 Williams with theHouston Texans in 2006 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 90, 94 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Defensive end | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1985-01-31)January 31, 1985 (age 40) Richlands, North Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 300 lb (136 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Richlands | ||||||||||||||
| College | NC State (2003–2005) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2006: 1st round,1st overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Mario Jerrel Williams (born January 31, 1985) is an American former professionalfootball player who was adefensive end in theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theNC State Wolfpack, and was selectedfirst overall by theHouston Texans in the2006 NFL draft. A four-timePro Bowl selection, he also played for theBuffalo Bills andMiami Dolphins.
Williams attendedRichlands High School inRichlands, North Carolina, where he was a two-sport star in football and track. He recorded 87 tackles, 13 sacks, 22 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and five blocked kicks as a senior. He also playedrunning back as a senior because of injuries at that position, rushing for 590 yards and three touchdowns on 58 carries. As a junior, he recorded over 100 tackles. He was selected to the 2002 North Carolina Shrine Bowl team where he notched four sacks. He was anAssociated Press (AP) All-State selection in 2002. He was just one of three North Carolina High School players to be named to FoxSN's 2002 Countdown to Signing Day All-South team. His high school number (82) was retired. Williams also competed intrack & field, and was a state qualifier in theshot put (top-throw of 52-5 or 16.05m).[1]
He was ranked No. 8 in SuperPrep's Elite 50 overall. He was considered the fifth-bestdefensive end in the country by BorderWars.com, while Rivals100.com ranked him ninth.
Williams attendedNorth Carolina State University, where he played for theNC State Wolfpack from 2003 to 2005. In only three seasons on the team he set the school's all-time sack record, a record which stood until 2017 when it was broken byBradley Chubb, a player in his fourth season with the team.
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 295 lb (134 kg) | 34+1⁄8 in (0.87 m) | 10+1⁄4 in (0.26 m) | 4.71 s | 1.59 s | 2.75 s | 4.36 s | 7.19 s | 40.5 in (1.03 m) | 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) | 35 reps | |
| All values fromNFL Combine[2][3][4] | ||||||||||||
Despite draft analysts predicting that theHouston Texans would pickReggie Bush with the first overall pick in the2006 NFL draft, they instead selected Williams and signed him to a six-year, $54 million contract.[5][6]
On October 1, 2006, Williams recorded his first sack and a half againstMiami Dolphins' quarterbackDaunte Culpepper in theTexans' first win of the season (score 17–15). Three weeks later, Williams sackedJacksonville Jaguars quarterbackByron Leftwich and recovered afumble in the Texans' 27–7 upset. In the 2006 season, Williams started all 16 games with 47 tackles, 4.5 sacks, and 1 forced fumble.
Early in the 2007 season, Williams played well, with an outstanding performance in the first game. Williams made five tackles, two sacks, and returned a fumble byKansas City ChiefsfullbackKris Wilson for atouchdown. He had particularly big games against theDenver Broncos andTennessee Titans, sacking quarterbackJay Cutler 3.5 times and quarterbackVince Young 2.5 times in one game each. His first sack of 2007 was of Peyton Manning.[7] Before the game, Indianapolis Colts coachTony Dungy compared Williams to Colts Pro Bowl defensive endDwight Freeney.[8] Williams finished the 2007 season by starting all 16 games with 59 total tackles and 14 sacks.
The2007 season was a year that Williams answered many of the critics that he gained because of his lofty top draft pick status.[9] In 2007, through 15 games, Williams accounted for 48 percent of the Texans' sacks, a higher percentage than any other player.[9] Williams was a first-teamAll-Pro selection by theSporting News. Williams was not elected to thePro Bowl game, but was voted an alternate to the game.[10]
In 2008, Williams amassed 12 sacks and 53 tackles in 16 games (all starts). This effort included three sacks and one forced fumble in the Texans' first everMonday Night Football game on December 1, 2008. For his efforts, Williams was selected forhis first Pro Bowl as a starter and was a first-teamAll-Pro selection by theSporting News for the second consecutive season. Williams was again selected to the Pro Bowl after the 2009 season.
