Football dreams deflated for dozens of players left stranded in Atlanta

ATLANTA - Football dreams have turned into a living nightmare for dozens of aspiring players.

About five dozen players came from all over the country to participate in Atlanta Trailblazers Athletics, a program purportedly affiliated with Atlanta Technical College designed to train and enroll aspiring college players for a second chance at the sport.

The players and coaches say the program abruptly folded, leaving them stranded. 

Allegations surrounding the program include fake checks and broken promises. 

"I’ve been sleeping in my car, sadly," said Keshon Williams, 21, an aspiring defensive linebacker from New York. "It’s because we don’t have any money or anything to get around or get home."

He said the red flags began popping up as soon as he pulled into Atlanta.

"They promised student housing, when I got here it was a hotel," he said. 

The players ended up staying at the Spring Hill Suites in Buckhead for weeks, with promises that they would be placed in jobs so they could find housing of their own.

They often took it upon themselves to find somewhere to practice, Williams said. Sometimes, practice was in the hotel parking garage.

HE PROMISED THEM A SECOND CHANCE AT COLLEGE FOOTBALL. THEN HE SPENT THEIR TUITION ON HIMSELF.

William McDonald, the founder of the doomed Trailblazers athletic organization, acknowledged to FOX 5 that mistakes were made. 

"It’s heartbreaking because I know I let these kids down," McDonald told FOX 5’s Rob DiRienzo over Zoom. 

Myles Jackson, a former assistant coach for the program, said he also began to see that several things were off. 

"I think there were a few red flags along the way that a lot of us assistant coaches just didn’t pay attention to," Jackson said. 

McDonald said they were booted from the hotel once money dried up. 

However, that’s when Jackson said things began to unravel. He said paychecks signed by someone who wasn’t McDonald began to bounce.

Then he started asking questions. 

"We were told that Mr. McDonald was never an employee of Atlanta Technical College," Jackson said. "He was never the athletic director. There was never a football program."

McDonald said he had been working informally with the school on a partnership. 

"It’s been in talks, kids got enrolled, I walked the kids onto campus to meet with people."

A representative from Atlanta Technical College claims that’s false. 

"Atlanta Technical College does not offer athletic programs and is in no way affiliated with William McDonald nor his football program," said Dorna Werdelin, vice president of communications for the college. 

Werdelin added that the school was aware of the bad checks and the school’s police department has launched an investigation.

"He took our dreams away from us, honestly," said Williams. "So if he didn’t scam us out of money, he scammed us out of our dream."

Williams said he plans on sleeping in his car again tonight unless he figures something else out.

WATCH: FOX 5 NEWS LIVE COVERAGE

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