Trayveon Thomas Williams (born October 18, 1997) is an American 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 ...

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 ...

and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

of 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). During his junior season at

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

, Williams received first team all- SEC and second-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors; he also broke the school records for single-season all-purpose yards and rushing yards.

College career

Freshman season

In his collegiate debut in the season opener against

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, Williams had 94 rushing yards. After gaining 127 yards against Auburn, including an 89-yard rushing touchdown, Williams was named 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 ...

(SEC) Freshman of the Week. In the next game, against

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, he had 153 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. On October 8, against

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, he had a season-high 217 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in the 45–38 double overtime victory. Williams became the first true freshman in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season.

Sophomore season

Williams rushed for 203 yards against

in the season-opening loss. Overall, he compiled 798 total rushing yards as a sophomore.

Junior season

Prior to the season, Williams was selected to the second team All-SEC preseason team. He rushed for 240 yards in season opener against

Northwestern State Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSULA) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Johnson and Alexandria. It is a part of the Un ...

, second highest single-game in school history. He was named one of ten semifinalists 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 ...

. Following the regular season, Williams received first-team all-SEC honors from the league's coaches and the

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(AP), and second-team

honors from the AP,

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, and ''

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''. During the

2018 Gator Bowl The 2018 Gator Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 31, 2018. It was the 74th edition of the Gator Bowl, and one of the 2018–19 bowl games concluding the 2018 FBS football season. Sponsored by the financial technology com ...

, Williams broke the school records for single-season all-purpose yards and single-season rushing yards, and the

Gator Bowl The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, usually contested on or around New Year's Day. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first televise ...

record for single-game rushing yards. The school record for single-season all-purpose yards was previously set by Cyrus Gray in 2010, while the single-season rushing yards record was set by

Darren Lewis Darren Joel Lewis (born August 28, 1967) is an American former professional baseball player who played center field in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics (1990), San Francisco Giants (1991–1995), Cincinnati Reds (1995), Ch ...

in 1988. Former

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running back Floyd Little set the Gator Bowl record in 1966. On January 3, 2019, Williams announced that he would forgo his final year of eligibility and declare for the

2019 NFL draft The 2019 NFL draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. The first round was held ...

Collegiate statistics

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

2019–2020

Williams was drafted by the

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

in the sixth round, 182nd overall, of the 2019 NFL Draft. He appeared in 11 games as a rookie in mainly a

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

role. He had 26 carries for 157 rushing yards in ten games in the 2020 season.

2021

On August 31, 2021, Williams was waived by the Bengals and re-signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on December 4. He had five appearances in the 2021 season in a reserve and special teams role.

2022

Williams was cut by the Bengals on August 30, 2022., but was re-signed on September 1. Williams began the 2022 season as the fourth running back on the depth chart, behind Joe Mixon,

Samaje Perine Samaje Perine ( ; born September 16, 1995) is an American professional football running back for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners, and was selected by the Washingto ...

, and Chris Evans, and was a weekly healthy inactive, but starting Week 11 against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

, Williams replaced Evans as the team's kickoff returner. He appeared in eight games, and finish the year with 356 return yards, and 30 rushing yards on 6 attempts. Williams continued to return kicks for the team during their 2022 playoff games.

2023

On March 16, 2023, Williams re-signed with the Bengals on a one-year contract. During the first day of training camp in full pads on August 1, 2023, Williams went down with an ankle injury and was carted off the practice field. He was named the second running back on the depth chart for the season, only behind Mixon. Williams once again replaced Evans as the team's kick returner for the second year in a row. Following the rise of rookie Chase Brown, Williams lost both the job of kick returns and change-of-pace back.

2024

On March 11, 2024, Williams signed a one-year contract extension with the Bengals. He was named the third running back on the depth chart to begin the season, behind

Zack Moss Zaccheus Malik Moss (born December 15, 1997) is an American professional football running back for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Utah Utes and was selected by the Buffalo Bills ...

and Brown. Williams lost his role as the Bengals' kick returner to Charlie Jones starting with the Week 5 game against the

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 ...

. He did not log a single carry or catch for the entire 2024 season, being used in a solely special teams capacity.

New England Patriots

On May 14, 2025, Williams signed with the

References

External links

New England Patriots bioTexas A&M Aggies bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Trayveon 1997 births Living people Players of American football from Houston American football running backs Texas A&M Aggies football players Cincinnati Bengals players New England Patriots players