Willie Williams Named 96th On Giants Top 100 Players List.
To celebrate the Giants’ 100th season, an independent committee of award-winning journalists, NFL and Pro Football Hall of Fame executives, and superfans have ranked the Giants’ Top 100 players. Willie Williams secured the 96th spot on their Top 100 List.
Since Williams is played before my time I thought it would be best to have the panel share his accomplishments.
New York Giants Press Release
The 1965 NFL Draft brought a pair of players to the Giants who would become two of the best ball hawks in their 100-year history. Before Carl “Spider” Lockhart was taken in the 13th round, the team selected Willie Williams with 99th overall pick in the eighth round. The Giants also held the No. 1 choice in that year’s draft, which they used on College Football Hall of Fame running back Tucker Frederickson.
Following his rookie season, Williams left the Giants to play for the Oakland Raiders, who were then in the American Football League. Williams returned to the Giants in 1967 and remained with the team for the rest of his career. Williams played in exactly 100 games in eight total seasons for the Giants. He intercepted 35 passes, which are tied with Dick Lynch (1959–1966) for fourth in franchise history. Right above them is Lockhart, Williams’ draft classmate, with 41 across 11 seasons for Big Blue. Emlen Tunnell holds the record with 74 interceptions, followed by Jimmy Patton’s 52.
In 1968, Williams grabbed a career-high and NFL-leading 10 interceptions. It is the last time a player has turned in double-digit interceptions in a Giants uniform, and one of five such campaigns in the team’s 100 seasons. Patton and Otto Schnellbacher share the single-season record with 11 in 1958 and 1951, respectively. Williams’ 10 are tied for third with Tunnell (1949) and Frank Reagan (1947). After playing nine seasons with the NFL and the AFL, Williams played two years with the Hawaiians of the World Football League in 1974 and 1975.
Willie Williams, played eight seasons for the Giants, he passed away in Georgia in 2013 at 73 years old. Williams is remembered as a New York Giants Legend with great instincts for the ball.