Bobby Williams (February 28, 1942 – August 10, 2012) was an

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 ...

player who played five seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL), for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

and the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. Williams mostly known as a return specialist and at different times in his career also played, running back, and defensive back,

Early life

Williams was born in

Geiger, Alabama Geiger is a town in Sumter County, Alabama, United States. It incorporated in 1912.http://www.toursumtercounty.com/sumter-county-towns/geiger-alabama/ At the 2010 census the population was 170, up from 161 in 2000. Geography Geiger is located at ...

and grew up in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

. He attended Lincoln High School where he participated in a variety of sports. He set Nebraska state records in the 100 yard dash, and the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

the latter of which was later broken by

Gale Sayers Gale Eugene Sayers (May 30, 1943September 23, 2020) was an American professional football player who was both a halfback and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL). In a relatively brief but highly productive NFL career, Saye ...

. He would attend Central State College in

Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area in the central part of the state. The population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States Census, making it the fifth largest cit ...

. He played running back on the Central State Bronchos football team he had 3,094 all-purpose yards, and still holds the school record for kick return yards at 1,063. He also helped the Bronchos win the 1962

NAIA Football National Championship The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Football National Championship is decided by a post-season playoff system featuring the best NAIA college football teams in the United States. Under sponsorship of the National Associa ...

NFL career

Williams was drafted by the

with in the 11th round and 163rd pick overall of the

1966 NFL Draft The 1966 National Football League draft was held at the Summit Hotel in New York City on Saturday, November 27, 1965. The expansion Atlanta Falcons were awarded the first pick in each round as well as the final pick in each of the first five rou ...

. He spent two years in St. Louis, before being traded to the

. He would play with the Lions for three more seasons. He would finish with 3 interceptions, and 2 kickoff return touchdowns.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Bobby 1942 births 2012 deaths Sportspeople from Lincoln, Nebraska Central Oklahoma Bronchos football players Central Oklahoma Bronchos men's track and field athletes Arizona Cardinals players Detroit Lions players