On December 15, 2010, the Texans announced they were placing Williams oninjured reserve for the remainder of the season with an inflamedhernia.[11] Williams had been struggling since September with injuries, though he still ranked in the top third in the NFL in sacks with 8.5 through 13 games.[12] He was ranked 71st by his fellow players on theNFL Top 100 Players of 2011.[13]
In 2011, Williams transitioned to outside linebacker. During Week 5 against theOakland Raiders, Williams suffered a tornpectoral muscle while sacking Raiders quarterbackJason Campbell for his team-leading fifth sack. On October 12, the Texans placed Williams oninjured reserve for the second consecutive year, ending his season.[14] Williams's contract ended in 2011 and he became afree agent, able to sign with any other football team.
Source:[15]
On March 15, 2012, after two days of negotiation with theBuffalo Bills, Williams signed a six-year contract worth up to $100 million ($49.5 million guaranteed), which made it the most lucrative contract for a defensive player in NFL history at the time.[16] On May 22, 2012, it was announced that Williams would be wearing number #94 while with the Bills. The #90 that he wore with the Texans was worn by veteran defensive endChris Kelsay in Buffalo.[17]
Williams started all 16 games in 2012, making 46 tackles, 10.5 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles. He had a season-high 3 sacks against the Colts on November 25, 2012. During the season, Williams was often bothered by a wrist injury which supposedly affected his play.[18]
On September 15, 2013, Williams had 4.5 sacks in a winning effort against theCarolina Panthers, which broke the Bills franchise record for the most sacks in a game. He finished the 2013 season with 38 tackles, a forced fumble, 4 passes defended, and 13 sacks in 16 starts. He finished the 2014 season with 42 total tackles (36 solo, 6 assisted), and 14.5 sacks. On January 2, 2015, he was named to the 2014 AP All-Pro First-team, as well as the2015 Pro Bowl.
The Bills hiredRex Ryan as their head coach the next season, and Williams was outspoken in his disdain for the scheme Ryan installed, mainly complaining about how he did not want to drop back into coverage. His effort noticeably declined, and he registered only 5.0 sacks.
On March 1, 2016, Williams was released by the Bills.[19]
On March 8, 2016, the Miami Dolphins signed Williams to a two-year, $17 million contract with $11.98 million guaranteed and a $4 million signing bonus.[20][21]
On February 16, 2017, after only one season with the team where he recorded just 1.5 sacks, Williams was released by the Dolphins.[22]
| Year | Team | GP | Tackles | Fumbles | PD | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | FF | FR | Yds | TD | |||||||
| 2006 | HOU | 16 | 47 | 35 | 12 | 4.5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 2007 | HOU | 16 | 59 | 43 | 16 | 14.0 | 2 | 1 | 38 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 2008 | HOU | 16 | 53 | 44 | 9 | 12.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2009 | HOU | 16 | 43 | 38 | 5 | 9.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 2010 | HOU | 13 | 28 | 22 | 6 | 8.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 2011 | HOU | 5 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| 2012 | BUF | 16 | 46 | 37 | 9 | 10.5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 2013 | BUF | 16 | 38 | 28 | 10 | 13.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 2014 | BUF | 16 | 42 | 36 | 6 | 14.5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 2015 | BUF | 15 | 19 | 15 | 4 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2016 | MIA | 13 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Total | 158 | 399 | 317 | 82 | 97.5 | 16 | 5 | 38 | 1 | 21 | ||||
| Source:ESPN.com | ||||||||||||||
In 2010, Williams, an avid boater, commissioned a one-of-a-kind custom wrap on his MasterCraft X80 boat. Williams, Josh Sirlin and MasterCraft Boat Company worked out the details of the boat design through a series of sketches and then a life-size canvas painting.[23] In 2011, Williams donated five Chevrolet Camaros to the Houston Police Department, and in 2013, he made another donation of five Dodge Chargers.[24] In 2012, Williams debuted a honey-toasted oatsbreakfast cereal called "MariO's", and the proceeds from the sales are intended to be donated to a Buffalo charity supporting children with cancer and their families.[25]
Williams resided inOrchard Park, New York during his time with the Bills, where he bought a 9,389-square-foot (872.3 m2) home for $2 million in 2012.[26]
Williams was occasionally referred to as "Wario Williams" by forum members on websites such asGameFAQs,ClutchFans, and most notably on the popular social media platformTwitter.[27][28][29] This includedSyracuse.com's Bills writer Ryan Talbot who made mention of the nickname in 2012.[30] This moniker is a hat tip to the popularNintendo characterWario who is portrayed as having a similar bruising style and relentless demeanor as Williams.
Media related toMario Williams at Wikimedia Commons