| Rodney Williams | |
| Position: | Tight end |
| Birth Date: | 8 April 1998[1] |
| Birth Place: | Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 4 |
| Weight Lb: | 235 |
| High School: | Germantown (TN) |
| College: | UT Martin (2016–2021) |
| Undraftedyear: | 2022 |
| Pastteams: | |
| Statseason: | 2024 |
| Statweek: | 2 |
| Statlabel1: | Total tackles |
| Statvalue1: | 6 |
| Pfr: | WillRo08 |
Rodney Williams II (born April 8, 1998) is an American professional who is a free agent. He played college football at UT Martin and was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in .
Williams was born on April 28, 1998, in Memphis, Tennessee.[2] He attended Germantown High School and was a standout athlete in football, basketball and track.[3] He was an all-metro and all-district selection in football and won both the regional and state championship in high jumping.[3] [4] He committed to play college football for the UT Martin Skyhawks.[4]
Williams began his collegiate career as a wide receiver.[5] He appeared in eight games as a true freshman at UT Martin in 2016, recording four receptions for 78 yards.[4] He appeared in 10 games with four catches for 32 yards in 2017 before totaling 23 receptions for 252 yards in 2018 while seeing his first action as a starter.[4] He redshirted due to an injury in 2019 after having appeared in four games with nine catches for 111 yards.[4] Williams switched to tight end in the 2020–21 season and was selected second-team FCS All-American after recording 30 catches for 327 yards and four touchdowns.[5] [6] [7] He was a second-team all-conference selection in his final year, the fall 2021 season, in which he tallied 29 receptions for 417 yards and three touchdowns.[4] He finished ninth in UT Martin history for receptions with 99, also having posted 1,217 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.[8]
After going unselected in the 2022 NFL draft, Williams was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent.[8] He was waived on August 16, 2022.[9]
On September 13, 2022, Williams was signed to the practice squad of the Pittsburgh Steelers.[10] He signed a reserve/future contract on January 10, 2023.[11] He was waived on August 29, 2023, and re-signed to the practice squad the next day.[12] [13] He was promoted to the active roster on October 4, after an injury to Pat Freiermuth.[14] During week 5 against the Baltimore Ravens, Williams nearly recovered a punt blocked by teammate Miles Killebrew as it rolled out of the endzone for a safety to help the Steelers win 17–10.[15]
Williams was waived by the Steelers on August 27, 2024, and re-signed to the practice squad.[16] [17] He was promoted to the active roster on September 18.[18] He was waived on November 5.