Jarvis Eric Williams, Sr. (May 16, 1965 – May 25, 2010) was an American college and professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

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 seven seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Williams 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 ...

for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, and was recognized as an All-American. Thereafter, he played professionally for 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 ...

and 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. ...

of the NFL. Williams died unexpectedly at the age of 45.

Early years

Williams was born in

Palatka, Florida Palatka () is a city in northeastern Florida and it is the county seat of Putnam County, Florida, United States. The population was 10,558 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Putnam County. Palatka is the principal city of the Palatka Mi ...

in 1965.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Jarvis Williams
Retrieved July 9, 2010. He attended Palatka High School,databaseFootball.com, Players

. Retrieved June 3, 2010. and was a key player for the Palatka Panthers high school football team that won the Florida Class 3A state championship in 1981.Michael DiRocco,
Former Gator Jarvis Williams has died
" ''Florida Times-Union'' (May 26, 2010). Retrieved May 26, 2010.

College career

Williams accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

in nearby Gainesville, Florida, where he played

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

for head coach

Galen Hall Galen Samuel Hall (born August 14, 1940) is a retired American college and professional football coach and player. He is a native of Pennsylvania, and an alumnus of Penn State University, where he played college football. Hall was previously t ...

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of ...

teams from

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

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 ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 87–88, 92, 96, 150, 153, 186 (2011). Retrieved August 31, 2011. As a freshman and sophomore, he was part of two of the best teams in Gators history; the team posted identical 9–1–1 overall win–loss records in 1984 and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, and the best-in-the-SEC records of 5–0–1 and 5–1 during those same seasons. Williams is often remembered for the hard-hitting tackle that he delivered to

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

wide receiver

Melvin Bratton Melvin Torrence Bratton (born February 2, 1965) is a former American football running back and current sports agent. Bratton attended the University of Miami, where he played running back and starred in the national championship game at the 19 ...

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 ...

—a hit that left Bratton temporarily unconscious.Associated Press,
Jarvis Williams, Former N.F.L. Defensive Back, Dies at 45
" ''The New York Times'', p. A21 (May 28, 2010). Retrieved May 28, 2010. He was named a first-team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) selection in 1986 and a first-team All-American in 1987. Williams started forty-five consecutive games over four seasons (the second-highest total in Gators history), had ten career

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

s, and led the team in tackles (77) and

punt return In gridiron football, a punt is a kick performed by dropping the ball from the hands and then kicking the ball before it hits the ground. The most common use of this tactic is to punt the ball downfield to the opposing team, usually on the final d ...

s (20 for 222 yards) during his senior season. He was inducted into the

University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame The University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame includes over 300 former Florida Gators athletes who represented the University of Florida in one or more intercollegiate sports and were recognized as "Gator Greats" for their athletic excellence ...

as a "Gator Great" in 2001.

Professional career

Williams was chosen by the

in the second round (forty-second pick overall) of the

1988 NFL Draft The 1988 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 24–25, 1988, at the Marriot Marq ...

, and played

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

for the Dolphins from to .National Football League, Historical Players
Jarvis Williams
Retrieved May 23, 2010. In Miami, Williams was reunited with his former Gators teammate

Louis Oliver Louis Oliver, III (born March 9, 1966) is an American former college and professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Oliver played college football for the ...

when the Dolphins drafted Oliver in ; together they were the Dolphins' starting safeties for five seasons.Jeremy Fowler,
Former Dolphin, Gator Jarvis Williams dies at 45
" ''Sun-Sentinel'' (May 26, 2010). Retrieved May 27, 2010. In his first five NFL seasons with the Dolphins, Williams recorded fourteen interceptions, including one he returned forty-two yards for a

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 ...

in .Jeff Darlington,
Former Miami Dolphins safety Jarvis Williams dies at 45
" ''The Miami Herald'' (May 27, 2010). Retrieved May 27, 2010. He played his final NFL season for the

in . During the season, he recorded sixty tackles and two interceptions in thirteen games.ESPN, New York Giants, Players
Jarvis Williams
Retrieved June 1, 2010. During his seven-season NFL career, Williams played in 104 regular season games and started in ninety-five of them; he recorded 575 tackles and sixteen interceptions, with one touchdown return.

Life after the NFL

Williams worked as a volunteer assistant football coach at

Interlachen High School Interlachen High School is a public high school located in Interlachen, Florida, United States, operated by the Putnam County School Board. The principal is Bryan Helms. Students There are currently 846 students enrolled at Interlachen High S ...

in Interlachen, Florida, and as an assistant coach at Trinity Catholic High School in Ocala, Florida.Robbie Andreu,
Jarvis Williams, UF football great, dies at 45
," ''Gainesville Sun'' (May 26, 2010). Retrieved May 27, 2010. Williams' son, Jarvis Eric Williams, Jr., was the starting

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

from 2009 to 2010 for the

Jacksonville University Jacksonville University (JU) is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida. Located in the city's Arlington (Jacksonville), Arlington district, the school was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and was known as Jacksonville Junior College u ...

Dolphins football team, and was named the 2007

Pioneer Football League The Pioneer Football League (PFL) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a football-only conference. It has member s ...

Newcomer of the Year by ''Street & Smith's College Football'' annual as the starting Linebacker for the Dolphins in his freshman season. Williams' former Gators teammate, quarterback

Kerwin Bell Kerwin Douglas Bell (born June 15, 1965) is an American football coach and former player who has been the head coach of the Western Carolina Catamounts football team since 2021. Bell was born in the rural North Central Florida town of Live Oak, ...

, was the coach of JU at the time. Williams died suddenly and without prior warning from an acute

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...

attack just before midnight on May 25, 2010; he was 45 years old.

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). . * Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). . * Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). . * McCarthy, Kevin M.,
Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football
', Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). . * Nash, Noel, ed., ''The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football'', Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Jarvis 1965 births 2010 deaths African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football All-American college football players American football safeties Deaths from asthma Florida Gators football players High school football coaches in Florida Miami Dolphins players New York Giants players People from Palatka, Florida 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people