On Thanksgiving Day in 1996, Khari Willis almost died.
When the 6 1/2-month-old awoke from his death bed a few days later, as if nothing had happened, his mother, Mary, proclaimed her baby's "life has a purpose."
That purpose was on display for all to see in Chicago at Big Ten Media Days in July, when Willis delivered a speech that captured the imagination of everyone in attendance and the thousands of viewers who have watched the address on YouTube.
Willis, a safety from Michigan State who is a candidate to be selected in the 2019 NFL Draft, found purpose in the platform he had been given.
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"It was a rough season, and I thought about the struggle that not only myself but a lot of other student-athletes within our conference have been through in their lives," he said. "A lot of us grow up coming from inner-cities, there is an everyday struggle for some, survival. Others battle poverty, some battle peer pressure and decision-making. Others battle crime and violence within a home, drug addiction and drug use. Others are faced with gang-related activities that surround them. I noticed that we all coming from these areas, we all kind of have and grow up in an area where there is a lack of hope. Maybe sometimes a lack of resources and maybe sometimes a lack of guidance. …
"Part of the solution that we were coming up with here at Michigan State is a solution of healing. That solution includes listening, understanding, getting out of your comfort zone, sacrificing, putting your personal goals and personal aspirations aside to make sure that the people next to you are better off and have a better opportunity for success. Part of our solution that we can do as student-athletes is that we can go back to these communities, we can go back to the communities where a kid is dreaming on a Saturday night just like we were a few years ago. We can go back to where that kid is facing the decision-making of joining a gang, maybe some drug-related violence, activities and things of that nature and we can go back and we can give back.
"It doesn't necessarily have to be a lot of time, it doesn't necessarily have to be a lot of money. These things that we can do on a day-to-day basis, and I can prove to you that we can be an example for kids for the future kids that come. …
"I challenge all the other student athletes here today to go back to our communities. Let's make a difference, let's continue to let our light shine. There is an old saying that my father used to use; he still uses it to this day. That saying is, ‘If you blow my candle out, that won't make your candle shine any brighter.’
"Let's go back and let's light these candles in these communities. Let's impart what we have learned on our college campuses as far as how to dress, as far as how to talk to people with respect, as far as how to treat women, as far as how we communicate with people that are not like us and not from the same areas that we are from. I feel that the rest of the 40-plus players that are here, we have that opportunity, we were chosen for a reason and you all are special."
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Willis’ words struck a chord with those in attendance, including his parents. John and Mary Willis stressed the importance of character, doing the right thing and treating people the right way even when nobody is watching. On the dais at Big Ten Media Days, there was their son preaching the same things to his peers.
"Whenever I see him speak to young people or he’s speaking out in public, you remember the little, shy kid and the sick kid that you didn’t know would be here," said John, the director of community outreach for their hometown of Jackson, Mich., and the director of The Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Jackson. "To see him come to where he is now, it’s amazing. It’s a blessing to watch him live out his dreams."
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Khari is the seventh of 10 children, including the fifth of seven boys. Doing the right thing started at home, with one of John’s pearls of wisdom finding its way into Khari’s speech.
"What we emphasized to the big brothers for the little brothers, you blowing your little brother’s candle out doesn’t make your candle shine any brighter," John said. "By making somebody seem less, you don’t seem greater. He took that to heart. It makes you really proud that at least one or two things that you said got through there."
Coming off an all-Big Ten junior season, Willis led on and off the field as a senior. The team captain led the Spartans in tackles, spearheading a defense that ranked No. 8 in the nation in scoring, and helped the team go 10-3 after finishing 3-9 in 2017.
And to think, the candle of his life was almost blown out at an early age.
"He was about 7 months old and it was on Thanksgiving Day," John recalled. "We knew he had a fever and wasn’t feeling well. His fever didn’t seem to be really, really bad but, all of a sudden, he just went limp. My wife was like, 'John, you’ve got to come over here. I don’t know what’s going on.'
"He went completely limp, his eyes rolled back in his head and we didn’t know what was going on. We rushed him to the hospital here in Jackson. We were thinking he was having a seizure or something but the response from the nurses and doctors told us it was something deeper than what we thought."
Khari was flown by helicopter to the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan. Khari was diagnosed with adenovirus, a virus that is similar to the common cold but sometimes can turn deadly.
"For about three days, we didn’t know whether he was coming home with us," John said. "On the third day, just like he went in, he came right out. The doctors, they were amazed. God answered our prayers. To see him come from that and to grow into the man who he is, we know that there’s a purpose."
Khari recovered and never looked back. As the seventh child, everything was competitive.
“Everything,” Khari emphasized. “Who got to the breakfast table first? Who got the biggest slice of pizza? Biggest biscuit? Biggest spoon? That’s how we were growing up. Maybe not as small of things, but we’re still competing in a lot of other ways to this day.”
That competitive drive was fostered outside the home, too.
“There really weren’t that many kids around my age, so I was always riding with the older group,” he said. “Even when I got to high school, I was always hanging around older people. My brothers’ friends became my friends. I think it helped me to be tougher and to mature a little bit faster maybe than I would have. They used to try to beat up on me a little bit, so I had to learn to fend for myself at a young age. I think that definitely helped me in the sport of competition. I wasn’t scared of anybody because I had already taken all my lumps from my big brothers.”
At first, Khari’s sport of choice was basketball. John was the basketball coach at Jackson Community College, so Khari grew up around the sport. A former ball boy, Khari spent mornings at the team’s basketball practices, would go to school and football practice, return home for dinner and homework, and then would go to the community center for some late-night drills with his dad. All of that dedication paid off; as a high school sophomore, he was all-state and garnered his first four Division I scholarship offers.
At that point, Willis’ career could have taken a big turn.
“We had a rule where, once you get a Division I offer, you don’t have to play any other sports,” John said. “He told me, ‘Dad, I’m not playing football.’ The day before summer practice started, he came in and said, ‘Dad, I need some cleats.’
"He went out in that first game and had like 279 yards rushing."
For his career, Willis rushed for a school-record 4,432 yards at Lumen Christi High School in Jackson. He fell in love with the culture and coaching staff at Michigan State, so he accepted an offer to play football. A linebacker in high school, he moved to safety at Michigan State.
Fittingly, considering that harrowing Thanksgiving in 1996, Willis’ first career start came as a freshman at Michigan — the home of the hospital that saved his life. When he found out he would be starting, he called his dad and swore him to secrecy.
"I was nervous to tell him," Khari said. “I was hinting at it all week. Like, ‘Make sure you’re there.’ Or, ‘It’s going to be good. You’re going to be surprised.’ Something like that. Finally, I just told him, ‘I’m going to be starting. Don’t tell anybody.’ It was a moment that we shared. With everything that he taught me, and how we shared the highs and the lows, he deserved that experience with everything that he poured into me. It was a father-son moment that was kind of surreal. It was a great moment.”
Another great moment will come this month, when Willis lands in the NFL. The phone call he placed to his dad before the Michigan game was special. The phone call he reserves from his future employer will be special, as well.
“I think about it every single day when I’m driving down the road, before I go to bed,” he said. “‘What’s it going to be like?’ I can only imagine the emotions, not only for me but for my family. It’s just a matter of when and where now. I’m sure it’s going to be emotional and exciting. At the same time, I’m itching to get back to playing football, to get a playbook and learn the defense. It’ll be super-, super-exciting. I feel like I’ll have to take a step back from reality for a little bit.”