Sidelined, for now
Williams continues sports photography amid cancer fight
Sports photographer Ricky Williams has been sidelined this year after being diagnosed with liver cancer. Williams has had the opportunity, through special arrangements for field access, to shoot a couple of football games in the 2024 season and hopes to be courtside during the coming basketball season. (photo:Tony Cox )
The late-in-life sports photographer, who learned in June that he has liver cancer, has been undergoing immunotherapy treatments ever since. While the treatments have lessened his symptoms, they have left him weak.
“I still have some pain sometimes, but I’m feeling better than I had been — I’m feeling pretty good,” Williams, a Norris native, said last week during a phone interview. “The biggest thing has been [that] my strength isn’t what it was.”
He has attended two Anderson County High School football games this year and felt well enough to photograph one of them. He also took preseason photos of the girls basketball team.
“I love it,” he said of his second career, which he began after going back to school in 2017. “I still want to help out as much as I can.”
Williams’ desire to help has long guided him. He previously worked as a firefighter with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, until a medical condition forced him into early retirement in 2015. He also served as a Boy Scout leader, joining the organization when his nephew, Zach Williams, was involved as a Scout in middle school.
Williams discovered his passion for photography during a Scout canoe trip, where he realized he enjoyed taking pictures. He pursued his interest by enrolling in a photography program at Pellissippi State Community College in 2017.
Williams initially favored landscape photography until he photographed an ACHS sporting event, where he met Courier News Publisher Tony Cox.
“I knew I didn’t have the best equipment, but Tony was very nice, worked with me, and encouraged me the first time we met,” Williams said. “He also told me they needed some good sports photographers.”
Meeting former Courier News Editor Ken Leinart at a Scouting event further encouraged him.
“I had two different people suggesting I consider it, so I thought it might be what I needed to do,” he said.
Williams also shadowed ACHS football Coach Davey Gilliam for a photo essay class.
“I wanted to tell the story of what he does with the kids, the players, and the parents through photos,” he said. “I got to know him that way, and he said I could come back and be on the sidelines, so I started doing football.”
Williams also interned with The Courier News.
“Tony and Ken took me on, and I learned a lot,” he said. “Afterward, they wanted me to stay.”
Freelancing for the paper led Williams to cover other ACHS sports teams, including volleyball and soccer, making him a familiar presence at games.
He has been missed this year, and many parents and staff members have reached out to him.
“I started getting letters from parents asking where I had been, and one of the football moms, who also cuts my hair, led an effort to bring me food,” he said. “They brought so much, and a card. The community has been really good to me.
“One of the moms, Jennifer Murphy, who is Ty Murphy’s mom, wrote to me, and Davey said he and parents were praying for me.”
Williams has continued attending Boy Scout meetings and church services at Bethel Baptist when he has been able to.
“I have had a lot of support from a lot of people, and I can’t thank them enough,” he said. “Faith and trust in God are getting me through this.
“My relationship with God through Christ gives me hope and strength as I go through this,” he added.
“I’ve had so many prayers lifted up on my behalf. I feel them, appreciate them, and I cherish them. I’m in God’s hands, and that’s a pretty good place to be.”