Chris Williams (wide receiver)

Chris Williams

No. 80     Ottawa Redblacks
Williams after being presented with the CFL's Outstanding Special Teams Player Award in 2012.
Date of birth	(1987-09-16) September 16, 1987
Place of birth	Fort Worth, Texas
Career information
Position(s)	WR
Height	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight	175 lb (79 kg)
College	New Mexico State
High school	Rio Rancho (NM)
Career history
As player
2009	Miami Dolphins*
2009	Cleveland Browns*
2010–2012	Hamilton Tiger Cats
2013	New Orleans Saints*
2013–2014	Chicago Bears
2015–present	Ottawa Redblacks
Career highlights and awards
2× First-team All-WAC (2006, 2008) Second-team All-WAC (2007) 2011 - Frank M. Gibson Trophy 2011 - CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award 2012 - John Agro Special Teams Award
CFL All-Star	2012
CFL East All-Star	2011, 2012, 2015
Career stats
Playing stats at CFL.ca Playing stats at NFL.com

Chris Williams (born September 16, 1987) is a professional Canadian football wide receiver currently under contract with the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League. Williams played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL from 2010–2012. He was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He played college football at New Mexico State.

Williams has also been a member of the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears.

Early years

He was born in Fort Worth, Texas and attended Rio Rancho High School in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, where he was a letterman in football, basketball and track. In football, he was named to the first-team All-state team after rushing for nearly 2,100 yards and 33 touchdowns as a senior in 2004. He was also named to the first team All-state basketball team.

Also an outstanding track & field athlete, Williams scored 26 points at the 2005 Class 5A State Championships, where he captured the state titles in the 200-meter dash (21.51 s), the high jump (6ft, 11in) and was a member of the state champion 4x100m relay squad. He also won the state high jump and 200-meter dash title in 2003 & 2004. He won a total of 9 state titles in track in his high school career.

Professional career

2009 NFL Combine

Pre-draft measurables

Ht	Wt	40-yd dash	10-yd split	20-yd split	20-ss	3-cone	Vert	Broad	BP
5 ft 7 in	170 lb	4.39 s	1.44 s	2.43 s	4.15 s	6.84 s	39 in	10 ft 7 in	13 reps
All values from NFL Combine

Miami Dolphins

He signed with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted college free agent on April 30, 2009. He was waived/injured on August 24 and subsequently reverted to injured reserve. He was released with an injury settlement on August 25.

Cleveland Browns

Williams was signed to the Cleveland Browns practice squad on November 9. He was released on November 18.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Williams originally signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on October 18, 2010 and spent two weeks on the team's practice roster. He was re-signed on May 18, 2011. On September 3, 2012, during the last Labour Day Classic played at Ivor Wynne Stadium, Willams recorded his sixth return touchdown of the year, setting a new CFL record for return touchdowns in a single season. It was also the third consecutive game in which Williams had returned a punt for a touchdown, which also established a new CFL record. Williams finished the season with 16 touchdowns, 1,298 receiving yards and 1,117 punt return yards.

After an outstanding season Willams did not want to return to the Ti-Cats under his current contract of less than $50,000, and on March 15 he tweeted the following, ""Im beefin with my squad im not going back." It is believed that Willams wants to play for an NFL team come the 2013 NFL season. On April 4 it was announced that Williams had contacted the Canadian Football League Players' Association to see if the Ticats violated a provision within the collective bargaining agreement that could lead to the final year of his contract with the Tiger-Cats being voided. Williams claims that the Ticats did not offer him the one year plus an option, but rather just the two-year plus an option contract. After failing to show up for mandatory training camp at the start of June 2013 the Ti-Cats placed him under suspension. Neither Williams nor his agent has made any contact with the Tiger-Cats, despite the team trying to communicate with them. On June 4, 2013 an independent arbitrator ruled that Williams' contract with the Tiger-Cats is legal and binding. However, almost 3 months later on August 29, 2013, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice over-ruled the decision of the independent arbitrator, declaring Williams is not bound to any contractual obligations with the Tiger-Cats, making him a free agent in the view of the CFL Players Association. The CFL has announced that they will appeal the decision. On October 2, 2013 the Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced that Williams was free to sign with any NFL team, but they would reserve his CFL rights through the 2014 CFL season.

New Orleans Saints

On October 3, 2013, he was signed by the New Orleans Saints. The move came just one day after he was granted free agency.

Chicago Bears

On December 26, 2013, Williams was signed by the Chicago Bears. On November 9, 2014, Williams took a kickoff back 101 yards for a touchdown. He was waived/injured, on December 3, 2014 to make way for the signing of Jay Feely as injury cover for Robbie Gould when he was considered doubtful for the game against the Dallas Cowboys on December 4.

Ottawa Redblacks

On April 21, 2015, the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League announced that they had signed Williams to a one-year contract. Williams finished the season with the third most receiving yards in the league with 1,214 yards on 88 receptions with 5 touchdowns.

See also

• List of NCAA major college football yearly receiving leaders

External links

• New Mexico State Aggies bio
• Hamilton Tiger-Cats bio
• Ottawa Redblacks bio