Thomas Williams

Thomas Ray Williams (born December 25, 1984) is an American football linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Southern California.

Williams has been a member of the Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, and Carolina Panthers.

Williams played high school football at Vacaville High School. When it came to deciding where to attend college, his final choices were University of Notre Dame and the University of Southern California. Finding them equals in many areas; Williams decided on USC due in part to the diversity of the Los Angeles area as well as the career networking, as he was uncertain he would be able to eventually move on to the NFL.

College career

Williams entered USC in the 2003 recruiting class that included Reggie Bush and LenDale White. Williams started 14 games at 3 different positions (including fullback) while playing college football at USC. He was all-Pac-10 honorable mention in 2007 and was invited to the East West Shrine Game and the Hula Bowl. Williams career stats include, 74 tackles, 1 sack, 3 fumbles forced, 5 passes defensed, 5 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions, and 37 interception return yards. In 2007 Williams had 56 tackles. He had 6 tackles in the 2008 Rose Bowl.

During his time with the Trojans, Williams received guidance and feedback from veteran linebackers such as Lofa Tatupu, Matt Grootegoed, Dallas Sartz, Collin Ashton, and Oscar Lua. In order to see more playing time against the more experienced linebackers ahead of him, Williams focused and excelled at special teams play, particularly kickoff coverage.