Xavier Williams (born January 18, 1992) is a former American football nose tackle. He played college football at the University of Northern Iowa. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Arizona Cardinals.
 Williams with the Arizona Cardinals in 2017 | |||||||||||
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| Position: | Nose tackle | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born: | January 18, 1992 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight: | 309 lb (140 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school: | Grandview (Grandview, Missouri) | ||||||||||
| College: | Northern Iowa | ||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2015 | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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Early life
editWilliams attended Grandview High School, where he was named a first-team all conference selection. He was named to the Suburban Mid-Six team in 2009 and earned first-team all metro honors. Aside from football, Williams was a three-year starter and two-time qualifier in wrestling.[1]
College career
editWilliams attended the University of Northern Iowa between 2010 and 2014. He was earned All-Missouri Valley Football Conference First-team Honors in both 2013 and 2014. Williams had the opportunity to play in the East-West Shrine Game following his senior season, where he performed well at the defensive tackle position[2]
Professional career
editArizona Cardinals (first stint)
editOn May 5, 2015, Williams signed with the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent.[3] In his rookie year in 2015, he played 4 games making 2 tackles.
On March 13, 2018, the Cardinals placed an original round restricted free agent tender on Williams, which allows a player to negotiate a contract with another team, but their original team can match the offer, if they refuse, they receive a draft pick from the round the player was drafted in. For undrafted players, like Williams, the team receives no compensation.[4]
Kansas City Chiefs
editOn March 20, 2018, Williams received a contract offer from the Kansas City Chiefs giving the Cardinals a chance to match. The Cardinals declined to match the Chiefs offer, so he signed his offer sheet with the Chiefs.[5]
On October 9, 2019, Williams was placed on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain.[6] He was designated for return from injured reserve on December 4, 2019, and began practicing with the team again.[7] He was activated on December 25, 2019.[8] Williams won Super Bowl LIV with the Chiefs after defeating the San Francisco 49ers 31–20.
After becoming a free agent in March 2020, Williams visited the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on August 8, 2020,[9] and had a tryout with the New England Patriots on August 20, 2020.[10]
New England Patriots
editOn August 22, 2020, Williams signed with the Patriots.[11] On September 5, 2020, he was waived by the team and added to the practice squad the following day.[12] He was elevated to the active roster on September 12 for the team's week 1 game against the Miami Dolphins,[13] and reverted to the practice squad after the game on September 14.[14] He was released on October 2, 2020.[15]
Cincinnati Bengals
editOn October 12, 2020, Williams was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals.[16] Williams made his debut with the Bengals in Week 6 against the Indianapolis Colts. During the game, Williams recovered a fumble lost by tight end Jack Doyle and later recorded his first sack of the season on Philip Rivers during the 31–27 loss.[17]
Arizona Cardinals (second stint)
editOn June 7, 2021, Williams signed with the Cardinals.[18] He was placed on injured reserve on August 8, 2021. He was released on August 16.
Houston Texans
editOn December 21, 2021, Williams was signed to the Houston Texans active roster.[19] He was released on December 31.
References
edit- ^ "Xavier Williams Biography". azcardinals.com. Arizona Cardinals. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
- ^ Muench, Steve (January 16, 2015). "Xavier Williams among East-West Shrine Game standouts". ESPN. ESPN. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
- ^ Logue, Andrew (May 5, 2015). "UNI's Xavier Williams joins NFL's Cardinals". demoinesregister.com. The Des Moines Register. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
- ^ "Cardinals tender restricted free agent Xavier Williams". ArizonaSports.com. March 13, 2018.
- ^ Paylor, Terez A. (March 20, 2018). "Chiefs sign restricted free agent nose tackle Xavier Williams". Kansas City.com.
- ^ "Chiefs place DT Xavier Williams on IR; Officially announce new signings". Chiefs Wire. USA Today. October 9, 2019.
- ^ Williams, Charean (December 4, 2019). "Chiefs designate Xavier Williams to return from IR". NBCSports.com. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
- ^ Teicher, Adam (December 25, 2019). "Chiefs put RB Spencer Ware on IR, activate DT Xavier Williams". ESPN.
- ^ @AlbertBreer (August 8, 2020). "Also, Browns WR Jarvis Landry among those activated off PUP today" (Tweet). Retrieved August 21, 2020 – via Twitter.
- ^ @AlbertBreer (August 20, 2020). "Today's tryout/visit list" (Tweet). Retrieved August 21, 2020 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Patriots Sign TE Paul Quessenberry and DT Xavier Williams; Release Two Players". Patriots.com. August 22, 2020.
- ^ "Here are the players on the Patriots' practice squad | Boston.com". www.boston.com. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
- ^ "Patriots make a series of transactions". Patriots.com. September 12, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
- ^ Leger, Justin (September 14, 2020). "Patriots send Folk back to practice squad". NBCSports.com. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
- ^ "Patriots Sign LB Michael Pinckney to the Practice Squad; Release DL Xavier Williams from the Practice Squad". Patriots.com. October 2, 2020.
- ^ "Bengals Sign DT Xavier Williams, Place D.J. Reader On Reserve/Injured". Bengals.com. October 12, 2020.
- ^ "Cincinnati Bengals at Indianapolis Colts – October 18th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- ^ Urban, Darren (June 7, 2021). "Cardinals Bring Back Defensive Lineman Xavier Williams". AZCardinals.com.
- ^ "Houston Texans Transactions (12-21-2021)". HoustonTexans.com. December 21, 2021.