Welcome to the neighborhood that connects Ryan Williams with ex-LSU DB and Tennessee WR

Bayou Sara flows south of the neighborhood. The railway tracks run a little to the west. Cross them to reach the community known as Blackjacks.

Trees cast shadows on the streets, and the branches reach toward each other from opposite yards. The age of this Saraland neighborhood near the middle school can be seen in the height of the trees. They have been growing for years.

This also applies to the neighborhood’s elite soccer talent.

Velus Jones Jr., 27, led the way. The former Southern Cal/Tennessee receiver and current Jacksonville Jaguar once called the Blackjacks home. His younger cousin Cor’Dale Flott, 23, once lived a few houses away. The New York Giants cornerback moved from the Blackjacks to LSU. His brother, WyDale Flott, also later played football at Southern Miss.

About a minute away was the home of Alabama receiver Ryan Williams.

Everyone has taken different football paths, but every path leads back to this southern Alabama neighborhood.

“I have coached in this community for a long time,” Saraland High School coach Jeff Kelly said. “I can’t think of a young man from this neighborhood who didn’t work extremely hard and wasn’t the kind of guy you wanted on the field when the game was on the line.”

Jones was one of those players, so much so that Saraland declared February 4, 2022, “Velus Jones Jr. Day” and presented the recipient with a key to the city. The school celebrated Jones’ accomplishments with a pep rally for the two-time all-state player.

Williams, 17, was in attendance, then a high school freshman. Jones knew him from the neighborhood and was aware of Williams’ talent; Jones had heard from his younger brothers how good Williams was. So Jones, who owned many Saraland records, challenged Williams.

Break every record.

Then Williams did it. In the following two seasons, Williams took over the state’s high school football and won Mr. Football twice.

“To be honest, I didn’t know it would come to this,” Jones said. “I always knew he had talent and stuff like that, but you just never know how things are going to turn out.”

Jones should have known based on what happened on the basketball court.

The park is located where Blackjack Road, the neighborhood’s namesake, connects to Shady Oak St. Kelly has driven through the park many times to pick up and drop off kids, and he always sees kids on the playground or basketball court when school isn’t open. “You can count on that,” Kelly said.

When Jones was in college, he came home and shot some hoops. There Jones met Williams.

“He was literally hooping, windmilling his freshman or sophomore year,” Jones said. “Dunking on people. It was like the craziest thing. Definitely the best athlete to ever come through Saraland.”

Williams combined a constant smile with a competitive drive.

“I felt like no one could beat him for nothing,” Jones said. “I had to show him in basketball.”

Jones didn’t care that Williams was 10 years younger. Age played no role in these collecting games.

“Kids growing up in this neighborhood were always extremely competitive and extremely tough,” Kelly said. “When you were in this game you had to be tough. You had to be competitive.”

Back then, Jones was able to shift his body weight onto Williams, who wasn’t even old enough to drive a car. Now it may be a different story, but one thing hasn’t changed: Williams’ nickname. Williams made his nickname “Hollywood” known as a child in the park.

That confidence didn’t deter Jones. In fact, he respected it and wanted to promote it.

“Honestly, it’s like shooting for the stars,” Jones said. “I had a lot of people doubting me.”