Michael Troy Williams (born January 4, 1984) 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). 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

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

, receiving consensus

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 2003. The

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

selected him in first round of the

2005 NFL draft The 2005 NFL draft, the 70th in league history, took place on April 23 and 24, 2005 NFL season, 2005. The draft was held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City and was televised for the 26th consecutive year, with coverage on E ...

, and he also played in the NFL for the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

, and

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

Early life

Williams was born in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

. He attended

Henry B. Plant High School H.B. Plant High School is a public high school located in the neighborhood of South Tampa in Tampa, Florida, United States. It opened in 1927 between South Himes Avenue on the east and Dale Mabry Highway on the west. The school is named after ra ...

in Tampa, and played both

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

for the Plant Panthers. As a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

, Williams made 28 receptions for 631 yards (22.5 avg.) and 10 touchdowns. During his junior year, Williams made the all-state Class 4A second-team while making 35 receptions for 803 yards (22.9 avg.) and 14

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. As a senior, Williams had 38 receptions for 789 yards (20.8 average reception) with 14 touchdowns. Williams' honors included Tom Lemming

, Super Prep All-Dixie, PrepStar All-Southeast Region, ''

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute f ...

'' All- Suncoast second-team, and ''

Tampa Tribune ''The Tampa Tribune'' was a daily newspaper published in Tampa, Florida. Along with the competing ''Tampa Bay Times'', the ''Tampa Tribune'' was one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area. The newspaper also published a ''St. P ...

'' All- Hillsborough County. In basketball, Williams was a 4-year Starter, winning over 100 games. As a Senior in 2002, Williams was a McDonald's All American Finalist. He earned “Tampa Tribune” All Hillsborough County 1st Team, District Tournament MVP, Western Conference MVP, and 3rd Team All State selections. Williams averaged 16.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 4.6 assists. As a junior in 2001, Williams earned ''Tampa Tribune'' All- Hillsborough County first-team honors, averaging 14.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists while helping his team to the state semifinals. As a Freshman, Williams started every game, averaging 12.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists while leading the team in Blocks and Rebounds. Williams graduated as the All Time leader in Blocks and Rebounds in school history.

College career

Williams attended the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, where he played for coach

Pete Carroll Peter Clay Carroll (born September 15, 1951) is an American professional American football, football coach who is the head coach for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as head coach for the NCAA's ...

USC Trojans football The USC Trojans football program represents the University of Southern California in the sport of American football. The Trojans compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate ...

team from 2002 to 2003. Before attending USC, Williams was offered scholarships to

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

and the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, but neither school saw him as a wide receiver. Williams played

split end 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, WR gets its name from the player being split ...

wide receiver during most of his games for USC. Williams played in all 26 games during his freshman and sophomore years at USC, and started 15 of those games. He wore jersey No. 1 while on the football team. His freshman season, he had 81 receptions for 1,265 yards and 14 touchdowns. These statistics are all USC and

Pacific-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

freshman records. Williams was named First-team Freshman All-American choice by ''

The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'', Scripps/Football Writers, and Rivals.com. Selected as the

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

Freshman of the Year, named to the All-Pac-10 second-team, All-American honorable mention, ''The Sporting News'' Freshman All-Pac-10 first-team, and The Sporting News All-Pac-10 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year. In his final season, as a sophomore, Williams started all 13 games at wide receiver, and led the Trojans in receiving yards and touchdowns which resulted in 95 catches leading to 1,314 yards and 16 touchdowns. Williams was a finalist for the 2003 Biletnikoff Award (nation's top receiver) while finishing eighth in

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

voting. He also earned first-team All-American ( AP,

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, Football Writers, and SI.com among others) honors. Williams also was a 2003 All-Pac-10 First-team selection and CBS.Sportsline.com National Player of the Year. That year, he also completed two pass attempts for 38 yards and one touchdown against

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

in the Rose Bowl, and blocked a

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, ...

