Bobbie Joe Williams, Jr. (born September 25, 1976) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

. He was drafted by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

in the second round of the

2000 NFL Draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Thea ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. Williams has also played for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

and

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

Early years

Williams attended

Jefferson High School This is a list of memorials to Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd president of the United States and the author of the United States Declaration of Independence. Buildings Elementary schools *Jefferson Elementary School, in Cammack Village, Arkansas *Thoma ...

in Jefferson, Texas, and was a

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football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

. In football, he was named the East Texas Lineman of the Year as a senior. In basketball, he was an All-Distinct honoree. He has a daughter, Tiana, who attends

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

and a son, Brandon, who attends Rutgers University. He is known for being one of the kindest men in the NFL.

College career

Williams started at tackle for the last 25 games of his career at the

. As a senior, Williams earned second-team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

honors, playing on a line that led the SEC in fewest sacks allowed (14), while helping the offense amass 4067 total yards. Williams also helped the Arkansas Razorbacks beat the Texas Longhorns 27–6 in the 2000 Cotton Bowl Classic. Williams majored in vocational training.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Williams was drafted by the

in the second round (61st overall) in the

. He was inactive throughout the entire 2000 season as he made the transition from tackle to guard. He made his NFL debut at the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

on January 6, 2001, starting at right guard. Williams played in every game for the Eagles in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

and also played in two playoff games in 2002. He took over the starting right guard job after an elbow injury to

Jermane Mayberry Jermane Timothy Mayberry (born August 29, 1973) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected in the first round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Ea ...

in 2003. During his four years with Philadelphia, Williams helped the Eagles win three

NFC East The National Football Conference – Eastern Division or NFC East is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It currently has four members: the Dallas Cowboys ...

Division titles in a row (2001-2003), reaching the

NFC Championship Game The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. ...

(2001-2003) during that three-year run.

Cincinnati Bengals

On March 26, 2004, Williams signed with the

as an unrestricted free agent. He was the only player both on offense to play every snap on his unit. In 2005, Williams was part of the offensive line which only allowed 21 sacks which beat the previous franchise record of 24 sacks set in the 1972–73 season. He was re-signed to a two-year contract on April 5, 2010. In Week 14 of the

2011 NFL season The 2011 NFL season was the 92nd regular season of the National Football League and the 46th of the Super Bowl era. It began on Thursday, September 8, 2011, with the Super Bowl XLV champion Green Bay defeating the Super Bowl XLIV champion New ...

, Williams broke his ankle in a 20–19 loss against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

, causing him to miss the remainder of the season. During his time in Cincinnati, Williams helped the Bengals win two

AFC North The American Football Conference – Northern Division or AFC North is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division was adopted after the restructuring of the 2002 NFL s ...

Division titles (2005, 2009).

Baltimore Ravens

On June 8, 2012, Williams signed a two-year contract with the

. He won his first career Super Bowl on February 3, 2013, when the Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers by a score of 34–31 in Super Bowl XLVII. He was a backup most of the season and started six games. On March 8, 2013, Williams was released by the Ravens.

References

External links

Baltimore Ravens bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Bobbie 1976 births Living people American football offensive guards Arkansas Razorbacks football players Philadelphia Eagles players Cincinnati Bengals players Baltimore Ravens players People from Jefferson, Texas Players of American football from Texas