When Chris Williams’ biological father left and didn’t come back, Elroy Chong became his primary male role model.
Williams does not know where he would be in life — or if he’d be alive, at all, without Chong, who helped him steer clear of the trouble a fatherless young kid in a rough neighborhood can find with one bad decision.
“He has been there for me from early childhood, into high school, through college and with me still,” Williams, now 41, said of Chong, 73, whose ex-wife is Williams’ mother’s sister.
“I kind of helped him out where I could,” Chong said.
Chong understates his role, Williams said.
Chong retired two years ago after 47 years as a sole practitioner at a physical therapy company. Williams is a typical hard-working local family man with a wife, four children and two jobs.
They are uncle and nephew, surrogate father and son. It is a common relationship, especially in Hawaii.
There’s another little twist to it. As University of Hawaii football alumni, Chong and Williams are also braddahs.
Another is Jonah Panoke, a nephew of Williams and a receiver who completed his UH playing career last season.
“Uncle El and I went to a few games, especially to watch him play,” said Williams, who was a teammate of coach Timmy Chang in 2004. “Our conclusion was, ‘Eh we gotta help Timmy out.’”
And thus was born the Hawaii Warrior Football Network, the newest in the collection of collectives raising money to pay — or, to use the term Williams prefers, compensate — UH players in the age of name, image and likeness benefits for college athletes.
NIL is nil for the Warriors in comparison to schools like Tennessee, where a quarterback held out for double the $2 million he was getting per year. Williams’ dream, for now, is to raise just a little more than that for the entire UH team to split.
“The ultimate goal is to compensate all of the student-athletes on the team at least $2,000 a month,” Williams said. “With the funds raised where we’re at, I know for a fact we can’t do the whole team with this event. The goal was three or four players at $2,000 a month.”
HWFN’s debut fundraiser last week filled the room with 250 fans, including many of Hawaii’s rich and powerful. It was a dinner at Waialae Country Club, where Chong is a longtime member.
“We gotta keep it going, monthly. I think Timmy really needs the help,” said Chong, a quarterback during the Dave Holmes coaching era who was voted most inspirational player by his UH teammates. “We don’t have the great stadium yet, we don’t have the highest-paid coaching staff yet. How can we keep the best (players) home? But we’re expected to win now. We gotta do something to help Timmy.
“I have colleagues at Oregon, Alabama. They tell me about how they pay the whole team,” Chong added. “Here it’s maybe 10, 15 or 20 players.”
Funds raised by HWFN will go toward “employment and mentorship for the student-athletes, and sending them to local schools to pay it forward,” Williams said. “By doing that the hope is they generate more support for their teammates.”
That’s my favorite part of Williams’ plan: Part of the way the fortunate ones earn their compensation is to help get their teammates on the payroll, too.
Chang said he is grateful and excited.
“The HWFN program enhances our ability to build lasting relationships in the community and creates meaningful ways for our fans, friends and families to get directly involved in recruiting and retaining top talent,” the coach said in a text Tuesday.
HWFN is an offshoot of the fundraising program of McKinley High School’s football program, a nonprofit started by Williams when he was head coach at his prep alma mater in 2023 and Chong was also on the staff. The Faith Acts Now Club (faithactsnow.org) continues to help underserved athletes with meals, equipment and other support.
Chong and Williams have no intention of making any money for themselves from either venture. They want to facilitate giving.
“This is McKinley 2.0,” Williams said. “Our heart is a heart of philanthropy. We had presidents, CEOs, business owners (at Waialae). I believe the location helped draw the right people. The heart was real, but we need ongoing continual support to keep the momentum going. We meet with the other programs, helping UH, and don’t want to take anything away from them. We want to stay in our lane.”
The Tigers went winless on the field for a third consecutive year in 2023, Williams’ and Chong’s one season coaching there. But they were encouraged by off-field successes, like three of 23 players who had two or more F’s the previous quarter scoring all A’s on their next report card.
“Football was the common ground when Chris was a kid, and so from there it just took off,” Chong said of their relationship. “I tried my best to mentor him, and now he wants to help and has that spirit about him.”
