Xavier Williams
 Williams with the Arizona Cardinals in 2017 | |||||||||||
| No. 94, 98, 71, 69 | |||||||||||
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| Position: | Nose tackle | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born: | January 18, 1992 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight: | 309 lb (140 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school: | Grandview (Grandview, Missouri) | ||||||||||
| College: | Northern Iowa | ||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2015 | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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Xavier Williams (born January 18, 1992) is a former American football nose tackle. He played college football at the University of Northern Iowa. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Arizona Cardinals.
Early life
[edit]Williams attended Grandview High School, where he was named a first-team all conference selection. He was named to the Suburban Mid-Six team in 2009 and earned first-team all metro honors. Aside from football, Williams was a three-year starter and two-time qualifier in wrestling.[1]
College career
[edit]Williams attended the University of Northern Iowa between 2010 and 2014. He was earned All-Missouri Valley Football Conference First-team Honors in both 2013 and 2014. Williams had the opportunity to play in the East-West Shrine Game following his senior season, where he performed well at the defensive tackle position[2]
Professional career
[edit]Arizona Cardinals (first stint)
[edit]On May 5, 2015, Williams signed with the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent.[3] In his rookie year in 2015, he played 4 games making 2 tackles.
On March 13, 2018, the Cardinals placed an original round restricted free agent tender on Williams, which allows a player to negotiate a contract with another team, but their original team can match the offer, if they refuse, they receive a draft pick from the round the player was drafted in. For undrafted players, like Williams, the team receives no compensation.[4]
Kansas City Chiefs
[edit]On March 20, 2018, Williams received a contract offer from the Kansas City Chiefs giving the Cardinals a chance to match. The Cardinals declined to match the Chiefs offer, so he signed his offer sheet with the Chiefs.[5]
On October 9, 2019, Williams was placed on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain.[6] He was designated for return from injured reserve on December 4, 2019, and began practicing with the team again.[7] He was activated on December 25, 2019.[8] Williams won Super Bowl LIV with the Chiefs after defeating the San Francisco 49ers 31–20.
After becoming a free agent in March 2020, Williams visited the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on August 8, 2020,[9] and had a tryout with the New England Patriots on August 20, 2020.[10]
New England Patriots
[edit]On August 22, 2020, Williams signed with the Patriots.[11] On September 5, 2020, he was waived by the team and added to the practice squad the following day.[12] He was elevated to the active roster on September 12 for the team's week 1 game against the Miami Dolphins,[13] and reverted to the practice squad after the game on September 14.[14] He was released on October 2, 2020.[15]
Cincinnati Bengals
[edit]On October 12, 2020, Williams was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals.[16] Williams made his debut with the Bengals in Week 6 against the Indianapolis Colts. During the game, Williams recovered a fumble lost by tight end Jack Doyle and later recorded his first sack of the season on Philip Rivers during the 31–27 loss.[17]
Arizona Cardinals (second stint)
[edit]On June 7, 2021, Williams signed with the Cardinals.[18] He was placed on injured reserve on August 8, 2021. He was released on August 16.
Houston Texans
[edit]On December 21, 2021, Williams was signed to the Houston Texans active roster.[19] He was released on December 31.
References
[edit]- ^ "Xavier Williams Biography". azcardinals.com. Arizona Cardinals. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
- ^ Muench, Steve (January 16, 2015). "Xavier Williams among East-West Shrine Game standouts". ESPN. ESPN. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
- ^ Logue, Andrew (May 5, 2015). "UNI's Xavier Williams joins NFL's Cardinals". demoinesregister.com. The Des Moines Register. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
- ^ "Cardinals tender restricted free agent Xavier Williams". ArizonaSports.com. March 13, 2018.
- ^ Paylor, Terez A. (March 20, 2018). "Chiefs sign restricted free agent nose tackle Xavier Williams". Kansas City.com.
- ^ "Chiefs place DT Xavier Williams on IR; Officially announce new signings". Chiefs Wire. USA Today. October 9, 2019.
- ^ Williams, Charean (December 4, 2019). "Chiefs designate Xavier Williams to return from IR". NBCSports.com. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
- ^ Teicher, Adam (December 25, 2019). "Chiefs put RB Spencer Ware on IR, activate DT Xavier Williams". ESPN.
- ^ @AlbertBreer (August 8, 2020). "Also, Browns WR Jarvis Landry among those activated off PUP today" (Tweet). Retrieved August 21, 2020 – via Twitter.
- ^ @AlbertBreer (August 20, 2020). "Today's tryout/visit list" (Tweet). Retrieved August 21, 2020 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Patriots Sign TE Paul Quessenberry and DT Xavier Williams; Release Two Players". Patriots.com. August 22, 2020.
- ^ "Here are the players on the Patriots' practice squad | Boston.com". www.boston.com. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
- ^ "Patriots make a series of transactions". Patriots.com. September 12, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
- ^ Leger, Justin (September 14, 2020). "Patriots send Folk back to practice squad". NBCSports.com. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
- ^ "Patriots Sign LB Michael Pinckney to the Practice Squad; Release DL Xavier Williams from the Practice Squad". Patriots.com. October 2, 2020.
- ^ "Bengals Sign DT Xavier Williams, Place D.J. Reader On Reserve/Injured". Bengals.com. October 12, 2020.
- ^ "Cincinnati Bengals at Indianapolis Colts – October 18th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- ^ Urban, Darren (June 7, 2021). "Cardinals Bring Back Defensive Lineman Xavier Williams". AZCardinals.com.
- ^ "Houston Texans Transactions (12-21-2021)". HoustonTexans.com. December 21, 2021.