Marcus A. Williams (born December 12, 1977) 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

who played 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 one season with the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

. Signed to the Raiders' active roster in 2002, Williams' career came to an abrupt end due to injuries sustained from being punched by teammate

Bill Romanowski William Thomas Romanowski (born April 2, 1966) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. Nicknamed "Romo" and "RomoCop", he spent the majority of his career with the San Francisco 4 ...

during the 2003 training camp. Williams subsequently sued Romanowski and won over $300,000 in damages.

Early life and college career

Born in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, Williams graduated from Berkeley High School in nearby

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

. He began his college football career at the junior college level at

Laney College Laney College is a Public college, public community college in Oakland, California. Laney is the largest of the four colleges of the Peralta Community College District which serves northern Alameda County, California, Alameda County. Laney Coll ...

in Oakland in 1997. After two seasons at Laney, Williams transferred to

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

, where he majored in

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

and played for the

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic program co ...

in 1999 and 2000 under head coach

Mike Price Michael Bruce Price (born April 6, 1946) is a former American football coach. He was the head coach at Weber State College from 1981 to 1988, Washington State University from 1989 to 2002, and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) from 2004 ...

. At Washington State, Williams played at wide receiver and had 61 receptions for 1,086 yards and eight touchdowns.

Pro career

Williams was not selected in the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

. The

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

signed Williams as a free agent on April 27, 2001, and released him on August 27. On December 5, 2001, the

signed Williams to the practice squad. The Raiders designated Williams to the

Amsterdam Admirals The Amsterdam Admirals were a professional American football team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, playing in the NFL Europe. History The Admirals were formed in 1995 as part of the NFL's plan to restart the World League of American Football, to ...

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

on February 11, 2002. Due to a back injury, Williams sat out the first two weeks of the NFL Europe season. On week three, Williams was reassigned to the

Frankfurt Galaxy Two American football franchises have been referred to as the Frankfurt Galaxy: * Frankfurt Galaxy (NFL Europe), active in NFL Europe between 1991 and 2007 * Frankfurt Galaxy (ELF) The Frankfurt Galaxy is an American football team in Frankfurt, ...

, and he made his debut on April 27 against the

Scottish Claymores The Scottish Claymores were an American football team based in Scotland. The franchise played in the World League of American Football (later renamed NFL Europe) between 1995 and 2004, initially playing all home games at Murrayfield Stadium, E ...

. Williams played five games off the bench at tight end, during which he had one reception, a two-yard touchdown. On September 28, 2002, Williams signed with the

, playing 14 games off the bench and making 11 special teams tackles during a season when the Raiders won the AFC title. His season ended on January 23, 2003, when he was placed on injured reserve. During training camp on August 24, 2003, teammate

took Williams' helmet off and punched him in the face, breaking his left

eye socket In anatomy, the orbit is the cavity or socket of the skull in which the eye and its appendages are situated. "Orbit" can refer to the bony socket, or it can also be used to imply the contents. In the adult human, the volume of the orbit is , of ...

and chipping a tooth. Williams was again placed on injured reserve, and he filed a civil lawsuit against Romanowski in Alameda County Superior Court in October 2003. On March 22, 2005, a jury awarded Williams $340,000, specifically $300,000 for the salary that Williams would have made in 2003 and $40,000 for medical expenses. Romanowski paid Williams an additional $75,000 settlement on May 27 that year.

References

External links

NFL.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Marcus 1977 births Living people Players of American football from Oakland, California American football tight ends Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni Washington State Cougars football players Oakland Raiders players Players of American football from Berkeley, California Laney Eagles football players Frankfurt Galaxy players American expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands American expatriate sportspeople in Germany American expatriate players of American football