Nate Williams

Nate Williams (born April 11, 1989) is an American football safety who played at the University of Washington from 2007 through 2010. Williams went on to be signed by the Baltimore Ravens in 2011.

One of seven true freshmen to see action during the 2007 season and earned the Travis Spring Most Outstanding Freshman Award (defense) at the team's postseason awards banquet. He was a regular in the UW secondary, spending most of the year as the team's fifth defensive back in nickel situations, and on special teams, Williams was picked up a start in the Hawai'i game, when the UW opened with five DBs. He had a good game vs. the Warriors, tying his season high with six tackles while also recording a forced fumble. He also had six tackles in the Apple Cup vs. Washington State and made four tackles vs. Arizona and had three at Syracuse and at Arizona State. He had a crucial pass breakup in the end zone vs. the Orange.

He started in all 12 games during the 2008 season and started all 12 at one safety spot. He earned honorable mention All-Pac-10 and ranked 17th in the conference with 6.33 tackles per game. Williams was second on the UW with 76 total tackles and also had five passes defended. Williams had a season-high 13 tackles against Brigham Young and recorded 11 stops vs. Oregon State, four tackles and an interception vs. Notre Dame, nine tackles each against Stanford and UCLA, eight at California, and honored as the KING-TV Most Improved Player Award for the defense at the team's postseason awards banquet.

Named the state's 3A most valuable player by the Seattle Times, also earning first-team all-state honors at running back. He was also the Associated Press 3A state player of the year and one of only four players from Washington named a "blue chip" recruit by the Seattle Times. Williams played in the state's annual East West All Star Game and was named Defensive MVP after intercepting two passes and one of only eight high school prospects named a "Northwest Nugget" by the Tacoma News-Tribune. Williams was named to the "Western 100" by the Tacoma News-Tribune. He rushed for 1,954 yards and scored 41 total touchdowns as a senior and posted 92 touchdowns during his career while rushing for 4,775 career yards. He was also a standout defensive back and named the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's all-area defensive MVP as a senior, first-team All-Seamount League on offense and defense as a senior, also earning the league's co-offensive back of the year, and took Kennedy to the state championship game, falling to Bellevue, 21–14 in overtime. The Lancers were 47-6 during Williams' Kennedy career as he played in the state tournament all four years, falling in the semifinals in 2003 and 2005. He was listed as the No. 37 running back recruit in the nation and the No. 7 player in the state of Washington by Rivals. Williams was also named the No. 24 prospect on SuperPrep's Northwest 100 list and ranked as the No. 45 running back prospect in the country and the No. 10 overall prospect in Washington state by Scout.

Played in and started 11 of the Huskies' 12 games and sat out the Arizona game due to injury. He finished the year with 62 tackles and season-high 11 tackles at Oregon State in which he had nine tackles, all solo, including an 11-yard sack, at UCLA and eight tackles, including two for loss, at Notre Dam. He had six tackles (all solo) and a fumble recovery in the 16–13 win over No. 3 USC and six tackles, one for a loss, in the 42–10 victory over 19th-ranked California. Williams also had five tackles, one for loss, at Arizona State and five tackles in the season-opener vs. No. 11 LSU and four tackles, all solo, in the win over Idaho.

Williams ended his football career after playing 4–5 months with the Baltimore Ravens.