Mike Williams is still hospitalized following an accident at a construction site. He played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Buffalo Bills during his NFL career.
Williams, 36, was described as “fighting for his life” in a Florida-area hospital, according to Spectrum News 1 in Buffalo, citing the player’s agent Hadley Engelhard. WGRZ-TV reported Williams was on life support. Both outlets initially reported the player had died on Tuesday night.
Tierney Lyle, the mother of Williams’ 8-year-old daughter, told the Tampa Bay Times that the player was “mostly non-responsive” when they visited him earlier Wednesday. She said he woke up for a brief moment, “looked around, and he blinked and he was crying but he can’t move.”
Williams representatives did not immediately respond to our request for comments.
Williams’ father posted on a GoFundMe account that his son was in a serious accident at work. The steel beam “fell onto his skull, causing major head injuries,” and swelling was present in both his brain and spinal cord. Williams’ right hand and his body were paralyzed.
GoFundMe claims that Williams “never regained consciousness”. He was placed in a coma on Sunday.
Williams is from Buffalo and went to Syracuse University. He led his team’s receiving yards in his freshman year. Williams won the All-Big East award the following season but was banned from the 2008 campaign due to academic problems.
In seven games, he caught 49 balls for 746 yards and seven touchdowns. He quit the team due to a possible suspension for violating team rules following a car crash.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected him in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft.
His impressive season earned him the second-place award for Offensive Rookie of the Year behind St. Louis Rams QB Sam Bradford. He was awarded the Offensive Rookie of the Year award in second place behind St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford.
He signed a contract extension worth almost $40 million dollars with the Buccaneers before the 2013 season. However, he played only six games that year. The Buffalo Bills acquired him and he played a season with them.
Williams was initially supposed to be banned from the six first matches of the 2015 Season. Williams continued to be a free agent throughout the year.
He was a part of the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad in 2016.
Pro Football Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison and Mike Williams are tied for the second-most touchdowns in Syracuse’s history.
He had 223 receptions in his career totaling 3,089 yards and 26 touchdowns.
