Maurece Jabari Williams (born July 26, 1974) 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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

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 formerly played for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

and

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

. He attended the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

High school years

While attending Spencer High School in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

, Williams was a standout running back in football. As a senior, he garnered All-American honors, was named the Georgia High School Player of the Year, and lead his team to its first playoff appearance in 24 years.

College years

At the University of Kentucky, Williams made an immediate impact, setting the freshman rushing record with 986 yards in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

. He gained 58 yards on 13 carries in the

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially re ...

at the conclusion of his freshman season at the University of Kentucky. In 1994, despite playing for a team that finished with a 1-10 record, Williams gained 805 yards on 160 carries, starting all eleven games. In 1995 Williams put together the best single-season rushing performance in school history, rushing for 1,600 yards in 1995 and topping 100 rushing yards in seven games. In that season Williams also led the

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 ...

in rushing yards per game (145.5), all purpose yardage (1,826 yards, 166 yards per game) and scoring (102 points). For the season Williams was honorable mention All America, a consensus All-Southeastern Conference selection and a finalist for the

Doak Walker Award Since 1990 the Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. It is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Football League ...

. During the 1995 season in a single game at

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, Williams rushed for 299 yards (with three touchdowns in the first half) and a total of 429 all purpose yards (57 receiving and 73 on kickoff returns), the most ever by a player in the

and the second highest total in NCAA history. His 7.5 yards per rush was also an SEC record (minimum 40 attempts). After that game Williams was named the national player of the week by the National Football Foundation,

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and the SEC. Williams left Kentucky with a career total of 3,333 rushing yards in three seasons (an average of 5.4 yards per carry on 618 attempts), along with 38 receptions for 313 yards (8.2 per catch) and 27 touchdowns scored. Williams entered the

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

and was chosen in the 3rd round by the Minnesota Vikings.

NFL years

Williams spent most of his 10-year NFL career with the Vikings, with the exception of a season with the Baltimore Ravens in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

. Williams' best year came in

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, when he amassed 745 rushing yards and 644 receiving yards. Williams was involved in the 2005 Minnesota Vikings boat cruise scandal in October 2005. He was charged in December 2005 with indecent conduct, disorderly conduct and lewd or lascivious conduct. On April 20, 2006, he was found guilty of disorderly conduct and was acquitted of the two other

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

charges and sentenced to a $300 fine and 30 hours of community service.

After the NFL

Williams has recently turned his attention to professional horse racing. He now trains thoroughbreds and recently won his first race as a trainer at Calder Race Course.

External links

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Moe Williams Kentucky Statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Moe 1974 births Living people American football running backs American horse trainers Baltimore Ravens players Kentucky Wildcats football players Minnesota Vikings players Players of American football from Columbus, Georgia