BIOGRAPHY
Jamaal Williams was born April 3, 1995 in Rialto, California. He is a running back in the National Football League.
His mother, Nicolle, was a sprinter at UCLA and his cousin, Victor Butler, played linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys from 2009-12 and the Indianapolis Colts in 2014. He was named the league offensive MVP as a senior at Summit High School in Fontana, California, helping lead his team to a CIF division title. He earned first-team all-league honors and first-team All-CIF recognition after rushing for 1,252 yards and 22 TDs on 141 carries (8.9 avg.) as a senior. In high school, he played running back, linebacker and safety, lettering all four years in track.
Williams committed to and played for BYU from 2012-2016. In college, he played in 42 games with 34 starts, finishing his career at BYU as the school’s all-time leader in rushing yards (3,901), rushing attempts (726) and 100-yard rushing games (16). He became just the fourth player in school history to register multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons, posting 1,233 yards in 2013 and a career-best 1,375 yards in 2016. He posted 35 rushing TDs in his career, good for number 3 in school history, and 4,468 all-purpose yards, number 5 in school history. He earned his degree in sociology.
During Williams’ redshirt senior season in 2016, he appeared in 10 games with nine starts and rushed for a career-high 1,375 yards and 12 TDs on 234 carries (5.9 avg.). He ranked No. 5 in the nation in rushing yards per game (137.5) and registered six 100-yard rushing outings, including two with 200-plus yards. He was named second-team Midseason All-America by Sports Illustrated. He became just the fourth player in school annals to register multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons, having also eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in 2013.
Williams was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round with the 134th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. He was the 13th running back selected in that year's draft. He was signed to his rookie contract on June 1, 2017. On September 10, 2017, in his NFL debut, Williams had two rushes for nine yards in a 17–9 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. In Week 9, against the Detroit Lions, he scored his first career rushing touchdown. On December 3, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he had 113 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Overall, he finished his rookie season with 556 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns, 25 receptions, 262 receiving yards, and two receiving touchdowns. In the 2018 season, Williams recorded 464 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, and 27 receptions for 210 receiving yards.
Williams joined the Detroit Lions in 2021. In the Lions' first four games to start the 2022 season, Williams recorded two rushing touchdowns in three of the games. With two rushing touchdowns in the final game of the regular season, Williams set the Lions' single-season touchdown record with 17, surpassing the previous record of 16 set by Barry Sanders in 1991. He finished the year with career-highs in yards (1,066), touchdowns (17) and carries (262) while playing in all 17 games for the Lions.
Williams joined the New Orleans Saints in 2023.
