Peach Bowl 'voodoo lady' says she was praying for her son, Auburn LB Darrell Williams

The mother of Auburn Tigers linebacker Darrell Williams faced a deluge of online ridicule after video showed her praying over her son during the Peach Bowl semifinal game Monday evening.

Williams, a junior from Hoover, Ala., had five tackles in the game and made one in the fourth quarter that left him injured on the field.

The video feed of the crowd after the play stopped on a woman in Williams' jersey, standing with one arm thrust forward, her head cocked slightly to the right and a concerned expression on her face. The video shows her mouthing unclear words before it cuts away.

Social media seized on the image, joking that she was an Auburn fan putting a "voodoo hex" on The University of Central Florida, which was tied 20-20 with Auburn at the time.

It turns out the mystery "voodoo spell caster" was Williams' mother, Sherry Wells.

"During the bowl game, he made a tackle and after the tackle I saw him roll over and someone said that's Darrell and I said oh my God what's wrong," Wells told WBRC in Birmingham.

"My character is not a voodoo woman, my character is not a spell person. My character is being the woman of God that I am and grateful about it. A praying mother who is praying for her son that is sitting there helpless and seeing the pain and being able to almost feeling," she told the station.

UFC went on to beat Auburn 34 to 27. Williams was not seriously injured in the tackle.

This story was originally published January 3, 2018 at 9:29 AM with the headline "Peach Bowl 'voodoo lady' says she was praying for her son, Auburn LB Darrell Williams."