Eddie Lee "Boo" Williams (born June 22, 1979) 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

who played for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

from 2001 to 2004. He played college football for the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas student body voted to change the name of the school mascot (ori ...

as a wide receiver.

College career

Williams played two seasons at

Coffeyville Community College Coffeyville Community College (CCC) is a community college located in Coffeyville, Kansas, United States. It was founded in 1923. Coffeyville Community College is a member of the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference and the National Ju ...

in Kansas, where he was a two-time All-American catching 83 passes for 1,687 yards and 21 touchdowns as a split end wide receiver. He then transferred to the

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 ...

for the 1999 and 2000 seasons where he caught 80 receptions for 1,123 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

Williams was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

on April 26, 2001 and soon began a conversion to the

position. Waived in September, then signed off the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

on October 27, he played in his first NFL game October 28 and made his first start the following week. He finished his first NFL season with 20 receptions for 202 yards and 3 touchdowns. Williams was the top pass-catching tight end for the Saints in 2002 with 13 receptions for 143 yards and 2 touchdowns. The following year he set career highs with 41 catches for 436 yards and 5 touchdowns, leading the

NFC NFC may refer to: Psychology * Need for cognition, in psychology * Need for closure, social psychological term Sports * NFC Championship Game, the National Football Conference Championship Game * NCAA Football Championship (Philippines) * Nati ...

in touchdowns among tight ends. In 2004 Williams started a career-high 8 games. Williams tore the ACL and

MCL The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3) ...

in his right knee during a 2005 preseason game and did not play the entire year. He was released by the Saints in February 2006.

New York Giants

Williams was signed by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in June 2006 but waived before the regular season began.

Kansas City Brigade

On January 19, 2007, Williams signed with the

Kansas City Brigade Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the we ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. On March 3, 2008, he was placed on recallable waivers by the Brigade.

Life after football

Williams struggled with a multitude of depression, anger, and anxiety issues after retiring from football, the cause of which he attributes to head trauma sustained during his NFL career. After nearly taking his own life in 2011, Williams spent four months at the Crosby Center in San Diego for diagnosis and treatment of the problems he was suffering from. Williams later worked with the Crosby Center to help other NFL players dealing with similar issues post-retirement. Williams uses

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...

to treat the chronic pain and neurological problems that have resulted from his football career. As a member of the Gridiron Cannabis Coalition he has been active in speaking about his experience using cannabis as medicine and advocating for the NFL to change its policy. Williams founded the Boo Williams Athletic Academy, an after-school program providing academic and athletic activities for children to engage in. He has also worked as a

bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as bail enforcement agent, or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated outsid ...

and appeared in two episodes of the reality TV show Dog and Beth: On the Hunt.

References

External links

New Orleans Saints bio
* Boo Williams o
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Boo 1979 births Living people American football tight ends American football wide receivers Arkansas Razorbacks football players University of Arkansas alumni New Orleans Saints players New York Giants players Kansas City Brigade players Players of American football from Tallahassee, Florida American cannabis activists