Aeneas Williams

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Aeneas Williams
Date of birth	January 29, 1968
Place of birth	New Orleans, Louisiana
Position(s)	Defensive back
College	Southern University
NFL Draft	1991 / Round 3/ Pick 59
Pro Bowls	8
Honors	NFL 1990s All-Decade Team
Statistics	Pro Football Reference CBS.com DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1991-2000 2001-2004	Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals St. Louis Rams

Aeneas Demetrius Williams (born January 29, 1968 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is a former American football cornerback and free safety, who last played with the St. Louis Rams. Williams, whose father worked for Union Carbide, attended Fortier High School, where he played football on a team with three future NFL players. Although he was admitted to Dartmouth College, Williams chose to attend Southern University, the same school his brother Achilles attended. At Southern University, Williams concentrated on his academics, not playing football until his senior year, as a graduate student. That year, he tied the NCAA Division I-AA record for most interceptions.

Williams joined the Phoenix Cardinals in 1991, and quickly established himself as a shutdown corner, with an exceptional rookie season, tying the NFL lead for interceptions. As of 1997, Williams had four Pro Bowl appearances and routinely covered the opposing team's lead receiver. In 2001 he was traded to the St. Louis Rams on draft day in exchange for picks in the second and fourth rounds [1]. Due to roster concerns, Williams learned the free safety position.

Williams, after a lackluster season which he ended on the injured reserve list, quietly retired during the 2005 offseason. Over his career he accumulated a staggering 12 defensive touchdowns (9 interceptions returned for a touchdown, and 3 fumbles recovered for touchdowns), and 55 career interceptions, cementing his place as one of the most dominating defensive backs of his era. He has only gone to one Super Bowl, in which his team (The St. Louis Rams of 2001), lost to the heavy underdogs, the New England Patriots.

Williams is infamous for being the player who delivered the tackle which ended Hall of Fame San Francisco 49ers' Quarterback Steve Young's career. Williams came in on a cornerback blitz from Young's blindside, and came up with a clean hit. This occurred on national television, a Monday Night Football game, and declined to show Young unconscious on the field for quite a few minutes. The hit subsequently ended Young's tenure in the NFL as it resulted in a severe concussion, which was just one of many in the quarterback's career.