Jason Williams was born in New Orleans in 1972, to Sidney Willams, a master carpenter, and Janice Rogers, a school teacher. He spent much of his childhood in Georgia, where he went to high school at the Woodward Academy, (formerly the Georgia Military Academy). For all four years of high school, Jason was elected class president and was named “Senior Superlative: Class Leader” by his senior class. He then came back home to New Orleans to attend Tulane University in 1990, where he walked onto the football team, eventually earning a full scholarship and being awarded the Martin M. Kelly Award for leadership on and off the field. Jason was again elected class president for all four years of college.