Jimmy Ray Williams (March 10, 1979 – July 7, 2022) was an American 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

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 ...

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). He was drafted by the

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in the sixth round of the

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. He played

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at Vanderbilt. Williams prepped at

Episcopal High School (Baton Rouge) The Episcopal School of Baton Rouge is a private, college-preparatory, coeducational day school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Founded in 1965, it has approximately 900 students residing in East Baton Rouge Parish and surrounding areas, and has a stud ...

in Baton Rouge. Williams also played for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

, and

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

Vanderbilt career

Williams came to Vanderbilt as one of the highest recruited players in school history. He began his career as a running back, where he led the team in rushing yards, return yards, receptions, and touchdowns, landing him on the Freshman All-SEC team. In 1998, following encouragement from head coach

Woody Widenhofer Robert "Woody" Widenhofer (January 20, 1943 – March 22, 2020) was a college football head coach and longtime assistant coach in the National Football League (NFL). Widenhofer is best known for helping the Pittsburgh Steelers "Steel Curtain" d ...

, he switched sides of the ball to earn All-SEC honors that same year as a starting cornerback. During the 1999 season against Northern Illinois, Williams returned a punt for a touchdown in the game's final minutes for a 34–31 victory. He is one of only three players in Vanderbilt history to return both a punt and kickoff for a touchdown. For his career, Williams was among the team's interception and kickoff returns for three straight years. After his senior season, Williams attended the NFL Draft combine in Indianapolis. In 2013, Williams was selected to the Southeastern Conference Football Legends Class.

Professional athletic career

Williams was drafted in

by the

with the 33rd pick of the 6th round. He signed, however, with the

, where he served as a

punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

and

through the 2004 season. Beginning in 2004, he played for the

, which included his first

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appearance in 2005 as his Seahawks lost to the Steelers. On May 19, 2008, he signed with the

. He was not re-signed following the 2008 season and became a free agent.

NFL statistics

Key * GP: games played * COMB: combined tackles * TOTAL: total tackles * AST: assisted tackles * SACK: sacks * FF: forced fumbles * FR: fumble recoveries * FR YDS: fumble return yards * INT: interceptions * IR YDS: interception return yards * AVG IR: average interception return * LNG: longest interception return * TD: interceptions returned for touchdown * PD: passes defensed

Career after NFL

Williams returned to Baton Rouge to give back to his school, Episcopal High School, where he coached the middle school team until 2010. Williams served as the assistant athletic director, in addition to defensive coordinator at Episcopal High School.

Personal life and death

Williams died on July 7, 2022, aged 43.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Jimmy 1979 births 2022 deaths 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American players of American football Episcopal High School (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) alumni Players of American football from Baton Rouge, Louisiana American football cornerbacks Vanderbilt Commodores football players Buffalo Bills players San Francisco 49ers players Seattle Seahawks players Houston Texans players High school football coaches in Louisiana