David Wayne Williams (born June 21, 1966) is an American former college and professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Williams played college football for the University of Florida. He was a first-round pick in the 1989 NFL Draft, and played professionally for the Houston Oilers and the New York Jets of the NFL.
Early life
Williams was born in Mulberry, Florida in 1966. He attended Lakeland High School in Lakeland, Florida where he was an offensive lineman for the Lakeland Dreadnaughts high school football While he played for the Dreadnaughts, the team won a district championship in 1983, and regional championships in 1982 and 1984. He and was named a Parade magazine and USA Today All-American after his senior season.
After graduating from high school, Williams accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Galen Hall’s Florida Gators football team from 1985 to 1988, As a freshman starter, he was a member of the Gators’ 1985 team that finished with an overall win–loss record of 9–1–1 and a best-in-the-conference record of 5–1. Williams started every game during his four-year college career.
He was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection in 1988, a second-team All-American in 1987 and 1988, and a team captain in 1988. Williams was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a “Gator Great” in 1999. In one of a series of articles published by The Gainesville Sun in 2006, the Sun sports editors ranked him as the No. 27 all-time greatest Gator from the first century of Florida football.
Professional career
Williams was selected in the first round (23rd pick overall) of the 1989 NFL Draft by the Houston Oilers He was an offensive tackle for the Oilers for seven seasons from 1989 to 1995. He played in twenty-nine of thirty-two games during his rookie and second seasons,[10] and became a full-time starter in the first game of his third season. Williams played his final two NFL seasons for the New York Jets in 1996 and 1997. He retired from professional football after the 1997 season.
Leave a Reply