Vince Williams

Education

Highly recruited, Williams chose Florida State over Louisiana State, Ohio State, and Florida. Williams graduated early from high school and enrolled at Florida State in January 2008.

Career

He was drafted by the Steelers in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft after his college career at Florida State. Williams played high school football for Ridge Community High School and was one of the state"s top linebackers. He was teammates with Mike James.

He amassed almost 300 tackles with 48 tackles for loss and 25 sacks over three varsity seasons.

Regarded as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Williams was ranked as the Number. 10 inside linebacker prospect in his class.

He was also co-Most Valuable Player of the Scout.com combine in Jacksonville. He finished the year with 10 tackles, second among freshmen, behind only Nigel Bradham.

Foreign most of his would-be sophomore season, Williams battled a back injury, though he returned to the practice field over the final month of the regular season.

He was eventually granted a medical redshirt. As a redshirt sophomore in 2010, Williams earned playing time behind senior Kendall Smith at middle linebacker after enjoying an outstanding spring practice. In the season-opener against Samford, he posted a season-high five tackles (four solos).

He ended the season with 17 total tackles, while participating in 11 of 14 games.

In his junior season, Williams replaced Smith in the starting line-up at middle linebacker. He ranked fifth on the team with 54 tackles (30 solo, 24 assisted) and also added five tackles for loss, two sacks, one interception and three pass break-ups.

Starting all 14 games at middle linebacker in his senior season, Williams helped Florida State"s defense lead the nation in yards allowed per play (386) and rank second nationally in total defense (25414 ypg). He finished fourth on the team with 59 tackles, while recording five or more tackles in seven of his 14 games.

Williams was selected in the sixth round, 206th overall, by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After the release of Stevenson Sylvester, Williams was moved up the depth chart as primary backup at left inside linebacker to Larry Foote. Larry Foote suffered a torn bicep in Week 1 against the Titans, and the Steelers went through multiple starters until Williams started 10 of the last 11 games.

Achievements

• Williams was named Polk County Defensive Player of the Year as a junior and 3A second-team All-State honors as a senior. He was the back-up at middle linebacker, behind upper-classmen Derek Nicholson and Dekoda Watson, and saw action in every game except the win at Miami (Florida). In the 2010 Champs Sports Bowl win over Notre Dame, Williams recorded five tackles. He received one of two awards for best attitude on the defense at the team"s annual banquet. One of his best games came in a road win at Virginia Technical, recording five tackles, a tackle for loss, two quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery. Williams ended his college career with a career-high 10 tackles in the 2013 Orange Bowl win over Northern Illinois which included his first sack of the season.