The longtime pastor of the Auburn University football team died Sunday after falling into the water on Lake Martin in central Alabama. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said the Rev. Chette L. Williams fell from his pontoon boat Sunday evening.

The Rev. Chette Williams was the Auburn University football’s team chaplain for 26 seasons. He died Dec. 15, 2024, in a drowning at Lake Martin at the age of 61. The Rev. Chette Williams, the Auburn University football’s team chaplain for 26 seasons, died Sunday in a drowning on Lake Martin, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

A man died Sunday night when he fell into Lake Martin while dining out with a friend. Elmore County Sheriff Bill Franklin said the man, whose identity is not being released pending notification of his family, traveled by boat with a neighbor to have dinner at Kowaliga Restaurant on Kowaliga Marina Road in Alexander City.