College statistics

Awards and honors

* Second-team All-

(2002) * Pac-10 Freshman of the Year (2002) * First-team ''

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'' Freshman All-American (2002) * Honorable mention

All-America 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 ...

n (2002) * First-team All-Pac-10 (2003) * Consensus First-team All-American (2003) *

Biletnikoff Award The Fred Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the most outstanding receiver in American college football by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. (TQCF), an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The award was creat ...

finalist (2003) *Heisman Trophy finalist (2003) * CBS Sportsline.com National Player of the Year (2003) *Sporting News National Player of the Year (2003)

Professional career

NFL draft controversy

Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett was suspended by his school following his 2002 freshman year. After being unable to gain reinstatement with Ohio State, Clarett made the decision to declare 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 ...

. However, since Clarett was only of true sophomore eligibility, he had to legally challenge the NFL rule that a player must be three years removed from high school to be eligible for the NFL Draft. After a court proceeding, a federal judge ruled that the NFL could not legally bar Clarett from entering the

2004 NFL draft The 2004 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 from April 24–25, 2004, at the Theate ...

. Williams, having completed his sophomore year and only two years removed from high school, made the decision to declare for the 2004 NFL Draft as well after hearing the federal judge's ruling. Williams hired an agent and moved forward presenting himself as a legitimate first round pick (and most, if not all, NFL pundits and NFL personnel agreed that Williams was a first round choice). By declaring his intent to enter the draft, hiring an agent to represent his interests, and filing the NFL paperwork necessary to enter the draft, he forfeited his remaining NCAA eligibility. Before the 2004 NFL Draft, the

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York (state), New York, and Vermont, and it has ap ...

overturned the federal judge's decision allowing Clarett to enter the Draft. Additionally, the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

refused to hear a final appeal. Clarett and Williams were ineligible for the 2004 NFL Draft. As Williams was ineligible for NCAA reinstatement, he was required to sit the entire 2004 football season and was not allowed to practice with USC as well.

Detroit Lions

Despite sitting out an entire season, Williams was selected tenth overall in the 2005 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions, the third wide receiver drafted in the first round in as many years by the Lions. Williams selected jersey #88, which had been retired in honor of

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

Charlie Sanders. As a rookie in 2005, Williams, appeared in 14 games with four starts. Williams recorded his first touchdown catch in his NFL debut, a 3-yard pass from

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Joey Harrington, in the season opener against Green Bay. Williams made his first career start against the

Ravens Ravens may refer to: * Raven, a species of the genus ''Corvus'' of passerine birds Sports * Anderson Ravens, the intercollegiate athletic program of Anderson University in Indiana * Baltimore Ravens, a professional American football franchise * B ...

and had 1 reception for 7 yards. Williams had a career-long, 49-yard reception in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

. He finished that game with 5 receptions for 95 yards. Williams then again started in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

and had 4 receptions for 43 yards. Three-of-four receptions were for first downs. Williams was then inactive for the Lions game in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

due to an injured

ankle The ankle, the talocrural region or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joint. The ...

. Williams had a season-high 6 receptions for 84 yards against

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and had a 21-yard reception for a first down in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

on the Lions opening drive. He finished his rookie season with 29 receptions for 350 yards and 1 touchdown. In 2006, Williams was on the inactive list for both of the Lions' first two games. He played in just eight games in the 2006 season, and made eight catches for 99 yards and one touchdown. During the Lions' Week 15 loss at Green Bay, Williams led the Lions in receiving yards after catching three passes for 42 yards. Williams caught two more passes in a Week 16 loss to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, but posted several drops as well, and was unable to secure a potential game-winning touchdown pass thrown by

Jon Kitna Jon Kelly Kitna (born September 21, 1972) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, and Dallas Cowboys. He played colleg ...

as time expired. During the Lions' Week 17 win on the road in

, Williams caught two passes, including a fourth quarter 50-yard pass.

Oakland Raiders

Williams was traded along with

Josh McCown Joshua Treadwell McCown (born July 4, 1979) is an American professional American football, football coach and former quarterback who is the quarterbacks coach for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college foo ...

to the

during the first day of the

2007 NFL draft The 2007 NFL draft was the 72nd annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 28 and April 29, 2007. The draf ...

in exchange for a 2007 fourth-round pick which the Lions used to select A.J. Davis. In Oakland, Williams reunited with his former college position coach

Lane Kiffin Lane Monte Kiffin (born May 9, 1975) is an American football coach who is the head coach at Ole Miss Rebels football, Ole Miss. Kiffin was the offensive coordinator at USC Trojans football, USC from 2005 to 2006, head coach of the National Foo ...

