A hurdler in track, Dave Williams used those skills on the football field to spring above defenders and catch passes in a crowd.
The NFL St. Louis Cardinals projected him to be the deep threat who would replace longtime standout Sonny Randle.
Williams came through for St. Louis in his first three seasons, but couldn’t sustain the success. He was 78 when he died on June 19, 2024.
Athletic ability
Though born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Williams grew up in Tacoma, Wash., and went to Lincoln High School, where he excelled in football and track. He won a state championship for Lincoln in the hurdles in 1963.
Williams then competed in both sports at the University of Washington. According to Bob Broeg of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Washington head football coach Jim Owens said, “He’s the finest natural athlete I ever coached.”
Williams was a collegiate all-America in four different events in track and field _ broad jump, 120-yard hurdles, 440-yard hurdles and 440-yard relay. He qualified to compete in the 1964 Olympic trials in the decathlon.
His football career at Washington was not as consistent. As Tacoma News Tribune sports editor Earl Luebker noted, “Much of his time was spent in frustration.”
In his first varsity season as a sophomore in 1964, Williams made a mere three catches. “He started his sophomore season as one of the most widely heralded pass receivers,” the News Tribune reported, “yet, before the year had progressed too far, he found himself working as a third-stringer in the defensive secondary.”
Williams’ breakout season came as a junior in 1965 when he made 38 catches, including 10 for touchdowns. The 6-foot-2 receiver had 10 catches, including one for a touchdown, against Stanford and another 10 catches, for 257 yards and three touchdowns, versus UCLA.
“We couldn’t cover that fellow Williams,” UCLA head coach Tommy Prothro told the Los Angeles Times. “We tried to play him loose, but it was no go … Williams, who sort of reminds me of (the Green Bay Packers’) Don Hutson, has such deceptive speed. Looks like he’s running slow with that easy gait.”
As a senior in 1966, Williams “was used largely as a decoy,” the Tacoma News Tribune reported, and had no touchdowns among his 21 catches.
Promising rookie
Williams caught the attention of the Cardinals with his play in college all-star games after his senior season. In the East-West Shrine Bowl, he snared a 48-yard touchdown toss from Stanford’s Dave Lewis. Then, in the Hula Bowl, Purdue’s Bob Griese connected with Williams on touchdown throws of 43 and 40 yards.
The Cardinals picked Williams in the first round of the 1967 NFL draft. He was the second wide receiver taken. The first was Michigan State’s Gene Washington by the Minnesota Vikings.
“Williams was the surest bet to help us,” Cardinals head coach Charley Winner said to the Post-Dispatch. “He has ideal size. In addition to speed, he’s big enough to crack back as a blocker and he definitely can catch the ball in a crowd.”
Cardinals receivers coach Fran Polsfoot told the newspaper, “He excels at catching the hard passes. He’ll go up and fight for the ball with a good spring in his legs and intense desire.”
At training camp with the 1967 Cardinals, Williams was accepted by veteran receivers Bobby Joe Conrad and Sonny Randle, and quarterback Charley Johnson.
“I’ve been really surprised by the help I’ve got from the other receivers,” Williams told the Post-Dispatch. “Bobby Joe Conrad showed me how to break on my pass patterns. Sonny Randle helped me in learning to make certain alignments. Charley Johnson has helped in telling me how to read defenses and be in the right place.”
Randle said to the newspaper, “He has all the tools. As soon as he knows the right places to be, he’ll be a good one.”
Williams did so well in exhibition games that the Cardinals traded Randle to the San Francisco 49ers for a draft choice three days before the 1967 season opener.
On Monday night, Oct. 30, 1967, the reigning NFL champion Green Bay Packers played at St. Louis. Matched against Herb Adderley, destined for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Williams caught touchdown passes of 49 and 48 yards from Jim Hart. On a halfback option play, Johnny Roland also completed a pass to Williams in the end zone but it was nullified by an offsides penalty on a lineman. Described by the Green Bay Press-Gazette as “jet-like” and “explosive,” Williams made six catches for 147 yards in the game.
“The kid’s good,” Adderley told the Post-Dispatch. “I predict a great future for him. He’s not like most of these rookies who go out and see how fast they can run. Williams makes moves. I backed off and played him loose the second half. He could have those short ones, but no more bombs.” Game stats and Video
Williams completed his rookie season with 28 catches and five touchdowns.
Hard to cover
Convinced Williams was headed for stardom, the Cardinals traded Billy Gambrell to the Detroit Lions for a draft choice just before the start of the 1968 season, making Williams and Bobby Joe Conrad the starting wide receivers.
