New playing field.

• Author: TAYLOR, MIKE
• Position: AtLightspeed company information - Brief Article

EX-CU TEAMMATES HOPE FOR SCORE IN TECH INDUSTRY

FROM THE MOMENT THEY ARRIVED AS freshmen football players at the University of Colorado in 1987, Charles Johnson and Alfred Williams distinguished themselves as team guys: leaders who thrived on competition and believed that an average-but-improving CU team could achieve greatness.

Three years later they won a national championship, with Johnson, a backup quarterback, taking 1991 Orange Bowl MVP honors in that title game against Notre Dame. Williams went on to add two Super Bowl rings to his jewelry box as a defensive end for the Denver Broncos.

The two close friends, both now 32, hope to emboss those winning qualities on a high-tech startup this month when they launch AtLightspeed, an Internet data center they say will be the biggest and most powerful facility of its kind in the region.

Original plans called for opening AtLightspeed's first data center in an 188,000-square-foot renovated building at Brighton Boulevard and East 43rd Avenue in mid-July. But construction issues created delays, and the company now is aiming for a Sept. 20 opening.

The relevance of past athletic success in the business world is often overstated, but Johnson says the feelings that AtLightspeed evoke in him are the same.

"The purest form of 'teamship' I've ever experienced was being a part of the University of Colorado's football team," says AtLightspeed's CEO and co-founder. "The closest I've gotten to that feeling has been here at AtLightspeed."

Before starting the company with John Spuhler and Chuck Nelson, Johnson spent three years as manager of business development for local software giant J.D. Edwards. Williams, the affable ex-Bronco, was still recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered in 1999 when Johnson came to him in February 2000 and laid out plans for the company.

"I was still on crutches and contemplating whether I was going to continue playing football," says Williams, who played nine years in the NFL. "I'm glad I was able to transfer my energy into AtLightspeed."

Johnson sees more than friendship in what Williams brings to the table.

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