Jarvis Williams, American football player (Miami Dolphins, New York Giants) died of a heart attack he was 45

Jarvis Eric Williams, Sr. was a former American college and professional football player who was a defensive back for seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL).

(May 16, 1965 – May 25, 2010)

Williams was born in Palatka, Florida. He attended Palatka High School, and was a key player for the Palatka Panthers football team that won the state 3A championship in 1981. After graduating from high school, Williams received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in nearby Gainesville, Florida, where he played cornerback for coach Galen Hall's Florida Gators football teams from 1984 to 1987. He started forty-five consecutive games over four seasons, had ten career interceptions, and led the team in tackles (77) and punt returns (20 for 222 yards) during his senior season.^[1] Williams was named a first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection in 1986 and a first-team All-American in 1987.^[2] The Gators posted identical 9–1–1 records in 1984 and 1985, and the best SEC win-loss records of 5–0–1 and 5–1 during those same seasons.^[3]


Williams was chosen by the Miami Dolphins in the second round (forty-second pick overall) of the 1988 NFL Draft,^[4] and played safety for the Dolphins from 1988 to 1993.^[5] In Miami, Williams was reunited with Gators teammate Louis Oliver when the Dolphins drafted Oliver in 1989, and together they were the Dolphins' starting safeties for five seasons.^[6] In his first five NFL seasons with the Dolphins, Williams recorded fourteen interceptions, including one he returned forty-two yards for a touchdown in 1990.^[7] He played his final NFL season for the New York Giants in 1994.^[5]
Williams was inducted into the University of Florida's Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2001.^[8] He recently began work as a volunteer assistant football coach at Interlachen High School in Interlachen, Florida,^[9] and had previously worked as an assistant coach at Trinity Catholic High School in Ocala, Florida.^[10]
Williams' son, Jarvis Williams, Jr., is the starting fullback for the Jacksonville University Dolphins football team,^[6] and was named the 2007 Pioneer Football League Newcomer of the Year by Street & Smith. Williams' former Gators teammate, Kerwin Bell, is the head coach of the JU Dolphins.^[10]
Williams died from an acute asthma attack just before midnight on May 25, 2010; he was 45 years old.

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