Imagine what it’s like to grow up being made fun of, ignored and shunned for being bigger. Being called a tub of goo, fat boy, stupid, and lazy. This was life for Texas All-American tackle and NFL prospect Connor Williams.

Today Connor Williams is 20 years old, 6’5”, 305-pound mountain and is in the best shape of his career. In his first two weeks at XPE Sports, where college players train for the NFL, he lost 20 pounds and gained a layer of muscle. He is in peak professional shape. Scouts say he has “15 years ahead of him and built for the game”.

“I was so self-conscious of my body. I was bigger than everyone and heavier than everyone,” Williams told sources. “Not only was I being bullied, but I was internally bullying myself.” The bullying got intense but he never considered taking his own life because as soon as he was home, he had a family to lean on. Williams then says “Now I think, what about kids who don’t have the family support I had growing up and are going through the same thing? I want to tell them it gets better. Don’t give up—it gets better.” Connor doesn’t regret being bullied, it made him think about his life and who he wanted to be. “It made me want to prove everyone wrong,” he said.

Four years after that, he’s on the edge of making millions playing a game bullies kept him from.