Sports
Darion Williams’ Celebratory Gesture Rings True
The Vista Murrieta football and track standout makes it clear that he did not flip the middle finger to the camera after the Broncos CIF finals victory.
In the heat of the moment, and with pure, unfiltered joy, Darion Williams looked in the camera, stuck out his ring finger and screamed, “We got a ring! We got a (bleep) ring!”
Replayed over and over at the end of Vista Murrieta High’s CIF football finals victory over Corona Centennial, the standout football and track star raised eyebrows with his raised digit. Many believed he flashed the camera his middle finger instead.
Now, one week after becoming a minor video sensation and , Williams laughs, sets the record straight and admits he’d probably do it all over again. But he’d keep the language PG13, he said.
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“If I had to do it all over again, I would probably wave the ring finger and point at it instead of just waving it around,” Williams said. “But yeah, I would probably do it again.”
While some players have been disrespectful or less than gracious in winning, this was not the case. Both schools were very complimentary of the way the teams acted before, during and after the
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Williams’ mother, Denise Llamas, said the principal talked to her son after receiving several complaints about his alleged “inappropriate gesture.” But going back to the video, it was clear he was holding up his ring finger and there was no disciplinary action taken, the school confirmed.
“In the heat of the moment, this is a once in a lifetime moment…he was acting out of passion,” Llamas said of her son. “He was not being malicious, angry or disrespectful. It was that he finally got his ring after three times of trying.
“I’ve never been to that school once for (any of my three sons) being in trouble. I told them, ‘If you were ever in trouble at school, it would be nothing compared to what happens to you when you get home.’ “
Williams, a senior, is a two-time All-Southwestern League and All-CIF selection as wide receiver/safety and maintains a 3.6 grade-point average. He is being recruited by numerous schools including many of the Ivy League schools, UC Irvine and Cal Berkeley.
He acknowledges that he has some “fun decisions” ahead of him. But he’ll never forget the night he stood on the Vista Murrieta football field, tears of joy on his face, and a ring finger with a mind of its own.
“Pure happiness,” Williams said of his tears. “It was a relief, too. The third time’s a charm.”
