Chris Williams (American football)

Chris Williams

No. 74     Chicago Bears
Offensive guard
Personal information
Date of birth: August 26, 1985 (1985-08-26) (age 26)
Place of birth: Glynn, Louisiana
Height: 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	Weight: 315 lb (143 kg)
Career information
College: Vanderbilt
NFL Draft: 2008 / Round: 1 / Pick: 14
Debuted in 2008 for the Chicago Bears
Career history
Chicago Bears (2008–present)
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
First-team All-SEC (2007) Second-team All-SEC (2006)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 8, 2010
Games played	29
Games started	20
Stats at NFL.com

Christopher Joseph Williams (born August 26, 1985 in Glynn, Louisiana) is an American football offensive guard for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Bears 14th overall in the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Vanderbilt.

College career

After graduating from Catholic High School (Baton Rouge, Louisiana), Williams attended Vanderbilt where he played in 36 games and started 33 games. In 2007 he was First-team All-Southeastern Conference after allowing just one sack in 12 games. As a junior, Williams was a Second-team All-SEC selection after starting all 12 games at left tackle and allowing a single quarterback sack. The prior season Williams played all twelve games, starting nine at left guard but also playing left tackle. Williams was redshirted as a true freshman and did not see action the following season either.

Professional career

Williams was drafted by the Bears 14th overall in the 2008 NFL Draft. On July 23, 2008, it was announced that he had signed a five year contract with the Bears.^[1] Williams missed the camp's first weekend after sustaining a minor back injury.^[2] He was later diagnosed with separate injury, a herniated disc, which required minor surgery to repair.^[3][3]

Williams started taking part in conditioning and work-out drills in September.^[4] On November 2, 2008, He made his professional debut on the special teams in a win against the Detroit Lions.^[5] Williams was a starter in 2009, and played at right tackle to accommodate Orlando Pace, whom the team acquired via free agency on April 2, 2009.^[6] Smith eventually moved Williams back to left tackle after Pace was faced with inconsistent play and injuries. His first major test was to protect Jay Cutler's blindside against the highly toted Baltimore Ravens defense. The following week, he was paired against Jared Allen of the Minnesota Vikings, one of the League's top defensive lineman and pass rushers.^[7] Williams' prevented Allen from sacking Cutler, as the Bears beat the Vikings, 36–30.^[8]

Williams started the 2010 season as the Bears starting left tackle. However, he was injured early during the team's second game against the Dallas Cowboys. Williams spent the next several weeks nursing a hamstring injury and missed three games. Upon recovering from his injury, Mike Tice, the team's offensive line coach, decided to move Williams to the left guard position.^[9]

Personal life

Williams was invited to participate in a shoot-the-puck contest during the Chicago Blackhawks and Calgary Flames playoff on April 18, 2009.^[10] During the contest, he successfully shot two pucks into two small openings in a goal from center ice.^[10] Williams claims that he had never shot a puck prior to the contest.^[10]

References

1. ^ Larry Mayer (July 23, 2008). "First-round draft pick agrees to five-year contract". chicagobears.com. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=4887. Retrieved July 23, 2008. 
2. ^ Trowbridge, Matt (July 24, 2008). "Bears’ top pick leaves practice with stiff back". Rockford Register Star. http://www.rrstar.com/sports/x1542099647/Bears-top-pick-leaves-practice-with-stiff-back. Retrieved August 3, 2008. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Biggs, Brad (August 7, 2008). "First-round pick Williams has back surgery". Chicago Sun-Times. http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/2008/08/firstround_pick_williams_has_b.html. Retrieved August 8, 2008. 
4. ^ Mayer, Larry (September 25, 2008). "Williams takes first major step back on road to recovery". chicagobears.com. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=5177. Retrieved September 25, 2008. 
5. ^ "Bears rally behind Grossman to keep Lions winless" (in American English). Associated Press. November 2, 2008. http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/recap?game_id=29645&displayPage=tab_recap&season=2008&week=REG9. Retrieved November 2, 2008. 
6. ^ Mayer, Larry (April 9, 2009). "Williams doesn't mind making move from left to right tackle". chicagobears.com. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=5721. Retrieved April 11, 2009. 
7. ^ Biggs, Brad (December 24, 2009). "Big test for Chris Williams against Minnesota Vikings". Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-24-bears-chicago-dec24,0,5015484.story. Retrieved December 29, 2009. 
8. ^ Seligman, Andrew (December 29, 2009). "Cutler leads Bears over Vikings, 36–30 in OT". Associated Press (Yahoo! Sports). http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/recap?gid=20091228003. Retrieved December 29, 2009. 
9. ^ Seligman, Andrew. "Back from hamstring injury, Bears' Williams could be at left guard instead of tackle". LA Times. http://www.latimes.com/sports/football/nfl/wire/sns-ap-fbn-bears-line,0,3232366.story. Retrieved October 20, 2010. ^{[dead link]}
10. ^ ^{a b c} Mayer, Larry (April 17, 2009). "Hockey novice Williams scores two goals on two shots". chicagobears.com. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=5739. Retrieved April 19, 2009. 

External links

• Chicago Bears bio
• Vanderbilt Commodores bio

Sporting positions
Preceded by Greg Olsen	Bears 1st round draft pick 2008	Succeeded by Gabe Carimi