James Earl "J.D." Williams (born March 30, 1967) is an

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 wi ...

coach and former

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

who is currently cornerbacks coach at

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

. He played college football at Fresno State and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the

1990 NFL Draft The 1990 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 22–23, 1990, at the Marriott Mar ...

. Williams played in six NFL seasons, from 1990 to 1994 and 1996 for the Bills, Arizona Cardinals, and

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 ...

. Williams was most notable for being the first player on the Buffalo Bills squad to don number 31, which had been "retired" to represent the spirit of the franchise. Since Williams wore the number, the Bills have allowed anyone to wear the 31 jersey; it was later worn by

Dwayne Wright Dwayne Wright (born June 2, 1983) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Fresno State. Wright was a member of the New York Gia ...

, who like Williams, went to Fresno State.

Jairus Byrd Jairus Keelon Byrd (born October 7, 1986) is a former American football free safety. He played college football for the University of Oregon. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He is a three-time Pro Bo ...

wore the number before becoming a free agent; he used it because his college number, 32, was unofficially retired because of O. J. Simpson. After retiring from football, Williams became a football coach beginning in 1997 as a graduate assistant at Fresno State.

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* 1967 births Living people American football cornerbacks Arizona Cardinals players Buffalo Bills players Cal Poly Mustangs football coaches California Golden Bears football coaches Coaches of American football from Arkansas Coaches of American football from California Fresno State Bulldogs football coaches Fresno State Bulldogs football players Georgia State Panthers football coaches People from Coalinga, California People from Osceola, Arkansas Players of American football from Arkansas Players of American football from California San Francisco 49ers players San Jose State Spartans football coaches Sportspeople from Fresno County, California UNLV Rebels football coaches Utah Utes football coaches Washington Huskies football coaches {{defensiveback-1960s-stub