It has been widely reported that Buffalo, New York, native Mike Williams, who played college football at Syracuse University and played for his hometown Buffalo Bills, had lost his life. However, that is untrue, and he is currently on life support.
According to The Tampa Bay Times, the former wide receiver suffered severe head and spinal cord injuries and paralysis in his arm and lower body at a construction site. His father, Wendell Muhammed, stated on a GoFundMe page that this occurred when a steel beam accidentally fell on Williams’ head on Sept. 1. Williams has not regained consciousness.
The former Bucs wide receiver is on life support in the Intensive Care Unit at St. Joseph’s Hospital, said the mother of his 8-year-old daughter, Tierney Lyle. She and their daughter, Mya, visited him on Wednesday afternoon and stated that he was mostly non-responsive.
“They were waiting on me and (his daughter). We’re here and still trying to figure it out,” said Lyle, standing outside St. Joseph’s Hospital.
“He was asleep when we went in there and he woke up when he heard our voices and his daughter’s voice,” Lyle said. “And he looked around, and he blinked and he was crying but he can’t move.”
Williams played high school football at Riverside Institute of Technology. After graduating, he attended and played three seasons as a wide receiver for Syracuse University before entering the NFL Draft in 2010. He had some impressive numbers for the school, where he finished ninth in career receptions (133), eighth in receiving yards (2,044), and tied for second in receiving touchdowns (20).
He was a fourth-round pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He played with the Bucs for four seasons. In his first year on the team, he scored 11 touchdowns and 964 receiving yards, which set a single-season record for the team. He ended the year as runner-up for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award given to St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford.
Sports Illustrated reported that despite the Bucs signing him to a five-year contract extension worth $39.62 million in July 2013, the team traded Williams to the Bills the next year after the wide receiver only played in six games that season and caught 22 passes for 216 yards and two touchdowns. The Bills were the last team he played for.
He did go to one last team, the Kansas City Chiefs, two years later in 2016, but ended up being waived before the start of the regular season.
In his NFL career, Williams appeared in 63 games, starting in 52, while recording 223 catches for 3,089 yards and 26 touchdowns.
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