CHARLOTTE — Snubbed by the NFL Combine, the chip on North Carolina wide receiver Anthony Ratliff-Williams’ shoulder grew just a little bit bigger.
But the snub should have been no surprise for an athlete who has spent his entire life proving people wrong.
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His senior year at Butler High School in Matthews, Ratliff-Williams was a dominant force at quarterback. He was one of the most coveted players at that position, and started out as a Tar Heel thinking he’d eventually be the main attraction under center.
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But after redshirting his freshman season, then moving to wide receiver and barely playing at first, Ratliff-Williams said it was just one more hurdle he had to clear.
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“I had to take my own time and kind of had to take time away from football and learn myself a little more take time to understand the game a little more respect the game a little more,” he said.
He almost never played football. He was diagnosed with severe asthma as a toddler. His mother, Dinah, lost two jobs as she took time off to care for him.
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Now Ratliff-Williams is projected by most experts to be selected in the sixth or seventh round, with a chance to make his childhood dreams come true.