Tennessee Titans

Williams signed with the Tennessee Titans on November 22, 2007, reuniting him with former USC

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 ...

LenDale White LenDale Anthony White (born December 20, 1984) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Tennessee Titans in the second round (45th overall) of the ...

and his former offensive coordinator from USC,

Norm Chow Norman Yew Heen Chow (born May 3, 1946) is an American football coach and former player. He was the head football coach at the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football, University of Hawaii at Manoa, a position he held from December 2011 until November ...

Seattle Seahawks

After spending two years out of football, Williams signed with the

on April 15, 2010, reuniting Williams with former

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

. After the Seahawks released

T. J. Houshmandzadeh Touraj Houshmandzadeh Jr. ( ; born September 26, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oregon State Beavers and was selected by ...

, Williams joined the starting unit, and during his debut for Seattle, Williams recorded four catches for 64 yards. In Week 6, he had career highs in both catches and yards going 10 catches for 123 yards in a 23–20 win against Chicago. He topped this performance four weeks later against the Cardinals, catching 11 passes for 145 yards. On Monday, January 3, the Seahawks rewarded Williams for his comeback season with a three-year contract extension. Williams responded by catching a touchdown pass in the Seahawks' wildcard victory over 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 ...

, and two touchdowns in the following round's loss to

. , Williams,

Steve Largent Stephen Michael Largent (born September 28, 1954) 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) ...

Jerramy Stevens Jerramy Ryan Stevens (born November 13, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Washington Huskies and was selected by the Seattle ...

and

Jermaine Kearse Jermaine Levan Kearse (born February 6, 1990) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Washington Huskies. Kearse was ...

as the only four Seahawks with two receiving touchdowns in a single post-season game; he is also the only receiver in franchise history with three receiving touchdowns in the same postseason. Williams followed this up with a disappointing 2011 season in which he broke his leg and ankle and had only 18 catches. He was released by the Seattle Seahawks on July 13, 2012.

Toronto Argonauts

On May 23, 2013, Williams signed with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. He was released by the team on May 31.

NFL career statistics

Coaching career

After retiring in 2011, Williams coached defensive backs in his first season of high school in Los Angeles. Williams was both the football and basketball head coach at Brentwood School. In 2014, Williams accepted a position as head coach at Locke High School in Los Angeles.Smith, Cam (March 24, 2015
Former USC, NFL receiver Mike Williams named new coach at L.A. school
''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

High School Sports''. Retrieved January 27, 2016. In March 2016, he became the head coach at

Van Nuys High School Van Nuys High School (VNHS) is a public high school in the Van Nuys district of Los Angeles, belonging to the Los Angeles Unified School District: District 2. The school is home to a Residential Program and three Magnet Programs—Math/Science, P ...

. Williams accepted the head coaching job at Wharton High School in Tampa, Florida. Accepting the position following the resignation of coach David Mitchell, who stepped away after 14 seasons to deal with family medical issues, he embraces the challenge of coaching in Florida's highest class, 8A. After 3 seasons a 27–8 record (only 3 road Losses), and 3 playoff appearances. Williams took over at T.R. Robinson HS in South Tampa. In the first season Williams lead the Knights to a regular season win increase and the 2M District 6 Championship, his first after 3 runner up finishes.

References

External links

Seattle Seahawks profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Mike 1984 births Living people All-American college football players American football tight ends American football wide receivers American men's basketball players Basketball players from Tampa, Florida Canadian football wide receivers Detroit Lions players Henry B. Plant High School alumni High school football coaches in California High school football coaches in Florida Oakland Raiders players Players of American football from Tampa, Florida Players of Canadian football from Tampa, Florida Seattle Seahawks players Tennessee Titans players Toronto Argonauts players USC Trojans football players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen