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Juice Williams

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Not to be confused with Isaiah Williams.
For the basketball player, see Isiah Williams (basketball).
Juice Williams
refer to caption
Juice Williams at the 2007 Fighting Illini Fan Appreciation Day
Personal information
Born: (1987-11-19) November 19, 1987 (age 37)
Chicago, Illinois
Career information
College:Illinois
Position:Quarterback
Undrafted:2010
Career history
Career highlights and awards
  • 2× Honorable Mention All-Big Ten (2007, 2009)
  • Second Team All-Big Ten (2008)
  • Several Illinois Records
  • First Team All-CIFL (2014)

Isiah John "Juice" Williams (born November 19, 1987) is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. Williams currently works as the director of alumni and former player relations at Illinois. He was undrafted in 2010. He played college football at Illinois.

After his senior year of high school in 2005, Williams was considered a top recruit for the quarterback position.[1][2]

Personal

"Juice" Williams is the son of Stanley and Anita Williams. Mrs. Williams nearly died at birth due to his large size of 13 pounds and 8 ounces.[3] He has two brothers and one sisters.

Williams was dubbed "Juice" by his grandmother because of his large size as a child. "I was kind of big … you know, big and juicy, I guess." [4]

He was a high school honor student and attended the same school as former Illinois star Dick Butkus: Chicago Vocational High School.[3] Williams is active both in his church and local community.

Recruiting

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight 40‡ Commit date
Isiah Williams
QB 		Chicago Illinois Chicago Vocational High School 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 207 lb (94 kg) 4.77 May 28, 2005 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:4/5 stars   Rivals:4/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 82
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 5 (QB)   Rivals: 3 (QB), 2 (IL), 80 National  ESPN: 8 (QB), 11 (East Region)
  • ‡ Refers to 40 yard dash
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height, weight and 40 time.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2006 Illinois Football Commitment List (20)". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
  • "Illinois College Football Recruiting Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
  • "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
  • "2006 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 26, 2013.

College career

2006: Freshman year

Williams played in the first four games of the 2006 football season, splitting time with senior quarterback Tim Brasic. He threw his first collegiate touchdown pass (a 76-yarder to Rashard Mendenhall) in the third game of the year against Syracuse. In the 4th game of the season, Williams made his first collegiate start in a losing effort vs Iowa.

Juice lining up against Purdue on November 11, 2006

On September 30, 2006, Williams led the Illini on a game-winning 4th-quarter drive for a 39-yard field goal that gave the team a 23–20 upset victory over host Michigan State. Illinois came into the game as 26-point underdogs. It was the team's first conference victory since the 2004 season. Williams finished with 122 yards passing, one touchdown pass, and 103 yards rushing. Illinois could not keep the momentum from the Michigan State game, losing the remainder of their games (several by less than a touchdown and two on last second field goals). Williams displayed inconsistency in his game finishing the season with a completion percentage below 40 and passing for fewer than 100 yards in the season's final three games.

2007: Sophomore year

Williams was injured in the second quarter of the season opening loss to Mizzou and kept out of the second half for precautionary reasons. Williams showed improvement in his accuracy in the 3+ drives he was in, throwing 9 balls, 6 of which were caught for 59 yards. Williams had mediocre games in the Illini's first 3 victories over Western Illinois, Syracuse, and Indiana. Williams had average numbers in Illinois' back-to-back victories against ranked teams, defeating Penn State and Wisconsin.

It seemed as if Illinois' promising 5–1 start may have been a fluke, as they proceeded to drop their next two games, a 10–6 loss at Iowa and a 27–17 defeat against Michigan in Champaign. Williams threw for a combined 168 yards and 1 TD and 1 INT in the two losses. The Illini, however, turned it around in their next two games in victories over Ball St and Minnesota. Williams had perhaps his best game to that point vs Minnesota totaling over 300 yards on offense (203 passing, 133 rushing) and scoring 3 touchdowns (2 passing and 1 rushing).

Yet, the best was yet to come as Williams had what some consider his greatest game at Ohio Stadium versus the top ranked Buckeyes. Williams led Illinois to a 28–21 upset over Ohio State, its first win over a #1 ranked team since 1956.[5] During this game he threw for 4 touchdowns and completed 12 passes of 22 attempts. He threw a total of 140 yards and rushed for 70 yards. Williams amassed over 350 yards of offense en route to a 41–22 victory over in state rival Northwestern in the regular season finale. Williams totaled over 2200 yards of offense and scored 20 touchdowns, as he led the Illini to a 9–3 record and their first bowl berth since the 2002 Sugar Bowl. Illinois was selected to play against perennial power USC in the Rose Bowl, the Illini's first time playing in the Rose Bowl since 1984. Illinois would lose the game 49–17, with USC scoring 28 points off of 4 Illinois turnovers (2 interceptions and 2 fumbles on runs after completions. Williams threw for his highest passing yard total to date (245), but had no touchdown passes and 2 interceptions.

