Western Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame
Willie Williams - Football - (1990-92)
Western Carolina's first football player to reach the Super Bowl, Williams was the first Catamount defensive back to be a three-time All-Southern Conference pick, earning first-team honors in 1992 after leading the league in pass breakups in 1992 and 1991. He additionally is WCU's all-time leader in pass breakups with 41, while ranking second on the team in tackles with 88 in 1991. He started in every game throughout his three-year career (33 games) as a defensive back and is one of Western Carolina's all-time leading tacklers among defensive backs with 218. Williams was a member of WCU's All-20th Century Football Team. He holds the distinction of being the first WCU player selected to play in the Blue-Gray All-Star Classic, while also being selected to play in the All-America Football Classic for the NCAA I-AA All-Stars against the NCAA I-A All-Stars. Williams was drafted in the sixth round (162nd overall pick) by the Pittsburgh Steelers where he played there for four seasons, including an appearance in Super Bowl XXX in 1996. He followed his first stint in Pittsburgh with seven seasons with the Seattle Seahawks before returning to the Steelers for the last two seasons, helping his team to the NFC Championship game two seasons ago and the Super Bowl XL title this past season. Leading up to Super Bowl XXX in 1996, Williams led the American Football Conference (AFC) and ranked third in the NFL with seven interceptions. Also that season, he was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month after recording 27 tackles and three interceptions. He finished that season by posting a career-high 77 tackles. Williams started all three postseason games at left cornerback, including Super Bowl XXX. He led the secondary with 15 tackles in the postseason, including a touchdown-saving stop in the AFC Championship Game and five tackles versus Dallas in the Super Bowl.
