William James (football player)

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William James
Date of birth	June 15, 1979
Place of birth	Uniontown, PA
Position(s)	Cornerback
College	Western Illinois
NFL Draft	2001 / Round 3/ Pick 16
Team(s)
2001-2005 2006-present	New York Giants Philadelphia Eagles

William James (born William James Peterson, Jr. June 15, 1979 in Uniontown, Pennsylvania) is an American football cornerback for the Philadelphia Eagles. He was selected with the 16th pick of the third round of the 2001 NFL Draft out of Western Illinois University by the New York Giants.

Peterson attended the University of Michigan for two years, one of them with the school's 1997 national championship team, before finishing his collegiate career at Western Illinois University. Although he played in 21 games for the Wolverines, he only started two of them. In his senior season at Western Illinois, Peterson started 10 games. He finished his career with 96 tackles (77 solo), 9 interceptions, 2 sacks, and 11 tackles for losses. He averaged over 26 yards per interception return and scored two defensive touchdowns.

In his rookie NFL season with the Giants in 2001, Peterson played in all sixteen games, but with only five starts. In 2002, he started all 12 games in which he played, but missed four due to injuries. In 2003, Peterson started five games, but missed the rest of the season because of a stress fracture in his lower back. In 2004, William Peterson played in every regular-season game for the Giants, and started fifteen of them. Peterson was released by the Giants on Friday May 26, 2006; the Giants waived him because of severe back problems and health issues related to stress fractures in his lower back. He reportedly signed with the Philadelphia Eagles on October 29, 2006, but he did not officially become an Eagle until October 30, after he passed a physical. He also changed his name to William James and is now referred to as such.

"For a long time, I would say about two years, I've been thinking about changing my name to William James. Being cut by the Giants and having gone through this injury, it made me do some reflecting."

"A lot of times you grow up with the values and traditions and the cultures of your parents and the people we're surrounded by in our community, and you gain a certain mind-state. William James represents a change in that mind-state. It represents a personal switch that reflects me and reflects my values and the things that I represent."^[1]

1. ^ James gets new team, new name all in one day Philadelphia Inquirer November 1, 2006