Auburn football team pastor dies in lake accident

ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. — The longtime pastor of the Auburn University football team died Sunday after falling into the water on Lake Martin in central Alabama.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said the Rev. Chette L. Williams fell from his pontoon boat Sunday evening. His body was found about 90 minutes later. He was 61. The accident occurred near a dock at Kowaliga Restaurant at the lake in Elmore County.

Williams, a former Auburn linebacker, had served as the team chaplain since 1999. He also was the campus director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the State Director for Urban Ministries for FCA, according to a biography on Auburn’s website.

He played for the Auburn football team from 1982 to 1984.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who was Auburn’s head football coach from 1999 to 2008, said Williams was a “remarkable man who led hundreds of young people to the Lord through the years.”

“His leadership has been a steady part of Auburn athletics for more than two decades. But more than sports, Brother Chette helped athletes understand that their purpose was much greater than anything they could ever accomplish on the field,” Tuberville wrote in a statement posted on social media.