Roy Williams (safety)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Roy Williams
Date of birth August 14, 1980
Place of birth Redwood City, California
Position(s) Strong Safety
College Oklahoma
NFL Draft 2002 / Round 1/ Pick 8
Pro Bowls 2004, 2005, 2006
Awards 2001 Nagurski Award
Statistics
Team(s)
2002-present Dallas Cowboys

Roy Williams (born August 14, 1980 in Redwood City, California) is a safety for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League.

Contents

[edit] College career

Williams was a starter for Oklahoma's 2000 national championship team as a sophomore, setting a school record for tackles for loss by a defensive back, with 12 [1].

Nicknamed "Superman" while at OU, Williams is best known at Oklahoma for his actions in the 2001 Red River Shootout, known among Sooner fans simply as "The Play.[citation needed]" The Sooners led 7-3 with only minutes remaining as the Texas offense took the field, hoping to execute a game-winning drive. With Texas forced to begin their drive inside their own 5-yard line, the Sooners prepared to pressure UT quarterback Chris Simms. It was Williams who came on the blitz, leaping over a Longhorn blocker at the line of scrimmage and colliding with Simms in the backfield, causing the ball to flutter into the hands of Oklahoma linebacker Teddy Lehman, who stepped into the endzone for a touchdown, sealing the game for Oklahoma.

"The Play" has been immortalized on a mural plaque at the Roy Williams Strength and Speed Complex at the University of Oklahoma. The complex is named for Williams both for his athletic achievements and for his donation of approximately $100,000 towards its construction[1].

In 2001, his junior season at OU, he won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the nation's top overall defensive player and also won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive back, while leading the team to a 10-2 record and a win over Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. He was a unanimous selection to both the All-America and All-Big 12 teams, and was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year[1]. After the season, he decided to forgo his final year of eligibility to enter the NFL draft.

[edit] NFL career

Williams was selected by the Dallas Cowboys with the eighth overall pick of the 2002 NFL Draft following a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs. He is known throughout the league as a very intimidating presence in the Cowboys defensive secondary and can be a game changer with his bone-jarring hits.

As a rookie in 2002, he was moved to free safety in order to play alongside strong safety Darren Woodson, who became his mentor[citation needed]. However, it is worth noting that Williams and Woodson were both interchangeable in their safety roles to cause more confusion for opposing offenses as to who may be blitzing and who may drop back in coverage[citation needed]. He also was runner-up in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting and narrowly missed the Pro Bowl[citation needed].

In 2003, Williams enjoyed a stellar season and his first trip to the Pro Bowl as he was part of the Cowboys' number one ranked defense and helped lead the team to its first playoff game since 1999. In 2004, however, Darren Woodson suffered a herniated disc in training camp and never was able to play a game that season, he was later forced to retire. Williams struggled in the secondary that year and was forced to play more coverage due to the inexperience and inconsistency of the Dallas cornerback position.

With the right cornerback position apparently stabilized by the free agent signing of Anthony Henry in 2005, Williams was once again able to play to his strength by roaming closer to the line of scrimmage. At the end of the 2005 NFL regular season, Williams had 2.5 sacks and three interceptions, one of which was for a game-winning touchdown against Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles. He earned his third Pro Bowl berth in 2005 and remains a dominant force in Bill Parcells' 3-4 defense.

In early August 2006 the Dallas Cowboys signed Williams to a four-year contract extension worth $25.2 million to keep him with the team through the 2010 season[2].

[edit] Criticism

This article or section does not cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations. (help, get involved!) This article has been tagged since December 2006.

Roy Williams is often considered one of the hardest hitting safeties in the league. While he makes bone-crushing hits, and game-changing tackles, he has often been criticized for his play in coverage situations. In a big game against the Washington Redskins early in the 2005 season, with the Cowboys leading 13-0, Roy Williams was beaten on consecutive plays by Santana Moss resulting in two touchdown catches and a 14-13 Cowboys loss. Many other instances of big time plays in close ball games was the result of poor coverage by Williams. Experts[citation needed] feel he lacks the speed to cover downfield, and that he allows too many big plays in key situations. In contrast, many of his interceptions, tackles, forced fumbles, and forced incompletions have also come in key situations. Pro-Williams critics argue that it is not Roy's coverage skills that are lacking, but rather his aggressive nature as a game changer that can lead to over-pursuit and blown assignments. Nevertheless, improving this aspect of his game has been the top priority in the 2006-07 season.

Also criticized are the tackles Williams uses to take down opposing players. Several of his tackles have lead to serious injuries to opponents, including 2 horse collar tackles in 2004 that broke the legs of Musa Smith and Terrell Owens. Subsequent analysis of the six worst injuries of the 2004 NFL season revealed that four of those were caused by Williams on horse collar tackles[citation needed]. As a result of Williams' play[citation needed], the NFL owners voted to make the horse collar tackle illegal. Early in the 2006 season, many critics accused him[citation needed] of a horse-collar tackle against Tiki Barber of the New York Giants, although the referees saw the play as clean, as Williams initially grabbed the shoulder pads of Barber but tackled him by wrapping around his upper-body[citation needed].

[edit] Trivia

  • The banning of the horse-collar tackle is now jokingly referred to as the "Roy Williams Rule[citation needed]." Williams injured multiple opponents with this technique before the ban[3], including receiver Terrell Owens, who is now his teammate. Due to this rule, critics of Williams are quick to point out that he is a dirty player[citation needed].
  • Williams dated and was engaged to R&B vocalist Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child, but the wedding has reportedly been called off. It was pubicly stated that they felt they were too young to be married and both remain good friends to this day.
  • He is often considered to be a class act off the field and a good ambassador to the NFL as evident in his support of the United Way Foundation. He was one of the first to welcome Terrell Owens to the Dallas Cowboys.
  • Williams is often confused with Detroit Lions wide receiver Roy Williams. Both have a friendly rivalry as Dallas's Roy Williams was from the University of Oklahoma and Detroit's Roy Williams was from the University of Texas. When asked in a magazine article about one of his memorable NFL moments, Detroit's Williams stated the time Dallas's Williams blasted Wide Receiver Tai Streets and immediately gave him the University of Texas "Hook 'em Horns" gesture facing down as a message saying "you're next!".

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c http://www.dallascowboys.com/profile_williams_roy.cfm
  2. ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2537375
  3. ^ http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2005-05-24-owners-meetings_x.htm?csp=36
Persondata
NAME Williams, Roy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Football player
DATE OF BIRTH August 14, 1980
PLACE OF BIRTH Redwood City, California
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../r/o/y/Roy_Williams_%28safety%29_dff0.html"