2008: Junior year

Illinois entered the 2008 season ranked as the #20 team in the nation, despite the loss of Big Ten MVP Rashard Mendenhall. Williams and the Illini opened the season vs. Missouri, and despite one of the best passing games in Illinois history where Williams threw for 451 yards and 5 TDs, the Illini lost to 6th ranked Missouri 52–42. The Illini would pick up their first win of the season vs Eastern Illinois, where Williams amassed 174 yards rushing with 2 TDs in the 47–21 victory. Williams and the Illini struggled in a 20–17 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette, in which Williams amassed just over 180 yards of total offense. After a bye week (the first at Illinois under Ron Zook), the Illini traveled to Penn State and fell 38–24, with Juice passing for 183 yards and rushing for another 64. Illinois next traveled to Michigan and Juice amassed 431 yards of total offense (310 passing, 121 rushing, 4 total TDs), which is both the most total yards in Michigan Stadium history and the most given up by any Michigan team, as the Illini won 45–20. The Illini fell flat vs Minnesota the following week, losing 27–20 despite Williams throwing for a career high of 462 yards along with 2 TDs. Williams had a solid game vs Indiana, passing for 271 yards and 4 total TDs.

2009: Senior year

Illinois entered the 2009 season unranked. On August 3, 2009 Williams was named to the 2009 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award Watch List. Then On August 27, 2009 Williams was named to the 22-man watch list for the 2009 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award, given to the nation's top senior signal-caller.

Williams was pulled out of a game against Ohio State for throwing 2 key interceptions. Coach Zook announced on October 5 that Juice will be benched in favor of Eddie McGee.

Williams and his Fighting Illini finished a losing 2009–2010 season on December 5, 2009 to Fresno State. During that game Juice Williams surpassed former Illini Jack Trudeau to become second in team history with 56 career touchdown passes.

Career stats

Statistics up to date as of October 11, 2008. High School stats from Rivals.com.[6] College Stats from ESPN.[7]

Passing

Year Team Comps Attempts Yards Average Long TDs INTs
2005 Chicago Vocational Career Academy 72 128 1,841 25.5 – 22 3
High School Totals 72 128 1,841 25.5 – 22 3
2006 Illinois 103 261 1,489 5.7 76 9 9
2007 Illinois 153 267 1,743 6.5 56 13 12
2008 Illinois 219 381 3,173 8.3 77 22 16
2009 Illinois 131 227 1,632 7.2 58 12 7
College Totals 606 1,136 8,037 7.1 77 56 44

Rushing

Year Team Attempts Yards Average Long TDs
2005 Chicago Vocational Career Academy 166 1,441 21.8 – 17
High School Totals 166 1,441 21.8 – 17
2006 Illinois 154 576 3.7 45 2
2007 Illinois 165 755 4.6 24 7
2008 Illinois 175 719 4.1 50 5
2009 Illinois 143 507 3.5 49 4
College Totals 637 2,557 4.0 50 18

[8]

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Williams went undrafted in the 2010 NFL Draft. The Chicago Bears invited Williams to attend a rookie mini-camp tryout. The Bears already had Jay Cutler, Caleb Hanie, and rookie Dan LeFevour on the roster. During the offseason, Chicago also picked up Todd Collins and Matt Gutierrez. Williams has not received any other invitations from professional teams.

On October 4, 2010 after a game against the New York Giants in which both starting QB Cutler and 2nd-stringer Todd Collins were knocked out of the game, Williams tweeted that the Bears had contacted him and that he was "high on [their] list."[9] However, he was never added to the roster.

Chicago Slaughter

From 2013 through 2014 Williams was a regular player for the Chicago Slaughter indoor football team.

Chicago Blitz

When the Slaughter decided to sit out the 2014 season, Williams signed with the Chicago Blitz of the Continental Indoor Football League.

Central Penn Capitals

In February, 2016, Williams signed with the Central Penn Capitals of American Indoor Football (AIF).

Professional life

In March 2014 Williams accepted a position as the University of Illinois' director of alumni and former player relations. In April 2015 Williams left Illinois to join the Georgetown athletic development staff to join his wife who accepted a job in Georgetown's law department.

References

  1. ^ "Scout.com Isiah Williams Profile". Scout.com. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  2. ^ "Isiah Williams: Football Recruiting". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  3. ^ a b "Juice Williams Player profile". Fightingillini.com. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  4. ^ "Illinois' Natural: Juice's offense powers Illini". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  5. ^ "Illinois shocks top-ranked Ohio State in Columbus". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
  6. ^ "Isiah Williams". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2006-09-17.
  7. ^ "#7 Juice Williams QB". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  8. ^ Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/33040903/ns/sports-college_football/ "Juice Williams arrived at Illinois in 2006 with the promise of an Illini resurgence. He threw two picks Saturday and was pulled in the fourth quarter, his team's record over the past four seasons falling to 18–24."
  9. ^ Aite, talked to the Bears. Told me to be prepared and stay ready in case of injury, I'm high on the list.

News on post professional career. http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/illini-sports/football/2015-04-14/williams-leaving-illinois.html

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