In the long history of The Leader’s Pigskin Pickers, different people in different professions – bankers, car deaiers, pawn shop owners and body shop owners – have taken first place in the contest, which involves picking winners for high school, college and professional football games over a three-month period.
One type of person that had never won the contest? A woman.
That changed this year when Heather Williams, the internet manager at Homer Skelton Ford in Millington, beat 11 men to win. She picked 94 of 130 games correctly, beating C.H. Sullivan and Micah Fulcher, last year’s winner, by two games. Jere Mason finished fourth and Benton Lindsey, Terry Wall (former winner) and Greg Benjamin finished in a three-way tie for fifth.
Williams said being the first woman to win Pigskin Pickers wasn’t a big deal for her. A former University of Memphis cheerleader, Williams said football is a big part of her family’s life.
“Football is on at my house Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday,” she said. “My husband (Tipton County Sheriff’s Deputy B.J. Williams) is a big fan. I played fantasy before I had a baby three years ago. I would have been way better at picking back then.”
Williams was awarded a free-half page advertisement in The Leader and a $200 check, which was donated to the Munford High School football program.
Final standings
