Milton Williams, Kyzir White Reveal What Eagles-Cowboys Means to Them

Family dynamics in play for both Eagles defensive players when it comes to one of the game's best rivalries

USA Today

PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles-Cowboys rivalry means a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

Inside the Eagles’ locker room, it’s a family affair for defensive tackle Milton Williams and linebacker Kyzir White.

White, 26, grew up outside of Philadelphia, in an area known as the Lehigh Valley, with a father, Kevin White, Sr., who was a fan of the Dallas Cowboys. 

Despite his father's love for Dallas, White remained true to his hometown team while starring at Emmaus High School, attending Eagles training camp in the days it was held around the corner from his home at Lehigh University.

Meanwhile, White, Sr., managed to turn some of his six other children into Cowboys fans, including Kyzir’s brother Kevin, a former seventh overall pick of the Chicago Bears in 2015 as a WR.

Kyzir, who is second on the team in tackles, always resisted and will now play in the rivalry for the first time in his career after coming over from the Chargers as a free agent this past offseason.

“I don’t know (how it happened that his dad became a Cowboys fan),” said White from his locker on Friday. “My brother's going to follow my dad. A lot of my family is Cowboys fans, especially dad. He’s a real big Cowboys fan, so yeah, I know how big this rivalry is.”

Kyzir White (43) celebrates a preseason interception with his teammates / USA Today

White said his dad is a fan of his son fan first, so he joked that he continues to get his dad tickets to games.

Williams, 23, grew up a half-hour from Dallas’ AT&T Stadium, in Crowley, Texas, with a father, Milton Williams, Jr., who was not a Cowboys fan. He instilled that dislike in his only son, who idolizes his father.

“Dad was driving 18-wheelers, but he always figured it out and never missed a game for me, both of my sisters,” said Williams who spoke at length about his family to SI Eagles Today on Thursday. “He always supported whatever we did. That just motivated me. He would get off work, like 5 o’clock and he’d come to our games at 7 o’clock.

“By the time our game was over, we’d go home, and he would get ready for bed because he was going back to work in two hours. So, just watching him do that a long time, motivated me…I have no excuse.”

Williams’ sisters played basketball and ran track. He is the middle child, with Mishayla the oldest, and Mia, his twin, two minutes younger.

Their dad and mom made sure they were always there to support them. Their mother, Willanette Williams, an elementary school counselor whose first name is a merger between her father's name William and her mother's name Anette, never missed a high school game, either.

Given how much he admired his father for his work ethic and dedication to family – his mom and dad have been married for nearly 30 years – it was the only right thing to do to dislike the Cowboys after his father told him a story about the team a half-hour away while growing up.

Milton’s dad once tried out for the Cowboys after playing safety at a junior college. Dallas passed.

“Growing up, he was like, I tried to get an opportunity with the Cowboys, but they said, 'Nah,'” said Milton in the locker room earlier this week. “I never had any type of respect after. They cut my pops, so now I was like OK, I have a grudge against them and I’m not going to be a fan.”

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.