Kyle Steven Williams (born July 19, 1988) 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 drafted by 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 ...

in the sixth round of the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the firs ...

out of

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. Williams has also played for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

and

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

Early life

Born in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

to Kenny Williams and Ayiko Broyard, Kyle Williams attended

Plainfield Central High School Plainfield High School - Central Campus, or PHS-CC, is a four-year public high school in Plainfield, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202, which ...

Plainfield, Illinois Plainfield is a village in Will and Kendall counties, Illinois, United States. The population was 44,762 at the 2020 census. The village includes land in Will County's Plainfield and Wheatland townships, as well as Na-Au-Say and Oswego tow ...

before transferring to Chaparral High School in

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

in junior year. Williams played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and football in high school. As a high school football player, he was named ''

The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $3 ...

'' Big School State Player of the Year, first-team All-American by EA Sports, all-state first-team by The Arizona Republic, AZFCA first-team 4A all-state, and the Barry Sollenberger High School Player of the Year. He also excelled in baseball and was drafted in the 47th round of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft by the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

College career

As a sophomore at Arizona State University he earned first-team All-Pac-10 honors as a punt returner and also had 29 catches for 360 yards and six touchdowns. In 2008, Williams was named honorable mention all-conference as a returner averaging 17.0 yards on punt returns, and also had 19 catches for 364 yards and four touchdowns as a receiver. Williams finally became a regular starter as a senior, leading the Sun Devils with 57 catches for 815 yards and eight touchdowns in 2009, in addition to garnering first-team All-Pac-10 as a wide receiver by PhilSteele.com, and second-team All-Pac-10 as a punt returner.

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

Williams was selected in the 6th round with the 206th pick of the

, by the

. He was injured most of the 2010 season. Williams played in five games and made one reception for 8 yards in the November 21, 2010 loss to 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 ...

. On September 18, 2011, he caught his first touchdown pass in a game against the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. On November 20, he caught his second touchdown pass against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

. He caught his third in a catch-and-run spanning 56 yards on December 4 against the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arri ...

. Williams caught 16 passes in a six-game stretch late in the season after his role increased with injuries to 49ers wide receivers. In the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, Williams caught two passes and made a key block on

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Alex Smith Alexander Douglas Smith (born May 7, 1984) is an American former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played college football at Utah, where he received first-team All-American honors and won the 20 ...

's go-ahead 28-yard touchdown run in a 36–32 divisional round win over the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

. With Ted Ginn Jr. injured, Williams started at wide receiver and performed

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 in the 49ers' 20–17 loss in the NFC championship game. He lost two fumbles returning punts, including one in overtime that led to the game-winning field goal by 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. ...

. His other fumble in the fourth quarter was followed by a Giants' touchdown to retake the lead, 17–14. Smith defended Williams saying: "Offensively we weren't good enough today. We didn't get it done .... You can't put it on illiams. On November 12, 2013, the 49ers released Williams.

Kansas City Chiefs

On November 13, 2013, Williams was claimed off waivers by the

. Williams announced on November 22, 2013 that he had torn his ACL and would miss the remainder of the season. Re-signing with the Chiefs on April 21, 2014, Williams played all four preseason games in 2014 for Kansas City but injured his shoulder in the final preseason game. On September 1, 2014, the Chiefs released Williams.

Denver Broncos

Williams signed with the

in 2014, however on August 1, 2015, he ruptured his

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...

in his left leg, and announced he would miss the entire 2015 season. On February 7, 2016, Williams was part of the Broncos team that won

Super Bowl 50 Super Bowl 50 was an American football game to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2015 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) cha ...

. In the game, the Broncos defeated the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

by a score of 24–10.

New York Jets

Williams signed with the Jets on June 17, 2016. On August 28, 2016, Williams was waived by the Jets.

Personal life

Williams's father is

Executive Vice President Kenny Williams. His mother Ayiko Broyard is an executive with Walton Issacson and produces the show ''Verses & Flow'' on TV One. His brothers, Kenny and Tyler, both played minor league baseball.

References

External links

San Francisco 49ers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Kyle 1988 births Living people American football return specialists American football wide receivers Arizona State Sun Devils football players Denver Broncos players Kansas City Chiefs players New York Jets players People from Plainfield, Illinois Players of American football from Scottsdale, Arizona Players of American football from San Jose, California Players of American football from Illinois San Francisco 49ers players Sportspeople from the Chicago metropolitan area Ed Block Courage Award recipients