Avery A. Williams Sr. (born September 2, 1994) is a retired 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 ...

player. He previously played for the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (Canadian French, French: ) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL ...

and

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

of 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). He was signed by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

as an undrafted free agent after playing

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 ...

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

Early life

Williams played running back, wide receiver, linebacker, and defensive back for Archbishop Curley High School in

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College career

After using a redshirt season in 2012, Williams played

for the

Temple Owls The Temple Owls are the college athletics, athletic teams that represent Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The current athletic director is Arthur Johnson (athletic director), Arthur Johnson. The owl has been the symbol and masco ...

from 2013 to 2016. He became a full time starter at the strong side linebacker spot in his senior year in 2016 and appeared in 14 games, having 66 total tackles, with nine tackles for losses, two sacks, two forced fumbles and two recoveries. Following his productive 2016 season, Williams was named to the All-

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Second Team.

Professional career

Houston Texans

Williams was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent on May 12, 2017. He was waived on September 2, 2017.

Ottawa Redblacks

On January 8, 2018, Williams signed with the

. He made the team's active roster following training camp and played in his first professional game on June 21, 2018, against the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

. In the third game of the 2018 season, on July 6, 2018, against the

, he made his first career start. On August 17, 2018, he scored his first career touchdown as he returned a Matt Nichols fumble 43 yards for the score in a victory over the

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 in 17 regular season games in his rookie year, starting in 11 of them, where he had 43 defensive tackles, six special teams tackles, one sack, two forced fumbles, and one touchdown. He also started in his first two post-season games that year, including the Eastern Conference final game and the

106th Grey Cup The 106th Grey Cup (branded as the 106th Grey Cup presented by Shaw for sponsorship reasons) was the Canadian Football League (CFL) championship game for the 2018 season. It was played on November 25, 2018, between the Ottawa Redblacks and the C ...

, In

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, Williams had a strong start to the season as he recorded 69 defensive tackles in the team's first 11 games before he suffered a season-ending injury. Williams was the team's nominee for the CFL's Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Defensive Player awards. He did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the

2020 CFL season The 2020 CFL season would have been the 67th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it would have been the 63rd season of the Canadian Football League. It was originally scheduled to begin on June 11; on April 7, the start of the ...

. Instead, he re-signed with the Redblacks on February 3, 2021. In the

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-shortened

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, Williams played in 13 regular season games where he had 89 defensive tackles, two sacks, one forced fumble, and his first career interception. He had his best career game in the opening game of the season where he recorded a franchise record-tying 14 defensive tackles and also one sack on August 7, 2021, in the win over the

Edmonton Elks The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division (CFL), West Division and plays their home games at Commonw ...

. At the end of the season, Williams was once again named the team's Most Outstanding Defensive Player and CFL East All-Star. In 18 games in the 2022 season. Williams had a career high 92 defensive tackles, 2 special teams tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 interception, 3 pass deflections, and 1 fumble recovery. Williams was once again a star player for Ottawa in 2022, contributing with 92 defensive tackles, two special teams tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles and one interception. Following the season, with his contract expiring and unable to agree to new terms, Ottawa released Williams on February 11, 2023, allowing him to pursue a contract elsewhere.

Montreal Alouettes

On February 11, 2023, Williams and the

agreed to a contract. In

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, he played in nine regular season games, starting in six, where he had 34 defensive tackles, three special teams tackles, and one pass knockdown. He became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

upon the expiry of his contract on February 13, 2024.

Personal life

Williams was born in

to parents Willinette and Anthony Williams. He and his wife, Precious, have one son, Avery Jr.

References

External links

Montreal Alouettes bioTemple Owls bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Avery Living people 1994 births American football linebackers Temple Owls football players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Players of American football from Baltimore Ottawa Redblacks players Canadian football linebackers Players of Canadian football from Baltimore