Williams had 43 catches, including a team-high six for touchdowns, in 12 starts for the 1968 Cardinals before an injury to his left knee sidelined him for the final two games.
One of his season highlights was a 71-yard touchdown catch on a pass from Hart against the Pittsburgh Steelers. “I was supposed to cut him off short and (safety) Clendon Thomas was supposed to take him long,” Steelers cornerback Marv Woodson told the Post-Dispatch, “but Williams just outran Thomas, and Jim Hart threw a perfect pass. No cornerback can stop a good receiver from catching a perfect pass, no matter how well he covers his man.” Game stats
(Of Williams’ 22 touchdown receptions in his five seasons with St. Louis, 12 were of more than 30 yards.)
In 1969, Williams led the Cardinals in receptions (56). His seven touchdown catches came in two games.
On Nov. 2, 1969, Williams scored four touchdowns on passes from Charley Johnson, but the Saints beat the Cardinals, 51-42. “Here I am with my greatest day statistically, but the luster is taken off,” Williams said to the Post-Dispatch. “You come away with an empty feeling because you lost the ballgame.” Game stats
A month later, Jim Hart connected with Williams on three touchdown passes against the Steelers. Game stats
Unhappy days
Based on his first three seasons, the Cardinals had high hopes for Williams in 1970. At training camp, Bob Broeg of the Post-Dispatch observed that Williams “gives promise of leadership because he’s sharp, articulate and the kind of performer who can inspire.”
Broeg added, “Williams’ forte is the incredible leaping ability and possessiveness that permits him to get higher than backfield defenders and to out-grapple them for the ball.”
The season, though, was a bust. Williams clashed with head coach Charley Winner and told the Post-Dispatch, “Most of the players didn’t respect him.”
Williams had 23 receptions in 1970 (33 fewer than the year before) and, according to the Post-Dispatch, Jim Hart lost confidence in him. “Dave Williams was a dejected, withdrawn football player, dressing quickly and leaving the locker room before his teammates, and intentionally ostracizing himself from the club,” the Post-Dispatch reported.
Charley Winner was fired after the season and became an assistant on the staff of Washington Redskins head coach George Allen. The Cardinals offered to trade Williams to Washington for a second-round draft pick, but Winner recommended to Allen that he decline the proposal, the Post-Dispatch reported.
Bob Hollway was the Cardinals’ head coach in 1971 but Williams regressed, losing his starting job to rookie Mel Gray and finishing with 12 catches.
On Feb. 1, 1972, after the Cardinals made Oregon wide receiver Bobby Moore (who later became Ahmad Rashad) their first pick in the draft, they traded Williams to the San Diego Chargers for wide receiver Walker Gillette. (Like Williams, Moore went to high school in Tacoma.)
“Williams had been a big disappointment to the Cardinals,” the Post-Dispatch exclaimed. “His teammates often accused him of not running correct patterns, and this alienated him from the squad.”
Never a dull moment
After a season and a half with the Chargers (21 total catches, three touchdowns), Williams was placed on waivers and acquired by the Steelers in October 1973. He played in one game for them and joined the Southern California Sun of the World Football League in 1974.
Playing for head coach Tom Fears, Williams spent two seasons with the Sun and revived his career _ 59 catches, 11 touchdowns in 1974, and 21 catches, nine touchdowns in 1975. “Williams runs like a deer, is sure-handed and runs exemplary pass patterns,” the Los Angeles Times noted.
In November 1975, Williams, 30, became the first player to sign with the Seattle Seahawks, an NFL expansion team slated to begin its inaugural season in 1976. Part of his contract required Williams to make promotional appearances to generate interest in the fledgling franchise.
Williams entered a professional indoor track meet in Seattle in the spring of 1976 after receiving approval from the Seahawks. While running an obstacle course, his spikes caught in the boards and he tore cartilage in his left knee.
Meanwhile, in June 1976, Williams filed a damage lawsuit against Dr. Arnold Mandell, a former team psychiatrist for the Chargers, who wrote a book, “The Nightmare Season,” about his experiences with the team. In his lawsuit, Williams said Mandell falsely accused him of “defects of character.”
Two months later, in August 1976, the Seahawks put Williams on waivers because he failed a physical. Williams threatened to sue the Seahawks, claiming they were responsible for the knee injury he suffered in the track meet.
In December 1976, Williams told the Tacoma News Tribune that he and the Seahawks reached an out-of-court settlement. “We sat down and resolved the matter in about 20 minutes,” Williams said to the newspaper.
With his playing career done, Williams eventually became a spokesman for the Pro Football Retired Players Association.
In May 1979, a San Diego County Superior Court jury awarded Williams $300,000 in his libel trial against the former Chargers psychiatrist.