the brothers terrorized Aaron Rodgers and helped solidify the Jets as a playoff threat, but this October, they play for something bigger than just victories on the field.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the brothers are breast cancer screening advocates. They lost their mom, Marquischa Henderson Williams, to the disease in 2010. At the time, Quincy was 15 and Quinnen 12.
“Everything you do, you have to have a ‘why,’” Quincy, a linebacker, said on NFL Network in 2021. “What’s my why? My mom is my why... She’s the first person I think about.”
Quinnen, who had two sacks against Green Bay, plays defensive tackle.
Although their stat lines differ, their "why" is the same.
It’s family.
Quinnen has a large tattoo of a pink ribbon on his chest, and according to the Jets, the Williams family — the four siblings and their grandmother, Yvarta Henderson — embraces the color. The family members wear it on Marquischa’s birthday, Mother’s Day, during the annual breast cancer awareness 5K they run and on Aug. 10, the date Marquischa died.
The Williams brothers have teamed with the American Cancer Society to highlight the importance of cancer screenings and meet with patients.
“My mom instilled a lot in us that, whatever you do, play as hard as you can play and give it all your 100 percent,” Quinnen said on NFL Network. “Everything I do in life, I use those fundamentals and use those characteristics, from my marriage to working out and eating healthy… Everything I do is for my mom because she instilled those characteristics in me.”
The NFL is raising awareness about cancer this season with its "Crucial Catch: Intercept Cancer" campaign, and the Williams will be front and center for a cause close to their hearts.
More must-reads: