Dave Williams

David Laverne Williams (August 10, 1945 – June 19, 2024) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver for 10 years in the National Football League (NFL) and the World Football League (WFL). He was the first player signed by the Seattle Seahawks in 1975.

Williams was an All-American for the Washington Huskies in football and track, as a decathlete. He was inducted into the Husky Hall of Fame in 2014.

Following his pro football career, Williams was an executive working in property management for more than four decades. He helped to establish a church on Kauai in 2001, which met in a tent until the North Shore Christian Church building was completed in 2014.

Early life and education Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Williams was the fourth of seven children of Joseph Laverne Williams and Cleo Maye (née Hill) Williams. His family moved in the winter of 1951–1952 to Tacoma, Washington, where they lived near his paternal grandparents. He earned a total of twelve high school varsity letters: three in football, three in basketball, three in decathlon, and three in track and field. He also played on the 1962 Connie Mack Cheney Studs baseball team.

Collegiate sports career: football and track Williams earned six varsity letters at the University of Washington: three in football, where he played tight end, and three in track, in an era when freshmen were not eligible for varsity teams.

As a freshman, in his first decathlon in 1965 he qualified for the National AAU Decathlon Championships, and placed 14th among 30 competitors in the Olympic tryouts.

Professional football career Williams was a professional football player for ten seasons, eight as a wide receiver in the NFL, and two seasons as a wide receiver in the World Football League. During his pro career, he caught 183 passes for 2,768 yards and 25 touchdowns in the NFL. He was a wide receiver for five seasons for St. Louis, starting in 53 of 67 games in which he played, catching 162 passes, and receiving for a total of 22 touchdowns. He was in tenth place on the 1968 NFL leaderboard for 56.8 receiving yards per game. In 1969, he made fifth place on the NFL leaderboard, with 56 receptions.

San Diego Chargers, 1972–1973 In 1972 Williams was traded to the Chargers, where he met and formed a friendship with Johnny Unitas. He played in one regular season game, and in a playoff game. Club president Larry Hatfield said, "But we would have lost a lot more [players] without the job Dave did. His role in keeping the team together was extremely substantial He took the time to understand our problems in depth and convey them to the players." He gave over 90 presentations promoting the Seahawks to organizations throughout the Pacific Northwest.

NFL career statistics Legend Bold Career high

Regular season Year Team Games Receiving GP GS Rec Yds Avg Lng TD 1967 STL 14 5 28 405 14.5 49 5 1968 STL 12 12 43 682 15.9 71 6 1969 STL 14 14 56 702 12.5 61 7 1970 STL 14 13 23 364 15.8 58 3 1971 STL 13 9 12 182 15.2 37 1 1972 SDG 12 6 14 315 22.5 62 3 1973 SDG 6 5 7 118 16.9 30 0 PIT 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 0Career 86 64 183 2,768 15.1 71 25

Playoffs Year Team Games Receiving GP GS Rec Yds Avg Lng TD 1973 PIT 1 0 1 14 14.0 14 0 Career 1 0 1 14 14.0 14 0

Later life and career In the mid-1980s, Gene Upshaw contacted Williams to head the steering committee for the new NFL Retired Players Association (RPA), and he chaired the association from 1984 through 1988. As spokesman for the RPA, Williams pointed out that half of the 120 retired players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, had no pension. Subsequently, the NFL Players Association asked Commissioner Pete Rozelle and the League to "give pensions to the players who pioneered the game."

After leaving professional football, Williams had a career of more than forty years in property management, a business he began while playing for the Chargers.

Faith and memoir publication Williams and his wife helped found an evangelical Christian church on Kaua'i in 2001. They served as Deacons and Church treasurers and worshipped in a tent for years. North Shore Christian Church was built thirteen years later and opened in January 2014. High School football All American in senior year; team captain senior year; and he was ultimately named to The Seattle Times High School Football Team of the Century in 1999.

He won national collegiate honors both in football and in track and field events. In his junior year, Williams was named to the Associated Press All-America football second-team for 1965. The Associated Press also honored him in 1966 with All-America honorable mention in football,

The Husky Hall of Fame lists Williams' records that have stood for more than half a century: "[He] still holds the UW records for receiving yards in a game with 257 vs. UCLA in 1965; for receptions by a tight end in a game with 10 (twice in 1965, vs. both UCLA and Stanford); receiving TDs in a season by a tight end (10, 1965); and for career receiving yards per catch by a tight end (18.3)".