Refuting stereotypes can be quite entertaining. For example, just because someone plays athletics does not mean that person is of lesser intelligence.

Incoming freshman Brennan Williams of Massachusetts is one example of how a kid who is good at football does not mean he is a "dumb jock."

Williams is a 6-foot-7, 285-pound, high-school All-American offensive tackle who just arrived in Chapel Hill to enroll for summer school at the University of North Carolina.

"Coaches found very quickly when they called Brennan, if you called to talk about football or last week's game, the conversations weren't going to be real long," said Brent Williams, Brennan's dad and a long-time player in the National Football League. But if you called to him about guitar lessons or what he was doing with his art work, he was happy to chat. UNC offensive line coach Sam Pittman "picked up on that very quickly. They developed a really good rapport early."

Williams has a younger brother and sister, and their parents wanted well-rounded children. Yes, sports are important. But Brennan's artwork was just as important to him and his family as his ability to block and tackle.

"I consider myself to be an artist," Brennan said. "And I do play the bass guitar. I've won a few awards statewide as an artist. That is hopefully what I will be doing in school besides football.

"I tend to paint my face before football games with eye black. I get made fun of a lot, but it's one of the ways I express myself as an artist."

The Williams family felt so strongly that schools had to pass their approval as academic institutions before they would be allowed to even recruit Brennan as an athlete. Carolina's academic reputation enabled the Tar Heels to get into the race at a relatively late stage and still land this highly skilled football player.

It didn't hurt that Brent Williams' nephew graduated from North Carolina and "had been harping to us throughout the process."

"From an academic standpoint, early on we met with his high-school football coach and we explained the type of schools that we would not consider," Brent Williams said. "You can get a great education at any school, but there are some schools that stand out. North Carolina was one of those schools. ..."

"North Carolina didn't really get in the recruitment of Brennan until later in the process. Because they fit the academic bill, we would listen. We would investigate further. There were schools that came along at the same time that were not even a consideration. We felt North Carolina offered everything we wanted our son to experience. When he walked out four years from now with a piece of paper that said he was a graduate ... we knew that would mean something."

Brennan's younger brother, Camren, another honor roll student from the Williams family, is coming to Carolina's football camp this week and could someday become a Tar Heel himself.

Their dad, Brent, wants to do even more than just see his children get a shot at playing collegiate sports and use that to earn a degree. He is trying to help other kids in Massachusetts get recognized. UNC actually has two freshmen from that state. Wide receiver Joshua Adams, who played against Brennan in high school, graduated early, enrolled at Carolina in January and participated in spring practice.

He, too, was a high school All-American.

"Joshua Adams, when you play him and see him on film, he sticks out, as you can see him being a next, next level player," Brent Williams said. "The thing I was most impressed was to meet his family and get to know them as people. They were as influential as anyone in having us explore the North Carolina opportunity. They prodded us along in reaching out to North Carolina early.

"That kid is going to be a really, really good player. He works really hard at what he's doing. He has professionalism in him that I got to see when I came down and watched him practice with the team in the spring. We saw him a couple of times there, and we went to the spring game."

Now that the Tar Heels have discovered New England, Williams said that he thinks they will return.

"Hopefully, we can keep a pipeline to North Carolina," Williams said.

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