Duke Williams (safety)
{{Short description|American football player (born 1990)}}
{{distinguish|Duke Williams (wide receiver)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Duke Williams
| image = Duke Williams (American football).JPG
| alt =
| caption = Williams with the Buffalo Bills in 2014
| current_team =
| number = 27, 31
| position = Safety
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1990|10|15|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Tallulah, Louisiana, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height_ft = 5
| height_in = 11
| weight_lbs = 201
| high_school = Reno (NV) Hug
| college = Nevada
| draftyear = 2013
| draftround = 4
| draftpick = 105
| pastteams = * Buffalo Bills ({{NFL Year|2013}}–{{NFL Year|2016}})
- Indianapolis Colts ({{NFL Year|2016}})
| status =
| highlights = * Second-team All-WAC (2011)
- Second-team All-MWC (2012)
| statlabel1 = Total tackles
| statvalue1 = 92
| statlabel2 = Sacks
| statvalue2 = 1.0
| statlabel3 = Forced fumbles
| statvalue3 = 1
| statlabel4 = Fumble recoveries
| statvalue4 = 3
| statlabel5 = Interceptions
| statvalue5 = 1
| statlabel6 = Defensive touchdowns
| statvalue6 = 1
| pfr = WillDu00
}}
Michael "Duke" Williams (born October 15, 1990) is an American former professional football safety. He played college football at Nevada, and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL draft. Williams has also played for the Indianapolis Colts.
Early life
Williams attended Hug High School in Reno, Nevada, and played high school football for the Hug Hawks. He was a three-sport standout who earned 12 varsity letters in his career in football, basketball and track and field. He played both ways as a quarterback and defensive back, and was the Northern Nevada Player of the Year as a senior and a three-time all-state selection as a safety.
Duke was also an accomplished athlete, he competed for the school's track & field team as a jumper and sprinter. He won the 100 meters at the 2009 Northwest Invite, setting a career-best time of 11.34 seconds.{{Cite web |title=Northwest Invite – Combined Results (Raw) |url=https://nv.milesplit.com/meets/52594-northwest-invite/results/89095/raw |website=MileSplit Nevada}} He won the triple jump at the 2009 Fallon Elks Invitational, with a personal-best jump of 15.20 meters, that ranked in the top 10 in the nation that year.{{Cite web |title=Fallon Elks Invitational – Track & Field Meet |url=https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/63714 |website=Athletic.net}} He was also a member of the 4 × 100-meter relay team that broke the state record with a time of 41.34 seconds.
Rated as only a two-star recruit by Rivals.com, his only scholarship offer came from University of Nevada, Reno, which he accepted.{{Cite web |title=Rivals |url=https://n.rivals.com/ |website=n.rivals.com}}
College career
Williams enrolled in the University of Nevada, Reno, where he played for the Nevada Wolf Pack football team from 2009 to 2012.
As a true freshman in 2009, playing as a key member on special teams and sparingly, he recorded 28 tackles. In 2010, he started 10 games and played in 13 for the Wolf Pack. He was third on the team with 74 tackles on the year, including 4.5 tackles for loss and two interceptions. As a junior, he earned all-conference honors for the first time in his career as he was named to the second-team. He started all 13 games, and was third on the team overall with 78 tackles, including five tackles for loss, six pass deflections and an interception. In his senior season, he finished with a career-high 106 tackles, including 5.5 for loss, nine pass deflections, eight pass breakups and an interception. He earned second-team all-conference honors in his last season.
Professional career
=Buffalo Bills=
He was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fourth round, with the 105th pick overall, of the 2013 NFL draft.[https://archive.today/20130630104519/http://www.timescolonist.com/sports/bills-take-nevada-safety-duke-williams-with-their-first-pick-in-fourth-round-1.140675 Buffalo Bills address need at safety after focusing on offence] The pick was read by Gregory J Kowalczyk in NYC a Buffalo Bills and Tim Hortons contest winner.
On May 10, 2013, he signed a four-year contract with the Bills.{{Cite web |last=Galliford |first=Brian |date=May 10, 2013 |title=Duke Williams signs his rookie contract |url=https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2013/5/10/4318208/duke-williams-contract-rookie-signs-with-buffalo-bills |website=Buffalo Rumblings}} On November 24, 2014, he recorded his first career interception against the New York Jets on a throw from Michael Vick. On November 12, 2015, he got his first NFL touchdown in a fumble recovery against the Jets.{{Cite web |title=Duke Williams Career Touchdown Log |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WillDu00/touchdowns/ |access-date=2025-03-15 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}
=Indianapolis Colts=
On December 12, 2016, Williams was signed by the Indianapolis Colts.{{Cite web |date=December 12, 2016 |title=Indianapolis Colts Make Roster Moves |url=http://blogs.colts.com/2016/12/12/indianapolis-colts-make-roster-moves-179/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627173436/http://blogs.colts.com/2016/12/12/indianapolis-colts-make-roster-moves-179/ |archive-date=June 27, 2018 |access-date=December 13, 2016 |website=Blogs.Colts.com}} He was released on May 1, 2017.{{Cite web |date=May 1, 2017 |title=Indianapolis Colts Make Roster Moves |url=http://blogs.colts.com/2017/05/01/indianapolis-colts-make-roster-moves-183/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170502230040/http://blogs.colts.com/2017/05/01/indianapolis-colts-make-roster-moves-183/ |archive-date=May 2, 2017 |access-date=May 1, 2017 |website=Blogs.Colts.com}}
=NFL statistics=
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" | |||||||||||||||
| Year | Team | {{tooltip|GP|Games played}} | {{tooltip|COMB|Combined tackles}} | {{tooltip|TOTAL|Total tackles}} | {{tooltip|AST|Assisted tackles}} | {{tooltip|SACK|Sacks}} | {{tooltip|FF|Forced fumbles}} | {{tooltip|FR|Fumble recoveries}} | {{tooltip|FR YDS|Fumble return yards}} | {{tooltip|INT|Interceptions}} | {{tooltip|IR YDS|Interception return yards}} | {{tooltip|AVG IR|Average interception return}} | {{tooltip|LNG|Longest interception return}} | {{tooltip|TD|Interceptions returned for touchdown}} | {{tooltip|PD|Passes defensed}} |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | BUF | 16 | 07 | 05 | 02 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 00 | 0 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | BUF | 16 | 53 | 39 | 14 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 | 03 | 1 | 34 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 3 |
| 2015 | BUF | 16 | 26 | 23 | 03 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 0 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 0 | 1 |
| class="sortbottom"
! colspan="2"|[https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WillDu00.htm Career] | 48 | 86 | 67 | 19 | 1.0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 4 |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.buffalobills.com/team/roster/Duke-Williams/4ab950e3-8a50-4da3-8d7e-3a2a5f030a92 Buffalo Bills bio] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501021223/http://www.buffalobills.com/team/roster/duke-williams/4ab950e3-8a50-4da3-8d7e-3a2a5f030a92 |date=May 1, 2013 }}
- [http://www.nevadawolfpack.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/williams_duke00.html Nevada Wolfpack bio] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119083155/http://www.nevadawolfpack.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/williams_duke00.html |date=November 19, 2012 }}
{{Bills2013DraftPicks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Duke}}
Category:American football safeties
Category:Buffalo Bills players
Category:Indianapolis Colts players
Category:Nevada Wolf Pack football players
Category:Players of American football from Monroe, Louisiana