D'haquille "Duke" Williams (born May 13, 1993) is a professional

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL). 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 ...

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

. After going undrafted and spending the 2016 offseason with the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

, he made his professional debut in 2017 with the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

. Williams became one of the CFL's most dominant receiving threats, leading the league in receiving in 2018. Following his second season in the CFL, he returned to the United States for another shot at playing 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 ...

. He signed with the

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

in 2019.

High school career

Williams attended

East St. John High School East St. John High School is a high school in Reserve, Louisiana, Reserve, an unincorporated area in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, United States. The school is a part of St. John the Baptist Parish Public Schools. As of 2013–2014, the ...

Reserve, Louisiana Reserve is an unincorporated community in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River. The population was 9,111 at the 2000 census. For statistical purposes, the United States Cen ...

, where he played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

. As a senior, he had 1,495 receiving yards and 25

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

College career

Williams attended

Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (MGCCC) is a public community college with its main campus in Perkinston, Mississippi. It was founded as Harrison County Agricultural High School in 1912. MGCCC has three campuses and six centers: The ma ...

from 2012 to 2013. In two years, he had 118 receptions for 2,028 yards and 26 touchdowns. Considered a five-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

, Williams was listed as the No. 1 junior college prospect in 2014. He initially committed to

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

but changed to

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

. In his first game at Auburn, Williams had nine receptions for 154 yards and a

. He was dismissed from Auburn on October 6, 2015, for an unidentified violation of team rules. William finished the 2015 season with 12 catches for 147 yards and one touchdown.

Professional career

Los Angeles Rams

On May 10, 2016, Williams signed a 3-year deal with the

as an undrafted free agent. On September 3, 2016, he was waived by the Rams as part of final roster cuts.

Edmonton Eskimos

Williams signed with the

of the

(CFL) before the 2017 season. Williams caught four passes for 110 yards and a touchdown against the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

in his professional regular season debut. Williams went on to have a strong first season in the CFL, catching 46 passes for 508 yards with two touchdowns. Williams became a star player in the CFL in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, earning a Top Performers of the Month designation for the months of June and July and ultimately finished the season with the most receiving yards in the league with 1,579. On January 5, 2019, Williams was released by the Edmonton Eskimos in order to pursue NFL opportunities.

Buffalo Bills

On January 7, 2019, Williams signed with the

of the NFL. Williams played in all four preseason games for the Bills, catching eight passes for 78 yards with two touchdowns. He was released during final roster cuts on August 31, 2019, and was signed to the practice squad the next day. On October 5, 2019, Williams was promoted to the active roster. He caught 4 passes for 29 yards and the game winning touchdown in a 14–7 Bills win over the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

on October 6, 2019. After suffering a shoulder injury against the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

in week 7, Williams was deactivated for the rest of the season until week 17 when the Bills rested numerous starters against the

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

, having already clinched a playoff berth. Williams caught six passes for 108 yards during the 13–6 loss. Williams was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

list by the Bills on July 29, 2020. He was activated on August 9, 2020. Williams was waived as part of final roster cuts on September 5, 2020, but was re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was elevated to the active roster on October 24 and January 8, 2021, for the team's week 7 and wild card playoff games against the

and

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after each game. On January 26, 2021, Williams signed a reserves/futures contract with the Bills. He was waived/injured on August 23, 2021, and placed on injured reserve. On August 26 he was released from injured reserve with an injury settlement.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

On October 4, 2021, Williams signed with the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

. On February 5, 2022, Williams signed a one-year, $260,000 contract extension. On July 20, 2022, the CFL announced that Williams had been suspended for one game after he took the helmet off of

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

defensive back

Shaquille Richardson Shaquille "Shaq" Nakeem Richardson (born March 21, 1992) is a professional gridiron football cornerback in the Canadian Football League (CFL) who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL Draf ...

and threw it at him during warmups for the leagues

Touchdown Atlantic Touchdown Atlantic ( French: ''Touché Atlantique'') is a series of neutral site Canadian Football League games played in the maritime provinces of Canada. In 2003, the league had struck a committee to examine the feasibility of adding a tenth ...

game. He became a free agent upon the expiry of his contract on February 14, 2023.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

On February 14, 2023, Williams signed with the

References

External links

Hamilton Tiger-Cats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Duke 1993 births Living people American football wide receivers Players of Canadian football from Louisiana Auburn Tigers football players Buffalo Bills players Canadian football wide receivers Edmonton Elks players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Los Angeles Rams players Mississippi Gulf Coast Bulldogs football players People from LaPlace, Louisiana People from Reserve, Louisiana Players of American football from Louisiana Saskatchewan Roughriders players