Wide receiver Mike Williams, who had retired from the National Football League, passed away after sustaining a head injury that his family characterized as “massive” at a construction site last week. His age was 36.
Earlier this week, Williams’ father, Wendell Muhammad, posted on GoFundMe with information on the horrific accident that his son was involved in. It was announced on Tuesday night by Spectrum News 1 in Buffalo that Williams had passed away.
Muhammad said that Williams, a former player for the Buffalo Bills and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, “recently had a major accident at work” in the Tampa Bay, Florida, region when “a steel beam fell on his head causing a massive head injury.” Williams played for both teams during his time in the NFL.
Williams “never gained consciousness” after being taken to the neighboring hospital in Tampa, according to his family, where he was treated after being transported there. Williams was a former NFL receiver.
“As a result of this accident, there was swelling on his brain and swelling on his spinal cord that was ruptured,” stated the man who was the victim’s father. “As a direct consequence of these injuries, he is completely paralyzed in his right arm and throughout his lower body, from the waist down.”
Williams was a successful high school football player at Riverside Institute of Technology, where he attended high school after being born in Buffalo, New York. After graduating high school, he continued his football career at Syracuse University, where he was picked by the Buccaneers of the National Football League in 2010.
Before calling it quits with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2016, the wide receiver had a stellar career in the National Football League spanning five complete seasons. During his professional career, he amassed a total of 3,089 receiving yards and 26 touchdowns.
Gerald McCoy, a former colleague of Mike Williams’s with the Buccaneers, tweeted late Tuesday night, “Dang man, seeing the news about my former teammate and Buccaneers draft class brother Mike Williams hurts my heart.” McCoy was referring to Williams. “Always had terrific enthusiasm, brought pleasure and humor to the locker room, and was a heck of a player!! We send our thoughts and prayers to him and his family!!”
