Brandon Williams (born June 21, 1988) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

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

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

and

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

. 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 ...

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

Early years

Williams attended South Hills High School. He received All-district (District 8-4A) honors as a senior, after registering 102 tackles and 11 sacks.

College career

Williams accepted a football scholarship from

. As a true freshman, he appeared in 11 games as a backup

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

, tallying 16 tackles and 3.5 sacks (third on the team). He had five tackles and 2 sacks against

Southeastern Louisiana University Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern) is a public university in Hammond, Louisiana. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims as Hammond Junior College. Sims succeeded in getting the campus moved to north Hammond in 1928, when it becam ...

. As a sophomore, he became a starter at

, leading the team with 6 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss. He also had 41 tackles, 2 passes defensed, 3 forced fumble and one fumble recovery. As a junior, he registered 11 sacks (led

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

and tied for fourth in school history), 13 tackles for loss, 21 tackles, 3 passes defensed and one forced fumble. He made 4 tackles (3 for loss), 2 sacks and one forced fumble in the

2009 Cotton Bowl Classic The 2009 AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic was the 73rd edition of the annual college football bowl game that was part of the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season and was one of 34 games in the 2008–09 bowl season. The game featured the Ole Mis ...

against the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

. At the end of the season, he declared his intention to enter the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. T ...

. At the same press conference when he announced his plans to forgo his senior season, he accompanied Texas Tech wide receiver

Michael Crabtree Michael Alex Crabtree Jr. (born September 14, 1987) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. He played college football at Texas Tech, where he was a two-time unanimous All-Am ...

, who made a similar announcement. He finished his college career with 78 tackles (29 for loss), 20.5 sacks (fourth in school history), 6 passes defensed, 6 forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Williams was selected by the

in the fourth round (120th overall) of the

, with the plan of converting him into an

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

on their 3-4 defense. He tore his left ACL in the second preseason game while playing

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

and was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on September 1. In his second season, he played tentatively coming back from injury and was declared inactive in 10 games. He finished with four

tackles. He was waived on September 3,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Arizona Cardinals

The

signed him to their

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 November 22,

. He was promoted to the active roster on December 21. Williams was released with a shoulder injury on August 31,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Coaching career

In 2016, he was the Texas Stealth head coach of the

American Indoor Football American Indoor Football (AIF) was a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...

league. He is a football coach at

Nolan Catholic High School Nolan Catholic High School is a private, coeducational, college preparatory school, formerly in the Marianist tradition, and is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas. It serves grades 9-12, has an average student population of ...

Personal life

Williams parents are Debra and Gary Hampton, who have also two daughters, LaToya and Camry, and 2 other sons, Demondre and Gary Jr.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Brandon 1988 births Living people Players of American football from Lubbock, Texas Players of American football from Fort Worth, Texas Players of American football from Dallas African-American coaches of American football American football linebackers American football defensive ends Texas Tech Red Raiders football players Dallas Cowboys players Arizona Cardinals players 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportspeople