Brian Williams (born July 2, 1979) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create turnove ...

. He was drafted by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansio ...

in the fourth round of the

2002 NFL Draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually sinc ...

. He played college football at

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

. He has also played for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

, Atlanta Falcons, and

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

College career

Williams attended

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universi ...

and was a student and a letterman in football. In football, he was a three-year starter for as a

and finished his collegiate career with 262 tackles (nine for loss), 5 interceptions, 20 passes defensed, 1 sack, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 forced fumble, and 5 blocked kicks.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

Williams was drafted in the fourth round of the

by the

Jacksonville Jaguars

On March 11, 2006, he was signed by the

as an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

. The Jaguars released Williams on September 5, 2009.

Atlanta Falcons

Williams signed with the Atlanta Falcons on September 6, 2009. On October 18, in a Sunday night game against the Chicago Bears, Williams tore his ACL defending a pass. Williams was out for the remainder of the 2009 season. After the 2009 season, Williams became an unrestricted free agent. The Falcons re-signed him on March 4, 2010 to a one-year contract.

New York Giants

On August 24, 2011, Williams signed with the

, but he was released on October 5.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Brian 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from High Point, North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina American football cornerbacks NC State Wolfpack football players Minnesota Vikings players Jacksonville Jaguars players Atlanta Falcons players New York Giants players Ed Block Courage Award recipients