Dec. 30, 2010
Williams quotes on declaring for the NFL Draft
Junior CB Aaron Williams has elected to forego his senior season and enter the 2011 NFL Draft, Williams announced on Thursday.
“I want to thank everyone at The University of Texas, especially Coach (Mack) Brown and Coach (Duane) Akina for getting me ready for this opportunity,” Williams said. “It was a really hard decision. I’m going miss to all of my teammates and coaches, and I’ll always be a Longhorn, but I felt it was the best decision for me and my family. It’s time to start working on my dream that I’ve been preparing for all my life.”
A member of both the Nagurski Trophy and Thorpe Award watch lists in 2010, Williams earned All-Big 12 second-team honors while starting nine of the 11 games in which he played. He led the team with 13 PBU, to go along with 46 tackles, one sack, five TFL, three forced fumbles and one blocked punt. His three forced fumbles were also second on the team and tied for third in the Big 12.
Williams earned a starting position in 2009 and started 23 of the last 26 games during his career. He finished with 106 tackles (64 solo), three sacks, 12 TFL, three pressures, four INTs, 24 PBU, six forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and five blocked punts (No. 2 on the UT career list) in 37 games (23 starts).
"Aaron was a tremendous football player who helped us win a lot of games here,” head coach Mack Brown said. “We have had great success with our defensive backs in the NFL and expect the same for Aaron. We will really miss having him around next year and know it was a tough decision, but look forward to following his career in the NFL."
Eight former Texas defensive backs under Brown and Akina are currently playing in the NFL. The group includes Tarell Brown (San Francisco 49ers), Cedric Griffin (Minnesota Vikings), Michael Griffin (Tennessee Titans), Michael Huff (Oakland Raiders), Quentin Jammer (San Diego Chargers), Aaron Ross (New York Giants), Earl Thomas (Seattle Seahawks) and Nathan Vasher (Detroit Lions). All eight have served as NFL starters.
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