Jamal Willis
Growing up as a Black man in the 1970s wasn’t always easy for Jamal Willis. He shared the struggles his parents faced: racial discrimination, segregation, and the denial of fundamental rights. But he didn’t let these trials hold him back, instead focusing on what he learned through them: to stand up for himself, to never give up, and to hold firmly to hope.
Willis began his football career at his high school in Las Vegas. While there, he received the Gatorade All-American award and a four-year scholarship to play football at BYU. He spent all four years there as a running back. In 1994, he graduated with a degree in sociology, and he later received his master’s degree in educational counseling from the University of Phoenix.
Throughout his life, Willis has often expressed the importance of hope and Christlike love. At a 2020 assembly with the Maple Mountain High School football program, he said, “What it really comes down to is having that real, genuine love.”1
One way he has been able to express and experience that love is through his family. Willis and his wife met at BYU and have now been married for thirty-two years. They have three children and three grandchildren. Willis credits Heavenly Father for the blessing of his family and the joy that they have felt together.
1 Talk
The Need for Greater Hope
