Quency Leon Williams (April 10, 1961 – April 2022) was an American professional

gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

who played six seasons in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) for the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

and

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

. 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 ...

at Auburn and also had stints with the

Birmingham Stallions The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played their ...

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). The Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural ...

Arizona Outlaws The Arizona Outlaws were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s. They were owned by Fresno banker and real estate magnate William Tatham Sr., who had briefly owned the Portland ...

and

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

. He won the

78th Grey Cup The 78th Grey Cup was the 1990 Canadian Football League championship game played between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Edmonton Eskimos at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Blue Bombers defeated the Eskimos, 50–11. Game s ...

with the Blue Bombers.

Early life and education

Williams was born on April 10, 1961, in

Douglasville, Georgia The city of Douglasville is the county seat of and largest city in Douglas County, Georgia, United States. , the city had a population of 34,650, up from 30,961 in 2010 and 20,065 in 2000. Douglasville is located approximately west of Atlant ...

, and grew up there. He attended Douglas County High School, graduating in 1980. He committed to

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

and saw immediate playing time as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

on the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

. He played in every year of his at the school, and as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

helped Auburn to the second-best run defense in the conference. His brother Gregg Williams played college football for rival

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Professional career

Williams was selected in the 1984 USFL Territorial Draft by the

, but was one of the team's final roster cuts. In , Williams was noticed by scouts of the

, who gave him a tryout. His tryout was successful and he was given a contract, but he was soon after placed on injured reserve and did not make the final roster the following year in 1985. Williams was later contacted by the

in the USFL, the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

in the NFL, and by two teams from the

(CFL). He accepted an offer from Arizona, but the season was canceled before he got a chance to play. In May , Williams was signed by the

of the CFL. His position was changed from defensive end to

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the lin ...

, but was later changed back. He made the final roster and played in a total of ten games in his first year, as Calgary compiled a record of 10–8. Williams returned to the Stampeders in , playing in all eighteen games and making nine

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackle (football move), tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the l ...

s and 59

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

. He was named the team's most valuable player by

Canadian Airlines International Canadian Airlines International Ltd. (stylized as Canadi›n Airlines or Canadi‹n Airlines, or simply Canadian) was a major Canadian airline that operated from 1987 until 2001. The airline was Canada's second largest airline after Air Canada ...

and was awarded a trip to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. After the 1988 season ended, Williams tried out for the United States Bobsled Team. In May , Williams was traded to the

for future considerations. He changed his position to linebacker near the beginning of the season. He made the final roster and appeared in seventeen games, making 65 tackles and eight sacks. Williams returned to the defensive end position in . That year, he played in fifteen games, making six sacks and 46 tackles as the Blue Bombers went on to win the

. In , he played in just seven games, recording two sacks and 15 tackles. In , he played in just one game before being released. Shortly after being released by Winnipeg, Williams was signed by the

. He was released by the Lions on September 7, without appearing in a game. He finished his CFL career with 68 games played, 221 tackles, 30.0 sacks and two fumble recoveries.

Later life and death

Williams was later a tow truck operator near Winnipeg. In 2002, he helped save the life of a man who had crashed his van into a

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

river. Williams died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in April 2022, shortly after his 61st birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Quency 1961 births 2022 deaths Players of American football from Douglas County, Georgia Players of Canadian football from Georgia (U.S. state) American football defensive ends Auburn Tigers football players Birmingham Stallions players Los Angeles Raiders players Arizona Outlaws players Calgary Stampeders players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players BC Lions players Sportspeople from Douglasville, Georgia Canadian football linebackers Canadian football defensive linemen