Marcus Williams (tight end)

Marcus A. Williams (born December 12, 1977) is a former American football tight end. Originally from Oakland, California, Williams played college football for Washington State. An undrafted free agent, he played for the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe and the Oakland Raiders of the NFL in 2002. During training camp in 2003, Williams was punched by teammate Bill Romanowski, leading to an eye injury that would end his football career. Williams sued Romanowski and won over $300,000 in damages in 2005.

Marcus Williams
No. 85
Position:Tight end
Personal information
Born: (1977-12-12) December 12, 1977
Oakland, California
Height:6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight:230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school:Berkeley (Berkeley, California)
College:Washington State
Undrafted:2001
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career NFL statistics
Games played:14
Tackles:11
Player stats at PFR

Early life and college career

Born in Oakland, California, Williams graduated from Berkeley High School in nearby Berkeley. He began his college football career at the junior college level at Laney College in Oakland in 1997.[1] After two seasons at Laney, Williams transferred to Washington State University, where he majored in humanities and played for the Washington State Cougars in 1999 and 2000 under head coach Mike Price.[2] At Washington State, Williams played at wide receiver and had 61 receptions for 1,086 yards and eight touchdowns.[3]

Pro career

Williams was not selected in the 2001 NFL Draft. The Indianapolis Colts signed Williams as a free agent on April 27, 2001 and released him on August 27.[4] On December 5, 2001, the Oakland Raiders signed Williams to the practice squad.[4]

The Raiders designated Williams to the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe on February 11, 2002.[5] Due to a back injury, Williams sat out the first two weeks of the NFL Europe season.[6] On week three, Williams was reassigned to the Frankfurt Galaxy, and he made his debut on April 27 against the Scottish Claymores.[7] Williams played five games off the bench at tight end, during which he had one reception, a two-yard touchdown.[1] On September 28, 2002, Williams signed with the Oakland Raiders, playing 14 games off the bench and making 11 special teams tackles during a season when the Raiders won the AFC title.[8][2] His season ended on January 23, 2003, when he was placed on injured reserve.[2]

During training camp on August 24, 2003, teammate Bill Romanowski took Williams's helmet off and punched Williams in the face, breaking Williams's left eye socket and chipping a tooth.[9][10][11] Williams was again placed on injured reserve, and he filed a civil lawsuit against Romanowski in Alameda County Superior Court in October 2003.[10] On March 22, 2005, a jury awarded Williams $340,000, specifically $300,000 for the salary that Williams would have made in 2003 and $40,000 for medical expenses. Romanowski paid Williams an additional $75,000 settlement on May 27 that year.[9]

References
  1. "Marcus Williams". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  2. "Marcus Williams". Oakland Raiders. Archived from the original on June 8, 2004. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  3. "Marcus Williams". Sports-Reference CFB. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  4. "Marcus Williams". Amsterdam Admirals. Archived from the original on October 19, 2002. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  5. "NFL players allocated to NFL Europe for 2002 season". NFL Europe. February 11, 2002. Archived from the original on October 21, 2002. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  6. "Week 2 NFL Player Tracker". NFL Europe. Archived from the original on October 21, 2002. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  7. "Week 3 NFL Player Tracker". NFL Europe. Archived from the original on August 12, 2002. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  8. "Marcus Williams". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  9. Grant, Alan (August 15, 2005). "Cracked Code". ESPN the Magazine. Archived from the original on June 26, 2009.
  10. McCauley, Janie (October 16, 2003). "Raiders' Romanowski Sued by a Teammate". Associated Press. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  11. Williams, Lance (March 2, 2005). "Battle lines drawn in Romanowski trial". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on April 22, 2005. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
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