BUFFALO, N.Y. — Family, friends, and alumni released doves at the Riverside High School football field, celebrating the life of Western New York native and former Buffalo Bills player Mike Williams.
"I still haven't accepted the fact that he has passed away because, in my heart, he will forever live," says best friend Darice Sullivan. "I think I'm in denial- still about it, but like I said, he will forever be in my heart. I have a poem at home he wrote me in high school saying, 'The sky is too big for my love for you. We will always be best friends. We could never be separated.'"
Williams was 36 when he died at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, Florida, on September 12. It was two weeks after he became partially paralyzed from a construction accident. Tampa police say they are investigating on if unprescribed narcotics were given to Williams by an outside party.
His other best friend, Darnell Hubbard, also grew up with Williams and Sullivan. The three friends all graduated from Riverside High School.
"It's a celebration. It's not the end of the road. He's not here in physical form, but he's still here with us in spirit," Hubbard says.
Some folks came in Bills gear, some in Buccaneers jerseys with his number 19 on their backs. Jerseys from high school up to his pro-league years were also on display. Smiles remained on faces to mask the pain, which was visible on his mother's face.
"He was loud. He was fun. He was charismatic. He was athletic. He was multi-talented because whatever Mike put his mind to, he could do," Sullivan says.
So, as they let go of balloons in Williams's remembrance, they're not going to let go of the time and memories created.