John L. Williams (born November 23, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) during the 1980s and 1990s. Williams played college football for the Florida Gators. A first-round pick in the 1986 NFL draft, he played professionally for the Seattle Seahawks and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL.

Williams was born in Palatka, Florida in 1964.^[1] He attended Palatka High School,^[2] where he was a standout high school football running back in the wishbone offense of the Palatka Panthers.^[3] Williams rushed for 3,449 yards and fifty-nine touchdowns, including 1,738 yards as a senior.^[3] The Panthers finished undefeated and won the Florida Class 3A championship. In 2007, twenty-five years after he graduated from high school, the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) recognized Williams as one of the "100 Greatest Players of the First 100 Years" of Florida high school football.^[3]

Williams accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he was a fullback for coach Charley Pell and coach Galen Hall's Florida Gators football teams from 1982 to 1985.^[4] Williams usually shared the backfield with tailback Neal Anderson, behind the blocking of the Gators' outstanding offensive line known as "The Great Wall of Florida." The Gators finished with identical 9–1–1 records in 1984 and 1985, and best-in-the-conference records of 5–0–1 and 5–1.^[4] Williams was recognized as a second-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection in 1984 and 1985, and an honorable mention All-American in 1985.^[4] He finished his four-year college career with 2,409 yards rushing and 863 yards receiving.^[4] Williams was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1997.^[5][6] In a 2006 article series written for The Gainesville Sun, the Sun sportswriters rated him as the No. 31 all-time Gator from among the 100 greatest players of the first century of Florida football.^[7]

Williams was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the first round (fifteenth pick overall) of the 1986 NFL draft.^[8] He played for the Seahawks for eight seasons from 1986 to 1993.^[9] He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1990 and 1991. Williams played his final two seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1994 and 1995,^[9] and his last NFL game was Super Bowl XXX in which the Steelers lost to the Dallas Cowboys.

During his ten-year professional career, Williams played in 149 regular season games, started in 135 of them, and had 1,245 carries for 5,005 yards and eighteen rushing touchdowns, and 546 receptions for 4,656 yards and nineteen receiving touchdowns.^[1]

• Florida Gators football, 1980–89
• List of Florida Gators in the NFL draft
• List of Pittsburgh Steelers players
• List of Seattle Seahawks first-round draft picks
• List of Seattle Seahawks players
• List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members

• Carlson, Norm, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). ISBN 0-7948-2298-3.
• Golenbock, Peter, Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory, Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). ISBN 0-9650782-1-3.
• Hairston, Jack, Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told, Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). ISBN 1-58261-514-4.
• McCarthy, Kevin M., Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football, Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). ISBN 978-0-7385-0559-6.
• Nash, Noel, ed., The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football, Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). ISBN 1-57167-196-X.