David Lamar Williams (born June 10, 1963) 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 ...

wide receiver. Williams was named consensus

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n twice at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

, and is an inducted member of the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

as well as the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about t ...

. Williams was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. Williams attended Serra High School in Gardena, California. Williams attended Los Angeles Harbor College where he was a junior college All-American.

University of Illinois

Career at Illinois

Williams played at Illinois from 1983 to 1985. Under the prolific passing offense of coach Mike White, Williams set many Illinois receiving records, and was a consensus two-time First-team All-American. In Williams' first season, the 1983

Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

finished the regular season with a record of 10-1, including a 9-0 mark in

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

games. Williams caught 59 passes for 870 yards, with six

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 ...

s. As Big Ten champions, the Fighting Illini played

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

in the 1984 Rose Bowl. Williams caught 10 passes for 88 yards in a 45-9 loss. In 1984, Williams led all

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I receivers with 101 receptions, 1278 receiving yards, and 9.2 receptions per game. His 101 receptions made Williams the second player in NCAA history to have more than 100 receptions in a season. Williams was a consensus First-team All-American Williams was again a consensus First-team All-American in 1985. He caught 85 passes for 1047 yards and had eight touchdown receptions in the regular season. Illinois played

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in the 1985

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially re ...

, and Williams caught seven passes for 109 yards, including touchdown catches of 15 and 54 yards, although Illinois lost by the score of 31-29. Williams finished his collegiate career as the second leading receiver in NCAA history. In 1990, Williams was named to Illinois' 25-man All-Century Team, chosen as part of the celebration of 100 years of Illinois football.

Trivia

* Williams is one of three brothers to have played wide receiver at the University of Illinois; along with his brothers Oliver Williams and Steven Williams. * Williams' position coach at Illinois was future NFL head coach

Brad Childress Bradley Childress (born June 27, 1956) is a former American football coach. He worked for over 40 years as a coach for various college programs and National Football League (NFL) franchises. He was the offensive coordinator for Wisconsin from 19 ...

Awards and recognitions

* 1984 First-team All-American by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

, UPI,

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

, the Walter Camp Foundation, the ''

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'', and ''

Football News A national championship in the highest level of college football in the United States, currently the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), is a designation awarded annually by various organizations to their selection of the best coll ...

'' * 1985 First-team All-American by the Associated Press, UPI, American Football Coaches Association, Football Writers Association of America, the Walter Camp Foundation, and the ''Sporting News'' * 1983 Second-team All-Big Ten by the AP and UPI * 1984 First-team All-Big Ten by the AP and UPI * 1985 First-team All-Big Ten by the AP and UPI * 1984 Illinois Team MVP * 1985 Illinois Team MVP

Illinois records

''As of 2005 Illinois Football Media Guide'' * Most receptions, one game: 16, vs

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, October 12, 1985 * Most receptions, season: 101, 1984 * Most receptions, career: 262 * Most receiving yards, season: 1278, 1984 * Most receiving yards, career: 3392 * Most touchdown receptions, season: 10, 1985 * Most touchdown receptions, career: 24 * Most 100-receiving yard games, season: 6, 1984 & 1985 (shared with Brandon Lloyd) * Most 100-receiving yard games, career: 16 * Most receptions, bowl game: 10, vs UCLA, 1984 Rose Bowl

NCAA Division I all-time rankings

''As of 2005 NCAA Division I Football Record Book'' * Career receptions per game: 10th, 7.4 * Season receptions per game: 21st, 9.2, 1984 * Career receptions: 21st, 245 * Season receptions: 24th, 101, 1984 Note: the NCAA does not recognize postseason statistics prior to 2002 in the official records.

Illinois statistics

''Including bowl games''

National Football League

Williams was taken in the third round of the

1986 NFL Draft The 1986 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott Marq ...

by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

, with the 82nd overall selection. He has the rare distinction of being a 3rd round pick who was cut before the season started. Williams would play two 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 ...

, but would never be able to duplicate his collegiate success in the NFL. Williams played for 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 ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

and the

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, and would finish his NFL career with 10 catches for 195 yards.

Canadian Football League

Williams played seven seasons in 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 ...

. He played for the BC Lions in 1988 and 1989, the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

in 1990, 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 ...

in 1991, the

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 ...

in 1991 and 1992 and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers from 1993 to 1995. He won the

CFL's Outstanding Player Award The Most Outstanding Player Award is annually awarded to the best player in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Terry Evanshen Trophy winner from the East Division, and the Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy winner from ...

in 1988, and played in the classic 76th Grey Cup game in 1988, scoring one touchdown. He won a Grey Cup title for the Toronto Argonauts in 1991. Williams was inducted into the

in 2019.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, David 1963 births Living people All-American college football players American football wide receivers American players of Canadian football BC Lions players Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Player Award winners Canadian football wide receivers Chicago Bears players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Edmonton Elks players Illinois Fighting Illini football players Los Angeles Harbor Seahawks football players Los Angeles Raiders players Ottawa Rough Riders players Players of American football from Los Angeles People from Gardena, California Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Toronto Argonauts players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players National Football League replacement players Players of Canadian football from Los Angeles