Bennett Williams (born February 26, 1999) 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 ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

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 ...

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 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 ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, San Mateo, and

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Early life

Williams was born on February 26, 1999, in

Campbell, California Campbell is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, Campbell's population is 43,959. Campbell is home to the Pruneyard Shopping Center, a sprawling open-ai ...

. Williams attended St. Francis High School in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the population was 82,376 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mountain V ...

where he played as a wide receiver and cornerback. On offense brought in 40 receptions, for 824 yards, and eight touchdowns. On defense he made 166 tackles, with seven going for a loss, 46 pass defelections, 17 interceptions, and three forced fumbles. On January 31, 2017, Williams would decide to commit to

to play

over other school such as

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

, Columbia,

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

, and

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

. He is the brother of NFL safety Evan Williams, a fourth round draft pick of the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

in 2024.

College career

Illinois

In Williams's first season with Illinois he put up 64 tackles, 1.5 going for a loss, three interceptions, two pass deflections, and a forced fumble. For his stellar freshman performance he was named to the Freshman All-American team. To begain Williams's sophomore year he was suspended for the first three games of the season. After one year with Illinois, he was dismissed from the team after a violation of team rules.

San Mateo

After being dismissed from Illinois, Williams would transfer to the

College of San Mateo College of San Mateo (CSM) is a public community college in San Mateo, California. It is part of the San Mateo County Community College District. College of San Mateo is located at the northern corridor of Silicon Valley and situated on a 153-a ...

to continue playing football. In his time with San Mateo, Williams was named a Junior College All American, while also being named first-team All-Bay and earning all-conference honors. Williams would also help lead San Mateo to its first state title.

Oregon

After one year at San Mateo, Williams transferred to

in 2020. In his first season with Oregon he played in six games, making 15 tackles, including two tackles for a loss, a sack, and two pass deflections. On September 25, 2021, Williams had his breakout game notching two interceptions, including returning one for a 68-yard touchdown, to help the #3 Ducks, beat

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

41–19. For his performance in his breakout game he was named the Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week. However just over a week later, Williams would suffer a broken fibula which would cause him to miss the rest of the regular season. Williams would however be cleared to play in the team's bowl game. Williams would finish his shortend year 20 tackles, with one going for a loss, three interceptions, and a touchdown, in five games. On November 21, 2022, Williams had one of the best games of his career after racking up 14 tackles, and two interceptions, to help the Ducks upset #10

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

and help the Ducks keep their chance of reaching the College Football Playoff alive. Williams would finish the season playing in 13 games, while making 72 tackles, with 1.5 being for a loss, a sack, two interceptions, six pass deflections, and two forced fumbles.

Professional career

Miami Dolphins

After going unselected in the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

, Williams signed with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

as an

undrafted 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 ...

. He was waived on August 2, 2023.

Ottawa Redblacks

Williams signed with the

on March 11, 2024. In the 2024 season, he played in 11 regular season games, starting in six, where he had 27 defensive tackles, two special teams tackles, two pass knockdowns, and one sack.

References

External links

Ottawa Redblacks bio

Illinois Fighting Illini bio

Oregon Ducks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Bennett Living people 1999 births Players of American football from Santa Clara County, California Sportspeople from Campbell, California American football safeties Saint Francis High School (Mountain View, California) alumni Oregon Ducks football players Illinois Fighting Illini football players Miami Dolphins players San Mateo Bulldogs football players Ottawa Redblacks players Canadian football defensive backs Players of Canadian football from California