(Rochester, NY)… Zed Williams is a member of the Seneca Nation, Wolf Clan; a father, a role model, and a mentor. He also happens to be one of the greatest lacrosse players of his generation.
Growing up as one of seven siblings, it didn’t take long for the second-youngest brother to show what he was made of with a lacrosse stick. His brother Zach, two years older, played with Zed throughout high school and in juniors. He noticed when they first started playing together.
“Probably, six, seven, or eight years old,” Zach said. “We would be playing for the same organization, and I don’t know if we’re still allowed to do this, but we used to bring him up to play with kids my age, and he would stand out. He would play a game with his team, and then, after, our coach would talk to his coach and have him play with us.”
Williams played up all the way through high school, joining the varsity team at Silver Creek in seventh grade. At that point, he was playing against players four to five years older than him and still held his own. He didn’t just hold his own in those six years of varsity lacrosse; he became the best high school attackman ever.
“I learned a lot, I think my game is definitely modeled after his,” Zed Williams said about playing with his older brother Zach. “Whether it was football, lacrosse, basketball, or wrestling, my dad always moved me up to play with Zach, even though the kids were two years older than me, all the way through. Zach was a hell of an athlete, he was mean in a good way, and he didn’t give you anything. He showed me how to fight, he showed me how to stand up for myself, and he showed me how to never quit on anything. He always pushed me to be better, and he set the standard for sure.”
Zed Williams has the most points and the most goals of any high school player ever in the United States, and it’s not close. His 444 goals are 59 more than the next best, and his 729 career points are clear of second by 120. He took his talents to the University of Virginia, where he played four seasons, before he was drafted into the National Lacrosse League and Major League Lacrosse in 2017. Now into the prime of his professional career, Williams is a champion and MVP in the field game and hoisted an NLL Cup in his home city in 2022.
With an accolade list long enough to take to the grocery store, you’d think lacrosse was the thing that he’s best at. Somehow, he finds a way to be a better human than a lacrosse player. Being a parent and a member of a community that looks up to him, Williams knows the responsibility he carries. For him, it comes with a humble desire to engage, to help, and to make people feel heard, along with displaying his talent on the turf.
“That’s Zed in a nutshell, a huge heart, and he cares about everybody,” Zach said. “He shows it on the lacrosse floor every once in a while, but you’ve gotta play this game with some meanness and toughness. But once he steps off the floor, he leaves it on the floor.”
The man they call Zedzilla in the box drops the scales and tail the moment the final whistle blows. He manages to show his heart through compassion and empathy rather than physicality for his teammates. That mentality to leave it out there goes back to how he was brought up.
“He’s always had that chip on his shoulder to prove himself,” Zach said. “It’s just the mentality that we had growing up that our father and mother instilled in us, to go out there and play. Our father pushed us; our mother pushed us to be the best we could be. We didn’t always have our best games, but you learned from them and keep moving forward, and that’s Zed. He’s taken on a lot of stuff in life, and the lacrosse game… he’s just a really gifted human being, a lacrosse player, and a human being.”
Despite being a quiet guy, Williams’ actions speak volumes. It just so happens that the way he can best use his actions to help the next generation is by being a role model on the lacrosse field and a mentor from the sidelines. He plays every game for his family, but to Williams, family is more than just his blood.
“Family is everything, and at the end of the day, you would do anything for family,” Zach said. “If that means going out and giving everything you’ve got for who you’ve got, your family, it goes a long way with Zed… he knows that he’s kind of put on the spot each game because he’s got a ‘How could you step on the floor and not give everything you’ve got knowing there are fans and your family rooting for you?’ Attitude. So, he doesn’t take a night off.”
Zed Williams faced many hardships in 2025. In February, he suffered an Achilles injury during his season in Colorado that put him on season-ending IR. In September, he lost his stepson, Noah, while he was away at college. It caused Williams to reflect deeply, but his family was there supporting each other every step of the way. With their help, he realized his deepest connection to Noah was playing the game of lacrosse they had shared together for so many years, and that’s where he found his medicine.
“Our love and our bond would get us through thick and thin as a family, not just in sports, in life,” Zach said. “I feel, if you can take on life and roll with the punches, then you can play the game to the fullest. Then you step on the floor, and it’s like your playground. It’s where you find your peace, your healing for whatever you’re going through. Just good medicine, you step on the floor, and you’ve got two and a half hours to let it out.”
Now, when he plays and when he coaches, Williams still feels that healing. In every kid, he can see his own, and he wants to help them grow.
“It’s always been a big part for me,” Zed Williams said. “I came into Noah’s life when he was nine. I’ve always loved helping kids. It was always heartwarming to me just to see them as young kids and watch and help them grow, especially using the game of lacrosse.”
Williams’ passion was sparked again when the Knighthawks had a chance, ahead of the game in Buffalo, to visit Ganondagan State Historic Site and the Seneca Art & Culture Center. He brought his two daughters, listened, and asked questions to help him teach them about Native culture. He had a lot to take away after listening to Ansley Jemison speak.
“It was nice being there yesterday to be reminded that no matter how unfair I think life can be, you’ve still got a job to do, and you’ve still got kids to take care of,” Williams said. “You still have younger lacrosse athletes that you have to help mold and grow and show the game. I love that part of our native culture and native history.”
Williams has been playing at home as a Knighthawk for almost a full season now. Every time he’s taken the floor at The Blue Cross Arena, he’s had his own fan club, and that’s not including the screaming kids in Zedzilla shorts. It’s his family. His wife, his daughters, his sisters, his brothers, his parents, and so many more, not in the arena. He plays every game for them.
“He steps out on that floor, and it’s not just him out there on that floor; he’s got all of us out there, in spirit,” Zach said.
Zed Williams is a lacrosse player, but it is only his medicine. First, he is a father, a husband, a brother, and a son, and he loves with the heart of a wolf.