Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 19, 1991 TAG: 9102190093
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: GREEN BAY, WIS. LENGTH: Medium
Williams died Sunday in Martinez, Calif., near his hometown of Richmond. He suffered from liver and kidney failure, his daughter said.
Williams, known as the "Roadrunner," returned four kickoffs for touchdowns in his rookie season with the Packers in 1967, setting an NFL record that still stands. He returned two in one game that season against the Cleveland Browns to tie a league record.
He played four seasons with the Packers and his best year was 1969 when he rushed for 536 yards with four touchdowns.
Injuries limited Williams to seven games in 1970 and the next season he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams. In 1971, he returned a kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown.
But a knee injury prevented Williams from playing in 1972 and ended his career. Success did not follow.
Williams returned to California and held a series of jobs - collecting junk, driving trucks, working as bouncer and as a security guard.
"I never hit rock bottom," Williams said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal in 1988. "I kept drinking, but I still shaved and washed my face."
His daughter, Marla Williams of Richmond, Calif., said her father became increasingly depressed in recent years, especially after the deaths in 1985 of his wife, mother and sister. Soon after, Williams joined the ranks of street people, sometimes sleeping in his car.
"I guess you could say he was slowly dying," Marla Williams said.
Marla Williams said her father had continued drinking when last year on Father's Day he took a turn for the worse. On a doctor's advice, he cut back, she said.
In October 1988, Williams was one of four people arrested in Washington, D.C., during a sit-in demonstration at the office of Sen. Alan Cranston, D.-Calif.
Williams, who became an advocate for the homeless after wandering the streets himself, was protesting cuts in federal housing programs for the poor.
Williams told the Milwaukee Journal after his arrest that his problems began in 1977 when he lost his house in Richmond because he couldn't make payments.
"We were down to our last three bucks. That kind of took a lot out of me. I could have paid for the house but I thought I'd play football forever, so I put only a down payment on it," Williams said. He said the most money he made in one season was $35,000.
Injuries cut short his career.
"I couldn't run the Green Bay sweep anymore without falling down, so I hung up my cleats and I've been down ever since," said Williams, who played in the 1968 Super Bowl with the Packers.
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB