Pat Williams

Sport: Football

Induction Year: 2026

University: Texas A&M

A Monroe native and former Wossman High star, Pat Williams was undrafted out of Texas A&M but played for 14 NFL seasons as one of the league’s top run-stoppers from his defensive tackle/nose tackle spot. Williams played in 200 games with 157 starts with the Buffalo Bills (1997-2004) and Minnesota Vikings (2005-10) and was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2006, ’07 and ’08.

His tenure with the Vikings was marked by solid play against the run game. The 315-pounder joined Minnesota in 2005 and the team finished 19th in the league against the run that season, but they led the NFL for three years in a row from 2006 to 2008, the Vikes were second in 2009 before dropping off slightly to ninth in Williams’ final season in 2010. The Vikings allowed just 61.6 rushing yards per game in 2006, 74.1 in 2007, 76.9 in 2008 and 87.1 in 2009 when they reached the NFC title game against the Saints.

In a five-year span, 60-game span from 2006 to 2010, they allowed just 80.4 rushing yards per game. Williams made 466 tackles and also had 20.5 career sacks with nine fumble recoveries, eight forced fumbles and one interception. He was a second-team member of the 2000s All-Decade Team compiled by Pro Football Reference and by vote of his Buffalo teammates, won Bills’ 2003 Ed Block Courage Award. Ranked by an array of media outlets among the top 100 players in Bills and Vikings history, he collected an incredible 37 game balls presented by coaches during his career. In his final season, he played in all 16 regular-season games for the Vikings at age 38, the oldest defensive player in the NFL.

An under-the-radar prospect out of high school, Williams was a two-time All-American at Navarro (Texas) CC then earned All-Southwest Conference second-team honors while getting just six starts as a junior with the Aggies. …Born 10-24-1972 in Monroe.