Ryan Gene Williams (born April 9, 1990) 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 ...

. He was drafted by 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 ...

in the second round of the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

. 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 ...

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

Early years

Williams attended Stonewall Jackson High School in

Manassas, Virginia Manassas (), formerly Manassas Junction, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. The population was 42,772 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Prince William County, although the two are separate jurisdi ...

. He was the starting tailback all four years. He finished with over 2,000 rushing yards, including 1,574 yards as a junior.

College career

As a freshman at Virginia Tech in 2008, Williams was

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 ...

. As a redshirt freshman in 2009, Williams took over as starting running back after starter

Darren Evans Darren Evans (born November 9, 1988) is a former American football running back. He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2011. He played college football at Virginia Tech. Early years Evans attended Warren Centr ...

suffered a season-ending ACL injury. Through thirteen games he rushed for 1,655 yards on 293 carries, scored 21

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

, and broke multiple Virginia Tech and ACC rushing records in the process - including Virginia Tech's single season rushing yards record and the ACC single season touchdown record with 22 touchdowns. He began the 2010 season as a starter but injured his right hamstring in a game against East Carolina University and was out for three games before coming back against Duke. On January 9, 2011, it was announced that Williams will give up his final 2 years of NCAA eligibility to make himself available for the 2011 NFL Draft.

Statistics

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals

Williams was selected by the

in the second round (38th overall) of the

. On August 19, during a pre-season football game against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

, Williams was injured early in the third quarter in his first run of the game, suffering a ruptured patella tendon in his right knee which cost him the entire 2011 season. On October 9, 2012, he was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

with a left shoulder injury, after playing in only 5 games. He was released on May 12, 2014.

Dallas Cowboys

Williams signed as a

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 ...

with 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 May 17, 2014. He was cut on August 30 and signed to the team's

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, ...

the following day. On June 28, 2015, Williams was waived/injured, and reverted to Dallas' injured reserve the next day. On September 15, he was released by the Cowboys with an injury settlement.

References

External links

Arizona Cardinals bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Ryan 1990 births Living people People from Cold Spring, New York Players of American football from New York (state) American football running backs Virginia Tech Hokies football players Arizona Cardinals players Dallas Cowboys players