Kevin Ray Williams, Jr. (born January 25, 1971) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

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) NFC West, West division. The ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the 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 ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes, known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes, are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

, earning first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors in 1991.

Early life

Williams attended Franklin D. Roosevelt High School (Dallas), where he averaged 17.1 yards every time he touched the ball. As a senior in 1988, he split time between

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)#Offense ...

and

, tallying 100 carries for 995 yards, 10 rushing

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s, 36 receptions for 757 yards, 3 punt returns for

and 2 kickoff returns for

. He finished his high school career with 111 receptions for 1,997 yards (17.9-yard average), 117 carries for 1,339 rushing yards (11.4-yard average), 21 receiving

s, 14 rushing

s and 10 return

s. He averaged 25.6 yards per kickoff returns and 33.2 yards per punt return.

College career

Williams accepted a football scholarship from the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

, where he was the fastest player (4.28 seconds in the 40 yards) in some of

most talented teams. As a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) 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 ...

freshman in 1990, he was the team's kickoff and punt returner. He registered 10 kickoff returns for 231 yards (23.1-yard average), 13 punt returns for 177 yards (13.6-yard average) and 4 receptions for 64 yards. As a sophomore, he had a breakout season, posting 1,183 all-purpose yards, 36 punt returns for 560 yards (15.6-yard average) and 3

s, 10 kickoff returns for 185 yards (18.5-yard average), 21 receptions for 330 yards and 3

s. He had 3 consecutive games with punt returns for

s, setting a school record and one shy of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

record. Against

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

, he totaled 217 return yards (152 yards in punt returns) on seven attempts, including a 91-yard punt return for a

(school record). He was named the

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

player of the year and received first-team

and All-Big East honors. He was a part of the Hurricane's 1991 National Championship team. As a junior, he struggled with ankle and knee injuries, including the fact that several opponents chose not to kick to him. He recorded 29 punt returns for 302 yards (10.4-yard average), 4 kickoff returns for 82 yards (20.5-yard average), 40 receptions (fourth on the team) for 457 yards, 2 receiving

s and a 68-yard pass completion for a

. He declared for the

NFL Draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

after the season.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

In the

1993 NFL draft The 1993 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 25–26, 1993, at the Marriot M ...

, the

traded their first-round draft choice (#29- George Teague) and fourth-round pick (#112- Al Fontenot) to 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

in exchange for two second-round picks (#46 and #54- Darrin Smith) and a fourth-round draft choice (#94- Derrick Lassic). The Cowboys selected Williams with their first choice in the second round. As a rookie, he had a 10.5-yard punt return average (third in the NFC) and a 22.2-yard kickoff return average (sixth in the NFC). His best moment came in the infamous

Leon Lett Leon Lett Jr. (born October 12, 1968) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys. Lett played college ...

Thanksgiving game against the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

, where he scored all of the team's points (except the conversions) on a 4-yard reception and a 64-yard punt return. In

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, his 26.7-yard kickoff return average ranked fourth in the NFL and was the third highest single-season average in club history. He ranked sixth in the NFC with an 8.9-yard punt return average. He became the first player in franchise history to score a touchdown on a punt and a kickoff return in the same season. He set a team record for combined kickoff and punt return yardage (1,497), breaking

Mel Renfro Melvin Lacy Renfro (born December 30, 1941) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 14-year career as a cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He is a member of the Pro Football H ...

's 1964 mark of 1,435 yards. He also became the all-time team leader in combined touchdowns scored on kickoff and punt returns with 4. He was the first player in team history to score off a kickoff and a punt return in the same season. Also the first player to score career

s on punt returns, kickoff, receiving and rushing. In

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, he received the opportunity as the starting

opposite to

Michael Irvin Michael Jerome Irvin (born March 5, 1966) is an American sports commentator and former professional football player. He played his entire 12-year career as a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). In 2007, h ...

after the departure of Alvin Harper, but never became the consistent big play complement that was expected from him. He had 38 receptions for 613 yards, 2

s and ranked sixth in the NFC with a 22.6-yard kickoff return average. Against the

, he set a club record with 307 combined net yards and had the sixth best single-game receiving total in franchise history at the time, with 203 yards, adding two

receptions of 25 and 48 yards. Against the

, he became the team's record holder for career kickoff return yards and combined kickoff/punt return yards. He set the franchise single-season record for kickoff returns with 49. In

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, he was limited to only 10 games with a broken foot suffered in a 10-7 loss against the

. He finished with 27 receptions for 323 yards and one

. In

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, he decided to leave the team via

free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

, after Anthony Miller was signed to take over the second receiver role. Williams speed and return abilities were always valued during his time with the Cowboys, setting the franchise career records for number of kickoff returns (144), number of combined returns (239) and kickoff return yards (3,4616) in just four seasons.

Arizona Cardinals

On July 15,

, he signed a one-year contract as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

with the

, where he played

and was a backup

. His 59 kickoff returns for 1,458 yards set a team single-season record and he also set a team record against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

with 207 kickoff return yards in a game. His biggest offensive contribution came in week 15 versus 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 National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

, where he racked 4 catches for 54 yards. He tied for fourth on the team with 20 receptions for 273 yards and one

Buffalo Bills

On February 13,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, he signed as a

with the

. He was third on the team with 29 receptions for 392 yards and one

, while also being the team's kickoff and punt returner. In

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, he tied for fourth on the team with 31 receptions for 381 yards, while also being the team's kickoff and punt returner. He was released on April 14,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

San Francisco 49ers

On July 18,

, he was signed by the

to be the punt and kickoff returner. He wasn't re-signed after the season. He finished his career with 178 receptions for 2,314 yards and 7

s, 167 rushing yards and 2

s, 7,309 kickoff return yards with 1

and 2,295 yards and 3

s on punt returns. He gained a total of 12,085 all purpose yards.

NFL career statistics

Receiving Stats

Return Stats

References

External links

Kevin Williams Is A Little Guy Filling Big Shoes For CowboysCowboys’ Best Return Specialists
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Kevin 1971 births Living people Players of American football from Dallas American football wide receivers American football return specialists Miami Hurricanes football players Dallas Cowboys players Arizona Cardinals players Buffalo Bills players San Francisco 49ers players Franklin D. Roosevelt High School (Dallas) alumni