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PACKERS SIGN CORNERBACK TYRONE WILLIAMS TO MULTIYEAR CONTRACT
posted 07/22/99
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| Tyrone Williams |
The Green Bay Packers have signed veteran defensive back Tyrone Williams, one of the NFL's premier cover "corners," to a multiyear contract, Executive Vice President/General Manager Ron Wolf announced today.
In keeping with long-standing club policy, length of contract and financial terms were not announced.
Williams, a fourth-year professional, led the team in interceptions for the first time in 1998 with five, and ranked second in passes defensed with 12 after leading his platoon in that category in 1997 with 13.
The 26-year-old Williams also made 66 tackles, 59 of them solo, to place sixth on the team after moving back to his more natural right cornerback position to replace Doug Evans, who had left to join the Carolina Panthers as a free agent.
In the process, the former University of Nebraska standout started all 16 games for the first time as a pro. He also started in the club's wild card playoff loss at San Francisco.
Williams, who has yet to miss a game in his professional career, having played in 55 consecutive regular and postseason contests, posted one of his top performances of the year in the Packers' 36-22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers November 1, registering a season-high 8 tackles and batting down an almost-certain touchdown pass in the end zone (intended for J.J. Stokes).
He also twice made 7 solo stops along the way - in the opener against Detroit (September 6) and at Pittsburgh (November 9) - and also thwarted a possible touchdown in the Packers' 23-15 win over Tampa Bay (September 13), intercepting a Steve Walsh pass into the end zone midway through the third period.
A third-round draft selection in 1996, the 5-11, 195-pound Bradenton, Fla., native unexpectedly became a starter in the opening moments of the 1997 season when staring left cornerback Craig Newsome suffered a season-ending injury against Chicago on the year's first play from scrimmage.
Williams played in all 16 games for the second straight year, starting the final 15 at left cornerback. He also started all three playoff contests, including Super Bowl XXXII against the Denver Broncos, and closed out the regular season with a career-high 74 tackles (fifth on the team) while emerging as the team's leader in passes defensed.
Although he has yet to play a game under the Packers' new coaching staff, Williams already has made a highly positive impression upon Emmitt Thomas, the Packers' defensive coordinator.
"T. Williams - I can't say enough nice things about him," Thomas says of him. "We think that if you take all of the corners in the National Football League and stack them up, he would have to be among the top six or seven corners in the league. We had two excellent corners in Philly in Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent, and in Washington we had Darrell Green and Barry Wilburn, and right now, looking at that guy and looking at them, he's right there now with them.
"He's got it all - pure man-to-man coverage skills, he understand coverages, he's very technique-conscious and he's a competitor. Even in practice, he hates for anybody to catch a ball - whether it's on him or the safety, he's always complaining about it. He's an intense guy, very intense. He's a skillful guy who can really cover man-for-man."
Career Stats
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