'' Troy Williamson (born April 30, 1983) 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

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 five seasons 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

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

seventh overall in the

2005 NFL draft The 2005 NFL draft, the 70th in league history, took place on April 23 and 24, 2005 NFL season, 2005. The draft was held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City and was televised for the 26th consecutive year, with coverage on E ...

. 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

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fight ...

Early life

Troy Williamson attended Silver Bluff High School in

Aiken, South Carolina Aiken is the most populous city in, and the county seat of, Aiken County, South Carolina, United States. According to 2020 census, the population was 32,025, making it the 15th-most populous city in South Carolina, and one of the two largest ci ...

, and he was a letterman and excelled in both football and track. His mother (Shirley Williamson) had 11 kids. In football, as a senior, he rushed for 890 yards and caught 21 passes for 500 yards (23.8 yards per rec. avg.). He was an All-American, a consensus All-State selection, won Class-AA Player of the Year honors presented by the High School Sports Report, a Mr. Football finalist for the state of South Carolina, and helped lead his team to back-to-back state championships. After his senior season, he was rated the fifth-best wide receiver prospect in the Atlantic Region by PrepStar.

Track and field

In track, Williamson was a two-time

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

and

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

state champion, with personal bests of 10.35 and 20.79 seconds. ;Personal bests

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings needed a receiver with deep speed after trading

Randy Moss Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee Tit ...

to Oakland, drafting Williamson with the seventh overall pick in the

, using the pick acquired from trading Moss to Oakland. In the 2006−2007 off-season he claimed his hand-eye coordination was bad due to his depth perception and that was the reason for his 11 dropped balls, which tied for second in the NFL. The Vikings 2007 season was equally difficult for Williamson, who finished with 240 yards and 1 touchdown. Most notably in the Vikings' finale, Williamson dropped two crucial passes. First, a wide-open Williamson dropped an almost-certain 72-yard touchdown pass from

Tarvaris Jackson Tarvaris D'Andre Jackson (April 21, 1983 – April 12, 2020) was an American professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL). Jackson played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Alabama State ...

in the second quarter and then another pass that would have yielded a critical first down later in the game.

Jacksonville Jaguars

After the 2007 season Williamson was traded for a 6th round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Vikings ended up using that pick to select

Jaymar Johnson Jaymar Johnson (born July 10, 1984) is an American former professional football wide receiver. He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL draft. He played college football at Jackson State. Johnson also played f ...

. Williamson controversially stated that he "wants to duke it out" with former Minnesota Vikings head coach

Brad Childress Brad Childress (born June 27, 1956) is a former American football coach. He worked for over 40 years as a coach for various college programs and National Football League (NFL) franchises. He was the offensive coordinator for Wisconsin from 1994 ...

because he had fined Troy $25,000 for attending his Grandmother's funeral (Childress rescinded the fine under pressure from team veterans), adding that they could "meet at the 50-yard line and go at it." The Jaguars released Williamson on September 4, 2010.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

Jacksonville Jaguars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, Troy 1983 births Living people American football wide receivers Jacksonville Jaguars players Minnesota Vikings players Players of American football from Aiken, South Carolina South Carolina Gamecocks football players