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Boo Williams

American football player (born 1979)

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Eddie Lee "Boo" Williams (born June 22, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL) from 2001 to 2004. He played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks as a wide receiver.

01College career

Williams played two seasons at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas, where he was a two-time All-American catching 83 passes for 1,687 yards and 21 touchdowns as a split end wide receiver. He then transferred to the University of Arkansas for the 1999 and 2000 seasons where he caught 80 receptions for 1,123 yards and 11 touchdowns.

02Professional career

Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeight40-yard dash10-yard split20-yard split20-yard shuttleThree-cone drillVertical jumpBroad jump
6 ft 4 in
(1.93 m)
237 lb
(108 kg)
4.72 s1.63 s2.73 s4.33 s7.10 s35+12 in
(0.90 m)
9 ft 11 in
(3.02 m)
Measurables are from the 2001 NFL Scouting Combine.

New Orleans Saints

Williams was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New Orleans Saints on April 26, 2001 and soon began a conversion to the tight end position. Waived in September, then signed off the practice squad on October 27, he played in his first NFL game October 28 and made his first start the following week. He finished his first NFL season with 20 receptions for 202 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Williams was the top pass-catching tight end for the Saints in 2002 with 13 receptions for 143 yards and 2 touchdowns. The following year he set career highs with 41 catches for 436 yards and 5 touchdowns, leading the NFC in touchdowns among tight ends. In 2004 Williams started a career-high 8 games.

Williams tore the ACL and MCL in his right knee during a 2005 preseason game and did not play the entire year. He was released by the Saints in February 2006.

New York Giants

Williams was signed by the New York Giants in June 2006 but waived before the regular season began.

Kansas City Brigade

On January 19, 2007, Williams signed with the Kansas City Brigade of the Arena Football League. On March 3, 2008, he was placed on recallable waivers by the Brigade.

03NFL career statistics

Year Team Games Receiving
GPGSTgtRecYdsAvgLngTD
2001NOR 114422020210.1263
2002NOR 163311314311.0322
2003NOR 166624143610.6315
2004NOR 167753336211.0222
59202101071,14310.73212

04Life after football

Williams struggled with a multitude of depression, anger, and anxiety issues after retiring from football, the cause of which he attributes to head trauma sustained during his NFL career. After nearly taking his own life in 2011, Williams spent four months at the Crosby Center in San Diego for diagnosis and treatment of the problems he was suffering from. Williams later worked with the Crosby Center to help other NFL players dealing with similar issues post-retirement.

Williams uses cannabis to treat the chronic pain and neurological problems that have resulted from his football career. As a member of the Gridiron Cannabis Coalition he has been active in speaking about his experience using cannabis as medicine and advocating for the NFL to change its policy.

Williams founded the Boo Williams Athletic Academy, an after-school program providing academic and athletic activities for children to engage in. He has also worked as a bounty hunter and appeared in two episodes of the reality TV show Dog and Beth: On the Hunt.

Watch videos about Boo WilliamsExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Boo Williams, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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