GREEN BAY – One of the best Cinderella stories in Packers history is getting its proper ending.
On Monday, it was announced that former Pro Bowl cornerback Tramon Williams will join tackle Earl Dotson as the two inductees into the Packers Hall of Fame Class of 2026.
Williams, who played 10 of his 14 NFL seasons in Green Bay, is one of few among the 173 individuals in the hall whose career actually began on the Packers' practice squad.
A former walk-on at Louisiana Tech who went undrafted in 2006, Williams spent half his rookie season on the outside of the NFL looking in after being among the Houston Texans' final cuts in training camp.
Williams worked out for nine different teams before finally receiving a call on Thanksgiving from then-Packers personnel executives Eliot Wolf and Alonzo Highsmith, who offered him a practice-squad spot with five games left in the regular season.
"I was just there to celebrate Thanksgiving with my parents and nonetheless I got that call," Williams recalled. "The fact (I was) placed in Green Bay, man, that was all God. Because I didn't want to go to no big cities and play. I'll be honest with you. I didn't want to do it, so I'm grateful for it."
Williams made the 53-man roster the following summer and soon became the posterchild for undrafted success in Green Bay.
The 5-foot-11, 191-pound cornerback played 10 seasons for the Packers over two stints (2007-14 and 2018-19), registering 569 tackles, 30 interceptions, 156 passes defensed, and six forced fumbles in 159 regular-season games (122 starts).
Perhaps Williams' best year came during the fabled 2010 season in which the Packers produced their 13th world championship after sneaking into the playoffs as the sixth seed in the NFC.
On the heels of a six-INT regular season, Williams was an instrumental part of the defense that paved the way to Green Bay's victory in Super Bowl XLV.
Williams not only picked off Philadelphia's Michael Vick on the final drive of the NFC Wild Card contest but also intercepted Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan twice in the Packers' 48-21 victory in the NFC Divisional round.
His 70-yard pick-six before halftime in that win over the Falcons became a career highlight and weeks later the Packers upended Pittsburgh 31-25 to claim their fourth Lombardi Trophy.
"Just the opportunity to win the Super Bowl, in general, just to say that you've done that alone is something that not a lot of people can do," Williams said.
"The fact that we got a chance to do that with the team that we did … a bunch of injuries that year. We had maybe 16 to 18 guys on IR. We were bringing in guys off the street. Erik Walden, Howard Green, I can remember the names off the top of my head. Guys came in and played great ball for us. Just right off the street, we just gelled together as a team."
A game-changer during the postseason, he played in 15 playoff games in his Packers career, registering 56 tackles, four interceptions and 18 passes defensed. He also missed just one game during his 10 seasons in Green Bay due to injury.
Williams learned the secondary ropes from a trio of Packers Hall of Famers – Charles Woodson, Al Harris and Nick Collins – and was able to pay it forward to the next generation of Green Bay defensive backs when he re-signed in 2018.
Williams was a member of Head Coach Matt LaFleur's first Packers team in 2019 that won 13 games and advanced to the NFC Championship Game. Somewhat fittingly, Williams' last NFL game came as a practice-squad elevation in the 2021 NFC title game. He officially retired two months later.
"Once you leave an organization, most guys don't get a chance to come back," Williams said. "The fact that the Packers wanted me back, I think it says that I made an impression on the organization, that I did things the way it was supposed to be done. That's the place I wanted to be."
Williams resides in Houston with his wife, Shantrell, and the couple's two children, Tramon Jr. and Trinty, both of whom are off to strong starts to their athletic careers.
Only a high school freshman, Tramon Jr. is turning heads on the football field while towering over his dad at 6-2, 195 pounds. Last year, Trinty reset the Adidas national record for a 13-year-old girl with a 55.1-second time in the 400-meter dash.
Williams recently had to put down his coach hat for a minute to take a call from Packers Hall of Fame, Inc., executive director Sam Kluck, informing him of his pending induction next July.
Williams didn't believe him at first, a remarkable ending to an improbable NFL career.
"When I look back at it, it's almost like I couldn't write the story better myself," Williams said. "It had to be somebody in my corner who was favoring me, man. Undrafted, walked on into college, the unknown to now being put into the Packers Hall of Fame, it's amazing. It's amazing to say the least."
