Derwin Dawayne Williams (born May 6, 1961) is a former

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

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). He played for the Patriots from 1985 through 1987. After his retirement, Williams became a resident of

Pawtucket, Rhode Island Pawtucket ( ) is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence, Rhode Island, Prov ...

, he also began working as a football official and currently works for

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

football games. When his son,

Mason Williams Mason Douglas Williams (born August 24, 1938) is an American classical guitarist, composer, singer, writer, comedian, and poet, best known for his 1968 instrumental " Classical Gas" and for his work as a comedy writer on ''The Smothers Brothers ...

, became a prospect in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, the Williams family moved to

Winter Garden, Florida Winter Garden is a city in western Orange County, Florida, United States. Located west of Downtown Orlando, it is part of the Orlando metropolitan area. The population was 46,964 as of the 2020 census. History The pre-European history of the ...

, where Mason could play baseball all year, to increase his chances of receiving a college scholarship. Mason Williams was drafted in the 4th round of the 2015 MLB draft by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

References

1952 births Living people Sportspeople from Brownwood, Texas American football wide receivers New Mexico Lobos football players New England Patriots players People from Pawtucket, Rhode Island Sportspeople from Winter Garden, Florida Players of American football from Texas 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen {{widereceiver-1960s-stub