Mike Williams

At 40 years old, Mike Williams has this physical status:

Michael Troy Williams (born January 4, 1984) is a former American football wide receiver who has competed in the National Football League (NFL).

Williams played college football at UCB and received unanimous All-American recognition.

He was picked in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions, Tennessee Titans, and Seattle Seahawks.

He is regarded as one of the oldest Detroit Lions draft busts of all time.

Source

College career

Williams played for the University of Southern California from 2002 to 2003, where he was a member of Coach Pete Carroll's USC Trojans football team. Williams was offered scholarships to Florida State University and the University of Florida before attending USC, but no school saw him as a wide receiver. Williams was a split end wide receiver in the majority of his games for the University of South Carolina. During his freshman and sophomore years at USC, Williams played in all 26 games and began 15 of them. He wore No. 00 in his jersey. I'm currently on the football team.

He had 81 receptions for 1,265 yards and 14 touchdowns in his freshman season. These are all USC and Pacific-10 Conference freshman records.

Williams was voted First-Team Freshman by The Sporting News, Scripps/Football Writers, and Rivals.com. The Sporting News Freshman of the Year was named as the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year by the Year's Most Valuable Mention, named to the All-Pac-10 second team and All-American honorable mention, and The Sporting News All-Pac-10 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year.

Williams played in all 13 games as a sophomore and led the Trojans in receiving yards and touchdowns, totaling 94 yards and 16 touchdowns. Williams qualified for the 2003 Biletnikoff Award (nation's top receiver), but he came in eighth in Heisman Trophy voting. He has also been named first-team All-American (AP, ESPN.com, Football Writers, and SI.com among others) awards. Williams was also named as a member of the All-Pac-10 First Team and CBS.Sportsline.com National Player of the Year in 2003. He also completed two pass attempts for 38 yards and one touchdown against Michigan in the Rose Bowl this year, as well as blocking a field goal.

Professional career

Maurice Clarett, a running back for Ohio State, was suspended by his academy following his 2002 freshman year. Clarett made the decision to announce for the NFL Draft after being unable to recover reinstatement with Ohio State. However, since Clarett was only of true sophomore status, he had to challenge the NFL's decision that a player must be three years old in order to be eligible for the NFL draft. A federal judge had ruled that Clarett would not be banned from entering the 2004 NFL Draft after a court hearing.

After hearing the federal judge's ruling, Williams, who completed his sophomore year and just two years removed from high school, made the decision to sign the 2004 NFL Draft as well. Williams recruited an agent and marched forward posing as a legitimate first-round pick (and most NFL pundits and NFL players agreed that Williams was a first-round pick). He declared his intention to draft, recruiting an agent to represent his rights, and submitting the NFL paperwork required to access the draft, making him ineligible for NCAA reinstatement.

The federal judge's decision encouraging Clarett to enter the Draft in the 2004 NFL Draft was reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which overturned the federal judge's decision to allow him to enter the Draft. In addition, the US Supreme Court has declined to hear a final appeal. The 2004 NFL Draft was ineligible for Clarett and Williams.

As Williams was ineligible for NCAA reinstatement, he was expected to miss the entire 2004 football season, but not allowed to practice with USC as well.

Despite being suspended for a complete season, Williams was drafted 10th overall by the Detroit Lions in the 2005 NFL Draft, making him the third WR drafted in the first round in as many years as the Lions. Williams selected jersey #88, which had been retired in honor of Hall of Fame tight end Charlie Sanders.

Williams, a rookie in 2005, appeared in 14 games with four starts. In the season opener against Green Bay, Williams caught his first touchdown pass in his NFL debut, a 3-yard pass from quarterback Joey Harrington. Williams made his first appearance against the Ravens and had 1 reception for 7 yards. Williams had a career-long, 49-yard reception in Cleveland. He had 5 receptions for 95 yards in the game. Williams then started playing in Minnesota and had 4 receptions for 43 yards. The first downs were held at three of the four receptions. Due to an injured ankle, Williams was forced to miss the Lions game in Dallas. Williams had a season-high 6 receptions for 84 yards against Atlanta and had a 21-yard reception in New Orleans on the Lions' first down.

He had 29 receptions for 350 yards and 1 touchdown during his rookie season.

Williams was inactive for both of the Lions' first two games in 2006. He appeared in only eight games during the 2006 season and had eight interceptions for 99 yards and one touchdown. After losing three passes for 42 yards by the Lions' Week 15 loss at Green Bay, Williams led the Lions in receiving yards. Williams received two more passes in a Week 16 loss to Chicago, but he dropped several times, and was unable to get a potential game-winning touchdown pass from Jon Kitna as time expired. Williams made two passes during the Lions' Week 17 victory in Dallas, including a fourth quarter 50-yard pass.

During the first day of the 2007 NFL Draft, Williams and Josh McCown were traded together with Josh McCown in exchange for a 2007 fourth-round pick that the Lions used to select A.J. Davis. Lane Kiffin, a former college coach, was reunited in Oakland, California.

Williams joined the Tennessee Titans on November 22, 2007, reuniting him with former USC running back LenDale White and his former offensive coordinator from USC, Norm Chow.

Williams reuniting Williams with former USC head coach Pete Carroll after two years out of football, signing with the Seattle Seahawks on April 15, 2010, reuniting Williams with former USC head coach Pete Carroll. Williams, T. J. Houshmandzadeh, joined the Seahawks as a starting position, and Williams made four catches for 64 yards on his debut for Seattle. In a 23-20 victory over Chicago, he set career highs in both catches and yards, totaling 123 yards for 123 yards. He led this effort against the Cardinals four weeks later, catching 11 passes for 145 yards. Williams was rewarded by the Seahawks for his return to action with a three-year contract extension on Monday. In the Seahawks' wildcard victory over the New Orleans Saints and two touchdowns in the following round's loss to Chicago, Williams responded by catching a touchdown pass. Williams, Steve Largent, Jerramy Stevens, and Jermaine Kearse are the only four Seahawks with two touchdowns in a single post-season game; he is also the only quarterback in franchise history with three touchdowns in the same postseason.

Williams continued his poor 2011 season in which he broke his leg and ankle and only had 18 catches.

On July 13, 2012, the Seattle Seahawks cut him.

Williams signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League on May 23, 2013. He was released by the team on May 31.

Coaching career

Williams coached defensive backs in Los Angeles's first season after retiring in 2011. Williams served as both the football and basketball head coach at Brentwood College. Williams accepted a position as head coach at Locke High School in Los Angeles in 2014. He became the head coach at Van Nuys High School in March 2016. Williams accepted the head coaching position at Wharton High School in Tampa, Florida. Following David Mitchell's departure after 14 years to deal with family health issues, he accepts the challenge of teaching in Florida's highest class, 8A. Plant High School, his alma mater and Tampa powerhouse, said, "I didn't even apply."

Source