Todd “Leaper” Williams has been ingrained in the Kansas football program for decades, to the point that KU’s current head equipment manager Darren Hain calls him “the connective tissue that links 55 years of players, coaches and staff together.”
Williams’ connection deepened even further on Tuesday — if such a thing is possible — when KU officially dedicated the Todd “Leaper” Williams Football Equipment Room, a new addition as part of its recently renovated facilities.
Williams, who turns 72 on Monday, has been on the equipment staff for KU since July 1970, and is still working in the equipment room a few hours a day, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., he said.
“Someday, you’ll retire, you’ll be sitting there on the couch watching TV,” his younger brother Sean Williams said, “but the equipment room will remind somebody (who) was always here, was always a Jayhawk, loyal and true, and we were always going to win.”
Leaper did indeed assert after the reception in his honor on Tuesday, “I’m not ready to retire yet.” But he was heartened by the event, which included a tribute video that featured messages from wide-ranging Jayhawks across eras, from Gilbert Brown to Jalon Daniels to Kerry Meier to Chip Hilleary.
“It’s really a good honor, and it’s really good seeing all these people out here,” he said.
His brother said Leaper was so frequently the first one in the building that former athletic director Bob Frederick gave him the keys.
That commitment to KU Athletics has continued into the modern era.
“You’ve helped make this beautiful facility even better,” KU football coach Lance Leipold said. “To allow our equipment staff to have the resources now to do their jobs in helping our student-athletes has been truly impactful.”
Athletic director Travis Goff said in a video message that Williams “has embodied all the things that make the Jayhawk great: his selflessness, his work ethic, his incredible positivity, facing life with an optimism that inspires each and every one of us.”
“Leaper, we’re so grateful for your legacy at KU that is still ongoing,” he added. “We’re so proud to name this venue in your honor, but please know that the legacy of the most impact, Leaper, is the relationships that you’ve built with each and every one of us and with countless Jayhawks who in particular have worn the crimson and blue for this football program.”
Also announced as part of Tuesday’s festivities was the creation of the Leaper Legacy Fund, with which Williams’ family — the family for which KU’s Williams Education Fund is named — will write a check each year to support one KU manager.
Henry Greenstein/Journal-World
