Real Salt Lake's Williams leads stressful life

SANDY — After numerous April road games, Real Salt Lake is finally back for an extended home stand, and no one is more excited than midfielder Andy Williams.

On top of juggling the rigors and pressures of getting back into the daily grind of the MLS season, Williams' off-the-field life has been increasingly stressful lately. Last Wednesday, his wife, Marcia, returned home from LDS Hospital after a 10-day stay for treatment of a variety of ailments, including a serious infection.

Originally Marcia was only supposed to be hospitalized for five days, but doctors tacked on five more because of the lingering complications of the infection, RSV and bronchitis.

Without anyone at home to watch his 6-year-old daughter, Williams nearly didn't make the trip to Columbus two weeks ago.

"At first, I wasn't even going to go to Columbus. About three or four times, we changed our minds," said Williams, who ended up starting and playing 90 minutes in the 1-0 loss.

Eventually, Ashley Johnson, the wife of former RSL assistant coach Brian Johnson, agreed to baby-sit Williams' daughter while the team was in Columbus for three nights.

Such stresses are nothing new for Williams, whose wife was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia nearly two years ago but who remains cancer free after receiving a cord-blood transplant last summer.

With his family finally together again, Williams was able to relax, and it showed Saturday night as he notched a goal and an assist in RSL's 2-1 win over Toronto FC.

The worry-free times won't last, though. Marcia returns to LDS Hospital this week to see if the mystery infection has cleared up.

"It's a common thing for transplant patients to have a lot of infections. It can be deadly, so they just have to keep an eye on that," said Williams.

RSL teammate Nat Borchers said he's amazed at Williams' resolve despite the numerous off-field distractions.

"To be honest, he's such a great professional, you wouldn't know anything's wrong at home unless you read the papers or heard the stories circulating in the community," said Borchers.

Interestingly enough, with so much going on in his life, Williams still thinks about his penalty-kick miss in last year's MLS championship. As the fifth shooter, the lone RSL original had a chance to be the hero against the Galaxy and clinch the championship. Instead, his weak penalty kick was easily saved.