Foes up front in college, NFL, new Hall of Fame inductees meet once again
By JASON PUGH, Written for the LSWA
NATCHITOCHES — They collided, literally, in their college and pro football careers, lining up across from each other on the front lines.
Last weekend’s reunion for Todd McClure and Pat Williams could not have been more pleasant. They were the big fellas in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame’s 2026 induction class that made its final step into the Hall at the Induction Ceremony last Saturday night at the Natchitoches Events Center.
McClure, a center throughout his long NFL career with the Atlanta Falcons, had banged up against Williams, a nose tackle for Buffalo and Minnesota, numerous times in their playing days. They first met in a couple of college games when LSU and McClure took on Williams and Texas A&M.
They had an easy camaraderie and obvious mutual respect apparent from last Thursday when they met at the Hall of Fame museum before the introductory press conference.
“Ohh, yes, we do know each other,” said McClure. “Nobody wanted to see Pat Williams on the other side of the ball.”
They took different paths to the NFL. Williams, at Wossman High in Monroe, needed to go to junior college after not taking academics too seriously. He was an All-American there and a standout for the Aggies in two seasons, but was not chosen in the NFL Draft. He made it in Buffalo behind Pro Football Hall of Famer Bruce Smith as a free agent, launching a 13-year NFL career.
McClure was an All-America center as a senior at LSU, but was picked in the last round of the draft by Atlanta. Nobody could deny him in a distinguished 14-season stay with the Falcons.
A three-sport star at Central High School, McClure went to nearby LSU with designs on playing both football and baseball, where he would have teamed with his brother, Trey, an All-American on the diamond.
Instead, it took former Tiger coach Gerry DiNardo all of three games to nix any idea of Todd McClure joining his brother at venerable Alex Box Stadium.
“I had played mostly tight end and defensive end in high school,” McClure said. “I didn’t know how quickly I could pick it up. My sports background allowed me to pick it up so quickly. It helped to have Alan Faneca, an NFL Hall of Famer, teaching me the ropes. Coach DiNardo told me I had a chance to make the NFL. For a freshman, for him to put those thoughts in my mind, meant a lot.”
After a standout career anchoring the Tiger offensive line and twice earning All-SEC honors, McClure was a seventh-round draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons.
There, the man fellow Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer Kevin Faulk referred to as the second smartest player on that Tiger team and a true leader, McClure overcame a season-ending knee injury as a rookie to become even more than a foundation player for the Falcons.
“Todd was our rock of Gibraltar,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said. “He’s one of the greats in the history of the Atlanta Falcons franchise. He’s an exceptional human being and leader in the NFL.”
A member of the Falcons’ Ring of Honor, McClure spent all 14 of his NFL seasons with the Falcons, a rarity in the current professional sports landscape.
“He dedicated himself not only to the team, but to his family,” said his father, Leo McClure. “He was able to keep them in one city. Sorry, Saints fans, once he was a Falcon, he was always a Falcon.”
McClure cited the meaning behind the Ring of Honor as the culmination of what he hoped for as a player.
“It wasn’t about awards or accolades,” he said. “You want to earn the respect of your teammates and coaches and the people you played against. For your owner to come out and show you that type of respect is why I played the game and why I loved the game.”
McClure and many offensive linemen during his career had plenty of respect for Monroe native Pat Williams.
Williams’ path from a standout career at Wossman High School to the NFL took him through the junior college route, beginning his college career at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas.
After playing at Texas A&M and going undrafted, Williams grinded his way into the league and established a lengthy, often-dominant career at nose tackle, earning three Pro Bowl berths and a remarkable 37 game balls.
“I can’t say I was doubted,” Williams said. “I was doubting myself. I wasn’t doing school work like I should have been doing school work (in high school).”
Williams signed with the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent in 1997 and enjoyed a standout eight-season run with the Bills, “tolerating” the blustery Buffalo winters.
In his lone foray into free agency, Williams signed with the Minnesota Vikings after the 2004 season. There he teamed with Kevin Williams (no relation) to form the dominant “Williams Wall” within the Vikings’ defensive line.
“He showed up and did some great things,” said Vikings defensive line coach Karl Dunbar. “Our first three years with Pat, we set an NFL record for holding teams under 63 yards on the ground. I saw the ability in Pat that he could really move around. He did that in college and in Buffalo. That’s how he earned the right to get to Minnesota.”
Those years with the Vikes capped a fabulous NFL run and earned him a weekend in Natchitoches, to claim the ultimate accolade in his career.
Contact Jason at pughj@nsula.edu