Maurece Jabari Williams (born July 26, 1974) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...

and was selected in the third round of the

1996 NFL draft The 1996 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held April 20–21, 1996 NFL seas ...

. He played in the NFL for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

and

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

Early life

While attending Spencer High School in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee ...

, Williams was a standout running back in football. As a senior, he garnered All-American honors, was named the Georgia High School Player of the Year, and lead his team to its first playoff appearance in 24 years.

College career

At the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

, Williams made an immediate impact, setting the freshman rushing record with 986 yards in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

. He gained 58 yards on 13 carries in the

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played annually in Atlanta, Georgia, since December 30, 1968. The first three Peach Bowls were played at Bobby Dodd Stadium, Grant Field on the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Tech c ...

at the conclusion of his freshman season at the University of Kentucky. In 1994, despite playing for a team that finished with a 1–10 record, Williams gained 805 yards on 160 carries, starting all eleven games. In 1995 Williams put together the best single-season rushing performance in school history, rushing for 1,600 yards in 1995 and topping 100 rushing yards in seven games. In that season Williams also led the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

in rushing yards per game (145.5), all purpose yardage (1,826 yards, 166 yards per game) and scoring (102 points). For the season Williams was honorable mention All America, a consensus All-Southeastern Conference selection and a finalist for the

Doak Walker Award The Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. Established in 1990, it is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Foot ...

. During the 1995 season in a single game at

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, Williams rushed for 299 yards (with three touchdowns in the first half) and a total of 429 all purpose yards (57 receiving and 73 on kickoff returns), the most ever by a player in the

and the second highest total in NCAA history. His 7.5 yards per rush was also an SEC record (minimum 40 attempts). After that game Williams was named the national player of the week by the National Football Foundation,

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

and the SEC. Williams left Kentucky with a career total of 3,333 rushing yards in three seasons (an average of 5.4 yards per carry on 618 attempts), along with 38 receptions for 313 yards (8.2 per catch) and 27 touchdowns scored. Williams entered the

NFL draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and was chosen in the third round by the Minnesota Vikings with the 75th overall pick.

Professional career

Williams spent most of his 10-year NFL career with the Vikings, with the exception of a season with the Baltimore Ravens in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

. Williams' best year came in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, when he amassed 745 rushing yards and 644 receiving yards. Williams was involved in the 2005 Minnesota Vikings boat cruise scandal in October 2005. He was charged in December 2005 with indecent conduct, disorderly conduct and lewd or lascivious conduct. On April 20, 2006, he was found guilty of disorderly conduct and was acquitted of the two other

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than admi ...

charges and sentenced to a $300 fine and 30 hours of community service.

Post-NFL career

Williams has recently turned his attention to professional horse racing. He now trains thoroughbreds and won his first race as a trainer at Calder Race Course.

References

External links

*
Moe Williams Kentucky Statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Moe 1974 births Living people American football running backs American racehorse trainers Baltimore Ravens players Kentucky Wildcats football players Minnesota Vikings players Players of American football from Columbus, Georgia