Raequan Williams

Raequan Williams (born February 14, 1997) is a professional American football defensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan State.

Raequan Williams
No. 61 – Philadelphia Eagles
Position:Defensive tackle
Personal information
Born: (1997-02-14) February 14, 1997
Chicago, Illinois
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:303 lb (137 kg)
Career information
High school:DePaul College Prep
College:Michigan State
Undrafted:2020
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com

Early life and high school

Williams grew up in Lawndale and East Garfield Park, two of the most crime-ridden neighborhoods in Chicago. In sixth grade, he joined the Garfield Gators youth football team. Williams became a national all-star in eighth grade. Williams attended DePaul College Prep, formerly known as Gordon Tech, where he played basketball and football. He was named captain of the basketball team as a sophomore, coached by Tom Kleinschmidt.[1] As a senior on the football team, he was named first team all-state after recording 74 tackles, eight sacks, nine pass breakups and three forced fumbles.[2] Williams was a four-star recruit ranked the No. 19 tackle in the nation according to 247Sports.com, and he signed with Michigan State in December 2014 after considering offers from Oregon, Arizona, Missouri, and Penn State, among others.[3] Williams chose the Spartans after hearing fond memories from trusted adults who attended the university.[4]

College career

At Michigan State, Williams redshirted his freshman season. He started two games at nose tackle as a redshirt freshman. As a sophomore in 2017, Williams was named honorable mention All-Big Ten and earned Michigan State's Iron Man award for strength and conditioning.[1] He finished with 31 tackles, six tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. As a junior, he was a first team All-Big Ten honoree after tallying 53 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. Despite being considered a potential NFL draft early entrant, Williams told coach Mark Dantonio he was returning for his senior season to improve as a pass rusher and earn his degree.[4] Coming into his senior season, Williams was on the watchlist for the Outland Trophy.[5] He earned second team All-Big Ten honors as a senior in 2019.[4] Williams recorded 48 tackles including 7.5 for loss, 5.0 sacks and one forced fumble.[6] He participated in the East-West Shrine Bowl following the season.[4] Williams made 42 consecutive starts at defensive tackle, which he considers one of his favorite achievements.[7] He finished his career with 160 tackles, 29 for loss, and 11.5 sacks in his career.[8]

Professional career

After going undrafted in the 2020 NFL draft, Williams signed an undrafted free agent deal with the Philadelphia Eagles.[9]

Personal life

Williams's mother Latasha Williams gave birth to him at the age of 14.[7][1] He was also raised by Mackenzie Hyde, his third grade teacher whom he considers a godmother. On January 13, 2016, his cousin Antonio Pollards was murdered in a drive-by shooting on the way to school. Williams's brother Corey Hill was killed in a similar drive-by shooting on June 7, 2017. Neither murder has been solved.[1]

gollark: Apparently. Or at least home breadmaking, because she did it first and is now... finding it harder to get ingredients.
gollark: Firing your pandemic response team a while before a pandemic is at least not as stupid as doing it during one.
gollark: I blame some sort of weird interaction between insurance companies, regulation/the government, consumers of healthcare services, and the companies involved in healthcare.
gollark: The US healthcare system is just really quite broken and there is probably not some individual there who's just going "MWAHAHAHA, my plan to increase the price of healthcare has succeeded, and I could easily make everything reasonable but I won't because I'm evil!", or one person who could decide to just make some stuff free right now without introducing some huge issues. It's a systemic issue.
gollark: Yes, they do have considerations other than minimizing short-term COVID-19 deaths, but that is sensible because other things do matter.

References
  1. Seidel, Jeff (April 26, 2018). "Michigan State's Raequan Williams won't let brothers' murders stop him". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  2. "Four-star defensive tackle picks MSU". The Detroit News. December 19, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  3. Rexrode, Joe (December 19, 2014). "MSU lands 4-star defensive tackle from Chicago". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  4. Chadiha, Jeffri (February 20, 2020). "Murders of family members haven't defeated Raequan Williams". NFL.com. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  5. Charboneau, Matt (July 29, 2019). "Life in Chicago teaches Raequan Williams discipline as Michigan State's run-stuffer". The Detroit News. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  6. DaSilva, Cameron (March 26, 2020). "Rams had FaceTime meeting with Michigan State DL Raequan Williams". Rams Wire. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  7. Melo, Justin (April 6, 2020). "Meet Raequan Williams, Michigan State's workhorse DL prospect". Draft Wire. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  8. McPherson, Chris (April 26, 2020). "Eagles agree to terms with 13 undrafted free agents". Philadelphia Eagles.com. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  9. Wenzel, Matt (April 26, 2020). "Michigan State free agent tracker: Raequan Williams, Joe Bachie sign after going undrafted". MLive. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
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