Longtime Auburn football team pastor dies in an accident on an Alabama lake

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ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. (AP) — 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 into the water 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’s Restaurant on Lake Martin in Elmore County.

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

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.