Carnell Williams
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Carnell Williams | |
|---|---|
 Carnell Williams in his Buccaneer uniform. (Posed Photo) |
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| Date of birth | April 21, 1982 |
| Place of birth | Attalla, Alabama |
| Position(s) | Running back |
| College | Auburn |
| NFL Draft | 2005 / Round 1/ Pick 5 |
| Awards | |
| Statistics | |
| Team(s) | |
| 2005-present | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
Carnell "Cadillac" Williams (born April 21, 1982 in Attalla, Alabama) is an American football running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL.
Contents |
[edit] High school career
Williams started all four years while playing for Etowah High School (Etowah County, Alabama), rushing for 1,729 yards with 23 touchdowns as a junior and 2,612 yards and 38 touchdowns as a senior. He was named USA Today Alabama Player of the Year in 2000 and earned high school All-American honors while also being nominated for ESPN.com Offensive Player of the Year. He played defense as well and recorded six interceptions and 78 tackles his senior year.
Quoting Carnell, "The nickname Cadillac came from this guy named Mike Raita." (Raita is a Birmingham sportscaster at ABC 33/40. ) "He gave it to me my junior year in high school. He just said I ran smooth like a Cadillac. Every time he would see me running he would say “there goes the Cadillac.” It just stuck..."
[edit] Collegiate career
Williams moved on to Auburn University to play college football and major in Sociology. He teamed up with power running back Ronnie Brown to make a premier running threat of speed and power. However, his first two seasons were marred by injuries. In 2001, he played in nine games before breaking his collarbone and finished the season with 614 yards on 120 carries (5.1 avg.) and six touchdowns. The 2002 season also ended prematurely for Williams as he broke his left fibula against Florida and missed the last six games of the season. He was able to amass 745 yards on 141 attempts (5.3 avg.) and 10 touchdowns in only seven games prior to the injury. In 2003, he stayed healthy and set an Auburn single-season record with 17 touchdowns and gained 1,307 yards on 241 attempts (5.4 avg.).
In 2004, he earned All-American honors and was named to the All-SEC first team as both a running back and return specialist. He led the team in rushing for the third time with 1,165 yards on 239 carries (4.9 avg.) and scored 12 touchdowns. He also finished the season with 1,718 all-purpose yards, the third highest single-season output in Auburn school history. Williams also threw one touchdown pass as a senior, against Georgia.
Williams finished his collegiate career with 3,831 yards on 741 attempts (5.2 avg.) and 45 touchdowns, breaking the all-time Auburn career records of 657 rushing attempts by Joe Cribbs and 43 touchdowns by Bo Jackson while finishing second in total rushing yardage. His career total of 5,033 all-purpose yards also ranks second in school history behind James Brooks.
He has the distinction of earning nine SEC Player of the Week honors in his career, the most in conference history.
[edit] Collegiate statistics
| Rushing | |||||||
| Year | G | ATT | YDS | AVG | LNG | YDS/G | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 9 | 120 | 614 | 5.1 | 55 | 68.2 | 6 |
| 2002 | 7 | 141 | 745 | 5.3 | 65 | 106.4 | 10 |
| 2003 | 13 | 241 | 1,307 | 5.4 | 80 | 100.5 | 17 |
| 2004 | 13 | 239 | 1,165 | 4.9 | 36 | 89.6 | 12 |
| Career | 42 | 741 | 3,831 | 5.2 | 80 | 91.5 | 45 |
Note: Bold indicates Auburn University school record.
[edit] NFL career
Williams entered the 2005 NFL Draft and was drafted with the 5th pick of the 1st round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He signed a five year contract with the Bucs worth $31,000,000 while fellow running backs who were drafted ahead of him, including former Auburn teammate Ronnie Brown, who was drafted 2nd by the Miami Dolphins, and Cedric Benson, drafted 4th by the Chicago Bears, who held out of training camp seeking much more lucrative deals.
Jeff Reynolds of Pro Football Weekly predicted Williams as the rookie most likely to have the greatest impact in the 2005 NFL season writing that "At the Senior Bowl, Jon Gruden was salivating over this kid. He pulled him out real early. Don't think that was a coincidence. He's the offense. Gruden has set it up, Cadillac or bust".
The first half of the season for Williams was an up and down affair. Williams rushed for 434 yards in his first three weeks, setting records as the first rookie running back to ever have three consecutive 100 yard games, and rushing for the most yards in the first three weeks of a career, a record previously held by Alan Ameche of the 1955 Baltimore Colts now the Indianapolis Colts. Williams was also named rookie of the week for the first three weeks of the season and rookie of the month for September. His shoes and gloves from week three were subsequently retired to the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. In week four however, Williams came down with injuries to his ankle and arch in his right foot, causing him to miss two weeks. In the four games he played since, including the game in which he acquired his injury, Williams only managed to rush for a combined 82 yards on limited carries. However, in his next four games, he averaged over 100 yards per game (408). In his rookie season, Carnell has six 100-yard games (in 14 starts, he was out with an injury) and led all rookies in total rushing yards (1,178), rookie of the week honors (3), and finished second, behind Brandon Jacobs (another former Auburn football player), for rushing touchdowns (6).
On January 4, 2006, Carnell was awarded with the Associated Press NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award. He drew 47 votes of a nationalwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL. He beat the likes of former running mate Ronnie Brown of Miami, who received one vote. Tight end Heath Miller of Pittsburgh and offensive lineman Logan Mankins of New England also received one vote. On February 2, 2006, Williams was announced as the NFL Rookie of the Year Award based on the votes of over 1,000,000 visitors to NFL.com.
[edit] Controversy
Williams was mentioned prominently in a July 14, 2006 New York Times article by Pete Thamel. [1], [2] [3] based on allegations by Auburn sociology professor James Gundlach of inappropriate independent study courses being offered by fellow professor and then-department chair Thomas Petee. Gundlach found Petee had managed 250 independent study courses in the 2004-2005 academic year including some by athletes, specifically noting 18 football players (only 7.5% of the students taking such courses from Petee). The University's internal investigation of the situation resulted in new policies limiting the number of independent study courses managed by a professor and in the resignation of Petee.[4]
For his part, Williams was highlighted as having taken only two classes in the spring of 2005 (having already completed his collegiate eligibility and preparing for the NFL draft) both independent study courses under the supervision of Petee.
[edit] NFL statistics
| Rushing | |||||||
| Year | G | ATT | YDS | AVG | LNG | YDS/G | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 14 | 290 | 1178 | 4.1 | 71 | 84.1 | 6 |
| Receiving | |||||||
| Year | G | REC | YDS | AVG | LNG | YDS/G | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 14 | 20 | 81 | 4.1 | 15 | 6.2 | 0 |
- Sat out two games due to injury
- Williams Ranks 9th All-Time amongst Buccaneer running backs for career yardage
[edit] NFL awards
- 2005 - Rookie of the Week (Weeks 1-3)
- 2005 Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year
[edit] External links
- CadillacWilliams.com
- Carnell Williams at ESPN.com
- NFL.com Player Page
- Pro-Football-Reference.com - Current Stats
| Preceded by: Michael Pittman |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Starting Runningbacks 2005- |
Succeeded by: Incumbent |
| Preceded by: Ben Roethlisberger |
AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year 2005 |
Succeeded by: TBA |
