Mike Williams (wide receiver)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mike Williams
Date of birth	January 4, 1984 (age 23)
Place of birth	Tampa, FL
Position(s)	Wide receiver
College	USC
NFL Draft	2005 / Round 1/ Pick 10
Statistics	Pro Football Reference CBS.com
Team(s)
2005-Present	Detroit Lions

For the offensive lineman, see Mike Williams (offensive lineman).

Michael "Mike" Williams (born January 4, 1984 in Tampa, Florida) is an American football wide receiver. As a star in college he set USC freshman records for touchdowns and yards as a wide receiver. Williams declared for the 2004 NFL Draft, but he was declined by a federal judge. He could not return to college afterwards because he had already hired an agent. He is currently regarded as a NFL draft bust.

1 Professional career
2 High school career
3 College career
4 Miscellaneous Facts
5 External link

[edit] Professional career

He was selected 10th overall in the 2005 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions, the third WR drafted in the first round in as many years by the Lions. ESPN.com reported on July 21, 2006 that Williams had been fined more than $400,000 by the Lions in his rookie year but that was proven false by sports writer Mike O'Hara.^{[citation needed]} Mike Williams admits to being fined often in 2005 but said it was far less than recently reported. In fact, Williams produced a line-by-line statement from the franchise showing the amount for the full season was $60,443. Williams is also referred to by many as BMW for Big Mike Williams.

In the 2006 season, Mike was on the inactive list for both of the Lions' first two games. After the Lions' 34-7 loss to the Bears in week two, Mike sounded off on the organization, saying he didn't understand why he wasn't getting any playing time. One of his points was that head coach Rod Marinelli stresses the fact that every player must earn their playing time; Az-Zahir Hakim played in the game after practicing for just two days, while Mike had been with the team all year. He also made references to being the scapegoat of the new coaching regime. 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 reception yards after catching three passes for 42 yards. Williams caught two more passes in a week 16 loss to Chicago, but posted several drops as well, and was unable to secure a potential game-winning touchdown pass thrown by Jon Kitna as time expired. During the Lions' week 17 win on the road against the Dallas Cowboys, Williams caught two passes for 28 yards, including a crucial fourth quarter 21-yard touchdown pass.

[edit] High school career

Mike Williams attended Plant High School (famous alum includes Wade Boggs) in Tampa, Florida. As a junior, he caught 35 passes for 803 yards (22.9 yards per rec. avg.), and 12 touchdowns, and he was an All-State Class 4-A second team selection. As a sophomore, he caught 28 passes for 631 yards (22.54 yards per rec. avg.). He also starred in basketball. As a senior, he averaged 16.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. As a junior, he won Tampa Tribune All-Hillsborough County first team honors. In high school Williams was known for his backward lateral passes to his teammates.

[edit] College career

Williams played split end (SE) wide receiver during most of his games for the USC Trojans; he wore the jersey number 1. Williams played in all 26 games during his freshman and sophomore years at USC, and started 15 of those games. His freshman season, he had 81 receptions for 1,265 yards and 14 touchdowns. These statistics are all USC and Pacific 10 Conference freshman records. He began an even more impressive sophomore campaign in 2003, which resulted in 95 catches leading to 1,314 yards and 16 touchdowns.

[edit] Miscellaneous Facts

These facts courtesy of the official website of the Detroit Lions

While growing up, he was a Buffalo Bills fan. His favorite player was Barry Sanders (who played for the Lions), whom he enjoyed watching have some of his best games against Tampa Bay, his hometown team.
Loves classic cars; has two 1973 Impalas and a 1971 Chevelle.
During the offseason, he coaches football at the YMCA in Tampa that he attended as a youth.
After his football career, he would like to be a TV football analyst – “one that actually knows about football, not one that just tries to be controversial.”
Was originally offered a scholarship to play basketball for USC, not football.