Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers was recently involved in a serious accident at a construction site, but his agent and family say reports that Williams has died are not accurate.
Multiple media outlets reported on Tuesday night that Williams had died. On Wednesday, Williams’ agent told Michael Schwartz of WKBW in Buffalo that Williams has been in a Tampa-area hospital but is still alive.
A GoFundMe page that was linked to Williams’ father stated that Williams suffered a severe head injury when he was hit with a steel beam on a construction site last week. The page said Williams was left completely paralyzed in his right arm and below his waste.
Williams “never gained consciousness” and was placed into an induced coma on Sept. 3. Though, Williams’ father wrote “reportedly” in the GoFundMe and said he was sharing information based on “what was reported to me.”
According to Schwartz, Williams’ mother has asked that the GoFundMe page be taken down.
Tierney Lyle, the mother of Williams’ 8-year-old daughter, spoke with the Tampa Bay Times on Wednesday after she visited Williams in the hospital. Lyle said Williams was unable to move but that he briefly woke up when she and her daughter spoke to him.
“He was asleep when we went in there and he woke up when he heard our voices and his daughter’s voice,” Lyle said. “And he looked around, and he blinked and he was crying but he can’t move.”
Jon Scott of Spectrum News 1 in Buffalo was one of the first to report that Williams had died. Scott said on Wednesday night that the report was incorrect.
Williams is one of several NFL players with the same name, including a few contemporaries who also played wide receiver. But the former Bucs star receiver was from Buffalo, N.Y., attended Syracuse for college, and was drafted by the Bucs in the fourth round in 2010.
Williams was dominant as a rookie. He had 65 catches for 964 yards and 11 touchdowns during the 2010 season with the Bucs. The team went 10-6 that season under Raheem Morris, with Josh Freeman as their quarterback. Williams finished second in AP Offensive Rookie of the Year voting that season behind Sam Bradford.
In 2011, Williams had 65 catches for 771 yards and three touchdowns. Then in 2012, Williams had 63 catches for 996 yards and nine touchdowns.
Williams was traded to the Bills for the 2014 season. He only played in nine games for them and had just eight catches for 142 yards.
During his NFL career, Williams had 223 catches for 3,089 yards and 26 touchdowns. He was estimated to have earned just under $12M during his playing career.
More must-reads: