Ryan Gene Williams (born April 9, 1990) 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

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

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 was selected by the

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. The ...

in the second round of the

2011 NFL draft The 2011 NFL draft was the 76th installment of the annual National Football League draft, NFL draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Rad ...

. He played

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for the

Virginia Tech Hokies The Virginia Tech Hokies are the athletic teams representing Virginia Tech in intercollegiate athletics. The Hokies participate in the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference in 22 varsity sports. Virginia Tech's men's sports are football, b ...

Early life

Williams attended Stonewall Jackson High School in

Manassas, Virginia Manassas (), formerly Manassas Junction, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. The population was 42,772 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of ...

. He was the starting tailback all four years. He finished with over 2,000 rushing yards, including 1,574 yards as a junior.

College career

As a freshman at Virginia Tech in 2008, Williams was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

. As a redshirt freshman in 2009, Williams took over as starting running back after starter

Darren Evans Darren Evans (born November 9, 1988) is an American former professional football running back. He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2011. He played college football at Virginia Tech. Early life Evans attended W ...

suffered a season-ending ACL injury. Through thirteen games he rushed for 1,655 yards on 293 carries, scored 21

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

, and broke multiple Virginia Tech and ACC rushing records in the process - including Virginia Tech's single season rushing yards record and the ACC single season touchdown record with 22 touchdowns. He began the 2010 season as a starter but injured his right hamstring in a game against East Carolina University and was out for three games before coming back against Duke. On January 9, 2011, it was announced that Williams will give up his final 2 years of NCAA eligibility to make himself available for the 2011 NFL Draft.

College statistics

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals

Williams was selected by the

in the second round (38th overall) of the

. On August 19, during a pre-season football game against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

, Williams was injured early in the third quarter in his first run of the game, suffering a ruptured patella tendon in his right knee which cost him the entire 2011 season. On October 9, 2012, he was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in t ...

with a left shoulder injury, after playing in only 5 games. He was released on May 12, 2014.

Dallas Cowboys

Williams signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

with 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

on May 17, 2014. He was cut on August 30 and signed to the team's

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

the following day. On June 28, 2015, Williams was waived/injured, and reverted to Dallas' injured reserve the next day. On September 15, he was released by the Cowboys with an injury settlement.

References

External links

Arizona Cardinals bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Ryan 1990 births Living people Players of American football from Virginia People from Cold Spring, New York Players of American football from New York (state) American football running backs Virginia Tech Hokies football players Arizona Cardinals players Dallas Cowboys players