Henry Lee "Gizmo" Williams (born May 31, 1962) is a former American and

Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

and wide receiver. After his retirement at the end of the

2000 CFL season The 2000 CFL season is considered to be the 47th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 43rd Canadian Football League season. CFL News in 2000 The CFL ends the 20th century on a continued upward curve. After the ...

, Williams worked as a

motivational speaker A motivational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk. Motivational speakers ...

. Born into an impoverished family, Williams was raised by his brother Edgar after the death of both his parents as a child, and, after Edgar's death, by an aunt. Despite his background, Williams was able to be a successful

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

player, and was able to enroll at

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its origi ...

. After graduating from East Carolina, Williams was signed by the

Memphis Showboats The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the m ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

. While playing in Memphis, future Professional Football Hall of Famer Reggie White gave the shifty Williams the nickname "Gizmo", which would stick with him through his professional career. Williams was released by the Showboats after one season in the USFL in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, and signed with the

Edmonton Eskimos 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 and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Comm ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

. With the exception of a half-season with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ru ...

, Williams would play with the Eskimos for every CFL season from

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. Standing a diminutive , Williams was in many ways a prototypical Canadian football kick returner. He saw some success as a receiver, breaking 900 yards receiving on two occasions, but was best known for his work as a returner. Williams soon developed a trademark of doing a

flip Flip, FLIP, or flips may refer to: People * Flip (nickname), a list of people * Lil' Flip (born 1981), American rapper * Flip Simmons, Australian actor and musician * Flip Wilson, American comedian Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * ...

in the air after every score, which quickly became associated with Williams in the eyes of the fans. During his career with the Eskimos, Williams set more than 20 CFL records, and is still the league's all-time leader in both punt and kickoff return yardage, and holds the record for most kick return touchdowns with 31 (26 on punt returns, two on kickoff returns and three on missed field goal returns). Perhaps his most memorable was a 115-yard missed-field-goal return for a touchdown in the 1987 Grey Cup. In 2002, Williams's #2 was put on the Edmonton Eskimos Wall of Honour. Four years later, Williams was inducted into the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about ...

with a class that included former teammate and quarterback Matt Dunigan. In November 2006 he was voted one of the CFL's Top 50 players (#25) of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network

The Sports Network The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language sports specialty channel established by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1984 as part of the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels. Since 2001, it has been majority-owned by comm ...

/TSN. Williams has a family history of multiple sclerosis, which killed his mother in December 1969 when Williams was six, as well as seven of his ten siblings. Williams's father died in a house fire at Christmas of 1970.

References

External links

MCP Talent page

Bio on CFL.ca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Gizmo 1962 births Living people African-American players of American football African-American players of Canadian football American football return specialists American football wide receivers Calgary Stampeders players Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian football return specialists Canadian football wide receivers East Carolina Pirates football players Edmonton Elks players Memphis Showboats players Northwest Mississippi Rangers football players Philadelphia Eagles players Players of American football from Memphis, Tennessee Players of Canadian football from Memphis, Tennessee 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople

See also

References

External links