Mike Williams (offensive lineman)

Mike Williams

No. 68, 71
Offensive tackle
Personal information
Date of birth: January 11, 1980 (1980-01-11)
Place of birth: Dallas, Texas
High School: The Colony High School The Colony, Texas
Height: 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	Weight: 410 lb (186 kg)
Career information
College: Texas
NFL Draft: 2002 / Round: 1 / Pick: 4
Debuted in 2002 for the Buffalo Bills
Last played in Washington Redskins for the 2009
Career history
Buffalo Bills (2002–2005) Jacksonville Jaguars (2006) Washington Redskins (2009–2010)
Career highlights and awards
First-team All-Big 12 (2001) Consensus All-American (2001)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2010
Games played	59
Games started	56
Stats at NFL.com
Stats at pro-football-reference.com

Michael Deshaun Williams (born January 11, 1980) is a former American college and professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons during the early 2000s. He played college football for the University of Texas, and he earned All-American honors. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills fourth overall in the 2002 NFL Draft, and also played for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Washington Redskins.

Early years

Williams was born in Dallas, Texas. He attended The Colony High School in The Colony, Texas, where he played for the Colony Cougars high school football team.

College career

Williams attended the University of Texas in Austin, where he played for the Texas Longhorns football team from 1998 to 2001. He played right tackle for the Longhorns, while protecting quarterbacks Major Applewhite and Chris Simms. As a senior in 2001, he was a first-team All-Big-12 selection and consensus first-team All-American.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Because Simms was left-handed, this led to Williams being projected as a top prospect for left tackle, widely considered the most important position on the offensive line. He was considered one of the two top prospects in the 2002 NFL Draft, alongside Bryant McKinnie, a natural left tackle from the University of Miami.

Buffalo Bills

Williams was drafted by the Buffalo Bills with the fourth overall pick in the first round of the draft, three picks ahead of McKinnie. After starting several games at right tackle, he was eventually moved to left tackle, but largely disappointed. He was widely seen as a draft bust and eventually lost the starting job to undrafted free agent Jason Peters. After a failed attempt to convert Williams to guard, and spending some spot duty at defensive tackle in goal-line situation, he was released in the 2006 offseason.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Williams was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars on March 14, 2006.

Washington Redskins

Williams spent two years out of football before he gave the NFL another shot and signed with the Washington Redskins on April 24, 2009. At the time he weighed close to 410 pounds and there was some doubt regarding his ability to handle playing tackle again. Williams eventually lost nearly 70 pounds in order to play the position, but struggled when doing so. Because of constant injuries to the Redskins' offensive line, Williams was moved to right guard, where he played well and started eight games at the position. Williams was rewarded for his efforts on March 6, 2010 with a new two-year contract after new head coach Mike Shanahan and his staff reviewed game film of him.

On July 10, 2010, it was reported by the Washington Post that Williams would miss the entire 2010 season due to blood clots near his heart. Williams was later released by Washington on July 30, 2011.

Notwithstanding that Williams was a four-season starter, some commentators consider him to be a "draft bust" due to his high draft pick and relative lack of long-term success. The Sporting News named Williams as the No. 4 biggest NFL draft bust from 1989 to 2008.

External links

• Washington Redskins bio