Oceanside CA— The NFL is celebrating Super Bowl 50 by sending a gold football to every high school in the world that’s produced a player or coach who has appeared in a Super Bowl. Last week, El Camino High School joined Oceanside High School (see that story here) as one of just a handful of schools that can boast of more than one player and was presented with two Gold Footballs from the NFL.
“With just a few high schools in the country having two Super Bowl players as alums, having two schools in one city is pretty special.” said Oceanside City Council-member Jack Feller who was attending the special school assembly, in the Ray Johnson Gym at ECHS, along with several OUSD School Board members.

“The two young men being recognized here today [Dokie Williams and Michael Booker] are a big part of the history here at El Camino High School.” said Herb Meyer, the ECHS coaching legend with quite the history of his own. Herb Meyer was head coach at El Camino High School when it opened in 1976 and led the Wildcats to their first CIF Championship that same year. Meyer was coach at ECHS until 2003. In that time, the school had almost 30 players go on to play pro ball. “We stressed in our program that the kids had to be student-athletes. I am proud that of the more than 20 players that went on to the NFL, more than half of them got their college degree. They didn’t just give up when they had a chance to play pro football.”
“Dokie Williams was part of the large school CIF championship team at OHS the year before ECHS opened and was part of the ECHS ’76 championship team.” said Coach Meyer as he introduced Williams, “We had some pretty outstanding players but Dokie was a stellar player. If you look up on the wall where you see State Champions in track, Dokie almost single-handedly won that championship.” continued the coach, “Dokie was an outstanding young man not just as a football player and track man but as a human being.”
The coach said Dokie Williams and Michael Booker helped establish a tradition at El Camino “that you can be as good as you can be if put your mind to it and you put in the hard work.”
Booker and Williams were star athletes in more than one sport. Mike Booker played on two CIF Basketball Championship teams and Williams was a star in track. “People tell kids that they need to play one sport all year round. That’s a bunch of baloney.” explained the coach, “You’re doing yourself a disservice. If you can play two or three sports, do it. Be all that you can be.”

“The Super Bowl was one of the great accomplishments in my life and the successes I’ve had in life, I owe a great deal of that to this school right here.” said Dokie Williams.
“It’s important that you listen, participate and take in every word, everything you’re being taught now because that’s what is going to carry you through life. Whether you go on to athletics or academics, wherever you are going to go in life, the things you are learning now are all going to come back into play.” continued Williams “It’s important you grasp those things now. You are in a place that is giving you a great foundation.”
Williams graduated from El Camino High School in 1978 and played for the Los Angeles Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII. Mike Booker, who was unable to attend the assembly, graduated from El Camino High School in 1993 and played for the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII.
The NFL estimates that over 3,000 players have played in a Super Bowl, along with 52 coaches. The league invited some of those 3,000 players to personally deliver the gold football to their individual high school.