Aeneas Williams

Sport: Football

Induction Year: 2008

University: Southern

Induction Year: 2008

A third-round draft pick of out of Southern University in 1991, after walking on to the Jaguars team out of Fortier High School, Aeneas Williams earned a reputation as one of the NFL’s top cornerbacks during a sparkling 14-year NFL career with the Arizona Cardinals (1991-2000) and St. Louis Rams (2001-04).

He was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection and four-time All-Pro pick in becoming one of the league’s top shutdown corners before moving to safety late in his career.

He played in 211 regular-season games with 206 starts, seeing action in 183 consecutive games with 180 straight starts before a broken fibula in 2002 ended those streaks.

He had 55 career interceptions, collecting at least four picks in eight of 14 seasons, and came up with six interceptions in postseason play. He led or shared the NFL lead among cornerbacks three times. Williams was named to the NFL Team of the 1990s at cornerback along with Deion Sanders, Darrell Green and Rod Woodson.

Williams returned nine interceptions for TDs in his career, tying him for second-most in NFL history behind Woodson’s 12. He also returned three fumbles for touchdowns while recovering 23 fumbles.

Williams set an NFL record in 2001 with two TDs on interceptions (both off Brett Favre) in the same playoff game. A week later, his interception of Donovan McNabb with 1:47 left sealed a win in the NFC title game and helped the Rams reach Super Bowl XXXVI — which was played in his hometown of New Orleans.

At Southern, he ranked second in Division I-AA with seven interceptions as a junior and tied for the national lead in 1990 with 11.