Rodney Williams II (born April 8, 1998) 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 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 ...

for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

of 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 played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at UT Martin and was signed by the

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 ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in .

Early life and high school

Williams was born on April 28, 1998, in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. He attended Germantown High School and was a standout athlete in football, basketball and track. He was an all-metro and all-district selection in football and won both the regional and state championship in

high jumping The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

. He committed to play

for the

UT Martin Skyhawks The UT Martin Skyhawks (also known as Tennessee–Martin Skyhawks) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Tennessee at Martin (UTM) in Martin, Tennessee, United States. The Skyhawks athletic program is a member o ...

College career

Williams began his collegiate career as a wide receiver. He appeared in eight games as a true

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

at UT Martin in 2016, recording four receptions for 78 yards. He appeared in 10 games with four catches for 32 yards in 2017 before totaling 23 receptions for 252 yards in 2018 while seeing his first action as a starter. He

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

due to an injury in 2019 after having appeared in four games with nine catches for 111 yards. Williams switched to

in the 2020–21 season and was selected second-team FCS All-American after recording 30 catches for 327 yards and four

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s. He was a second-team all-conference selection in his final year, the fall 2021 season, in which he tallied 29 receptions for 417 yards and three touchdowns. He finished ninth in UT Martin history for receptions with 99, also having posted 1,217 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.

Professional career

Denver Broncos

After going unselected in the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and w ...

, Williams was signed by the

as an

. He was waived on August 16, 2022.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On September 13, 2022, Williams was signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

of the

. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 10, 2023. He was waived on August 29, 2023, and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on October 4, after an injury to

Pat Freiermuth Patrick John Freiermuth (born October 25, 1998) is an American football tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Penn State and was drafted by the Steelers in the second round of ...

. During week 5 against the

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 ...

, Williams recovered a punt blocked by teammate

Miles Killebrew Miles Killebrew (born May 10, 1993) is an American football safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Southern Utah. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the fourth round of the ...

for a safety to help the Steelers win 17–10.

References

External links

UT Martin Skyhawks bioPittsburgh Steelers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Rodney Living people 1998 births UT Martin Skyhawks football players Players of American football from Tennessee American football tight ends Denver Broncos players Pittsburgh Steelers players