Marcus Jeffrey Williams (born March 24, 1991) 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 signed by the Houston Texans as an

undrafted 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 ...

in 2014. He played college football at

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North ...

. He also played for the New York Jets,

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division, an ...

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

, and

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

High school career

Williams stood out at Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, MN in both basketball and football, and decided on playing football at NDSU since he didn't receive a Big 10 offer for basketball.

College career

Williams set the NDSU school record with 21 career interceptions. Williams also set the FCS D1-AA record with career interception returns for touchdown with 7. He had 8 defensive touchdowns in total. Williams received Associated Press First-team All-American honors in 2011, 2012, and 2013, as well as Walter Camp FCS All American Team honors in 2011, 2012, & 2013.

Professional career

Houston Texans

On May 16, 2014, Williams signed with the Houston Texans. On August 30, 2014, Williams was released by the Texans.

New York Jets

Williams was signed to the New York Jets' practice squad on September 26, 2014. He was promoted to the active roster on October 28, 2014. In his debut against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...

on November 2, 2014, he played for the majority of the game. He had a team-high seven tackles and one pass defensed, earning the praise of head coach

Rex Ryan Rex Ashley Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American former football coach and analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching positions ...

for his performance. In 8 games of his rookie season in 2014, Williams made 37 tackles, an interception, and seven passes defended. On October 4, 2015, he made a game clinching interception against the

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

in a game in London. One month later, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he got two interceptions, a career-high, one of which clinched the game. On December 19, 2015, he made the game winning interception against the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

, his third game winning interception of the season. Despite being a substitute cornerback, Williams would appear in 13 games making 21 tackles, six interceptions, 1.5 sacks, ten passes defended, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. On March 9, 2017, the Jets placed a second-round tender on Williams. On October 9, 2017, Williams was released by the Jets.

Houston Texans (second stint)

On October 10, 2017, Williams was claimed off waivers by the Texans. On October 30, 2017, he recorded his first interception of the season, picking off the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...

Russell Wilson Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played his first 10 seasons for the Seattle Seahawks. Wilson is widely regarded ...

in the fourth quarter. He finished his second stint with the Texans with twelve tackles and an interception in ten games.

Arizona Cardinals

On April 19, 2018, Williams signed a one year deal with the

. On May 21, 2018, Williams was released by the Cardinals.

New Orleans Saints

On August 11, 2018, Williams signed with the

. He was released on September 1, 2018.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On September 11, 2018, Williams signed with the

. He was placed on injured reserve on October 13, 2018 with a hamstring injury. He was released on October 22, 2018.

Chicago Bears

On December 12, 2018, Williams was signed by the

References

External links

North Dakota State Bison bio

New York Jets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Marcus 1991 births Living people People from Minnetonka, Minnesota Players of American football from Hennepin County, Minnesota Players of American football from Minneapolis American football cornerbacks North Dakota State Bison football players Houston Texans players New York Jets players Arizona Cardinals players New Orleans Saints players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Chicago Bears players Hopkins High School alumni