Roland Lamar Williams (born April 27, 1975), is an American former 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

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

for eight years in 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 ...

for the

Syracuse Orange The Syracuse Orange are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Syracuse University. The school is a member of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Until 2013, Syracuse was a member of the Big East ...

Early life and college

Roland Williams was born in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

and grew up in a challenging neighborhood. Roland attended

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

and became the first person in his immediate family to graduate from a four-year college.

Playing career

Roland Williams was selected in the 1998 National Football League Draft by the Saint Louis Rams and played professionally for eight years at the tight end position. Highlights include the 2002 American Football Conference Championship and the St. Louis Rams'

Super Bowl XXXIV Super Bowl XXXIV was an American football game played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 30, 2000, to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1999 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion ...

Championship in which Williams made one reception for a gain of nine yards. Following his stint with the Rams, Roland played three years for the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

. The Raiders won the American Football Conference Championship in the 2002-2003 season. In 2003, Roland played one season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 2004, Roland returned to play another season with the

and then the subsequent season with the St. Louis Rams before a career ending knee injury sidelined him in 2006.

Other work and activities

Roland was nominated for the

Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year is an award presented annually by the National Football League (NFL) honoring a player's commitment to philanthropy and community impact, as well as his excellence on the field. Prior to 1999, it was called si ...

for philanthropy and citizenship. In 2015, Roland started the Champion Academy Extreme Mentoring & Empowerment Initiative, a mentoring program in his hometown of Rochester, New York to help at-risk middle and high school students improve as students and citizens. Since his retirement as a player, Roland Williams has worked as a television/radio sports analyst and keynote speaker. As a sports analyst for more than a decade, Roland has appeared on media outlets including CBS Sports Network, ESPN, MTV, NBC, NBC Sports Network, Nickelodeon, NFL Network, CNBC, Fox, Fox Sports Net, CBS and ABC. He has contributed on radio, online and in print publications. In 2008, he coached a high school student aiming to become a football player on the

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

show "Made."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Roland 1975 births Living people Players of American football from Rochester, New York American football tight ends Syracuse Orange football players St. Louis Rams players Oakland Raiders players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players