David Williams

Bio

The soft hands of Illinois wide receiver, David Williams, were described by one sports writer as, “Bean bags used to catch bullets.” Late to the sport, Williams did not take up football until his senior year in high school when his older brother encouraged him. After a season in junior college, Williams came to Illinois where his brother was playing. A pre-season shoulder injury prevented the Williams brothers from teaming-up in 1982. Healthy now for his 1983 sophomore season, Williams caught 59 passes for six scores as the Illini went to the Rose Bowl for the first time in two decades. The next year he led the nation in receiving with 101 catches and became an all-conference and a unanimous All-America player. As a senior, he added 85 more catches to his career total and finished second on college football’s all-time reception list with 245 receptions for 22 touchdowns. He set nearly every Illinois reception record and had nine games where he caught more than ten passes and had 16 games where he exceeded 100-yards in receiving. He went on to play in both the NFL and the CFL, where he was the Canadian League’s MVP in 1988.

Career Highlights

• 1985 All-Conference
• 1985 Unanimous All-America
• 1984 All-Conference
• 1984 Led nation in receiving
• 1984 Unanimous All-America