Robert Allen Williams (January 2, 1930 – May 26, 2016) was 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 ...

player who was a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

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). 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 Notre Dame. A two-time

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 ...

and national champion in 1949, Williams was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

in 1988.

Early life

Williams graduated from

Loyola Blakefield Loyola Blakefield is a private Catholic, college preparatory school run by the USA East Province of the Society of Jesus in Towson, Maryland and within the Archdiocese of Baltimore. It was established in 1852 by the Jesuits as an all-boys scho ...

High School in

Towson, Maryland Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 59,533 in the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorpo ...

in 1948.

College career

Williams attended Notre Dame on an athletic scholarship, where, as a nineteen-year-old junior quarterback, he guided Notre Dame to an undefeated season with 10 wins and no losses. Williams won the National Championship for

Frank Leahy Francis William Leahy (August 27, 1908 – June 21, 1973) was an American college football player and coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He served as the head football coach at Boston College from 1939 to ...

's 1949 team. Williams finished fifth in voting for the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

in 1949 and sixth in 1950. Bob Williams holds the school mark for highest passing efficiency rating for a season (minimum 50 completions) with a 159.1 rating in 1949, when he was 83 of 147 for 1,374 yards and 16 TD's. Williams was first team on the

1949 College Football All-America Team The 1949 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1949. The eight selectors recognized by th ...

and the

1950 College Football All-America Team The 1950 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1950. The eight selectors recognized by th ...

. He was awarded the Nils V. "Swede" Nelson Award in 1950.

Professional career

Williams was the second overall selection in the 1951 NFL draft by the

. Williams saw action in 8 games during the

1951 Chicago Bears season Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

, going 11-for-34 with one touchdown pass, against two interceptions."Bob Williams,"
Pro Football Reference, www.pro-football-reference.com/ In

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

, his second year in the league, Williams moved into a starting role for the Bears, starting 7 of the team's 11 games. He won 3 and lost 4 of these contests, going 45-for-87 passing (a 51.7% completion percentage), with 6 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Unfortunately for Williams, he was drafted into the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

in 1953, which caused him to be unavailable for the

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

and

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

Bears seasons.John Steadman, ''The Best (and Worst) of Steadmand: A Collection of Stories by the Sports Editor of the Baltimore News American.'' Baltimore, MD: Press Box Publishers, 1974; pp. 10–11. By the time Williams returned from military service, the Bears had moved along to a new starting quarterback. A return was made to the team for the 1955 season, with Williams seeing action in 10 games in a reserve role. Williams' year was statistically unmemorable, going 15-for-40 passing (37.5% completion rate) with 3 touchdowns, against 5 interceptions. Williams retired from the professional game following the 1955 season. 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 ...

were interested in bringing Williams back to the field, and team owner

Art Rooney Arthur Joseph Rooney Sr. (January 27, 1901 – August 25, 1988), often referred to as "the Chief", was an American professional American football, football executive. He was the founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, an American football fr ...

gained permission from

George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (February 2, 1895 – October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear", was an American professional football end, coach, and executive. He was the founder and owner of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL), ...

and the Bears to discuss possible terms. Under the

reserve clause The reserve clause, in North American professional sports, was part of a player contract which stated that the rights to players were retained by the team upon the contract's expiration. Players under these contracts were not free to enter into ano ...

, Williams remained property of the Bears, although the Steelers hoped to convince Williams to return before working out a trade. Rooney spoke with Williams for an hour, but Williams stated that he did not wish to relocate on account of his growing family, which ultimately counted five children.

Life after football

Following his NFL career, Williams became the sales manager for the Opfer-Dickinson Company, a real estate development firm in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Death and legacy

Williams died on May 26, 2016, at a retirement home in

Timonium, Maryland Timonium is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it has a population of 10,458. Prior to 2010 the area was part of the Luth ...

from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

, aged 86. Baltimore sportswriter

John Steadman John Steadman may refer to: * John Steadman (sportswriter) (1927–2001), American sportswriter for ''The Baltimore Sun'' * John Steadman (physician) (1710–1791), Scottish antiquary * John Steadman (actor) (1909–1993), American radio personal ...

remembered Williams as "Baltimore's most famous home-grown football product" and one of Notre Dame's "finest quarterbacks in history, a name to be linked with those of

Frank Carideo Francis F. Carideo (August 4, 1908 – March 17, 1992) was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. He played quarterback at the University of Notre Dame from 1928 to 1930, where he was a two-time unanimous All-American. ...

Angelo Bertelli Angelo Bortolo Bertelli (June 18, 1921 – June 26, 1999) was an American football quarterback who played in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, where he won the Heisman Tr ...

, and

John Lujack John Christopher Lujack Jr. (; January 4, 1925 – July 25, 2023) was an American American football, football player who was a quarterback and Safety (gridiron football position), safety. He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting I ...

. Williams was inducted into the

in 1988.

References

External links

NFL.com player page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Bob 1930 births 2016 deaths All-American college football players American football quarterbacks Chicago Bears players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Sportspeople from Cumberland, Maryland Second overall NFL draft picks