Former NFL wide receiver Mike Williams has died at the age of 36 after sustaining a severe head injury at a construction site last week, his father says. Although, Williams’ daughter told the Tampa Bay Times her father was still on life support.
The accident was detailed by Williams’ father, Wendell Muhammad, in a recent GoFundMe post. Spectrum News 1 in Buffalo reported that Williams succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday night.
Muhammad explained that Williams, who had previously played for his hometown team, the Buffalo Bills, as well as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, had recently experienced a significant workplace accident in the Tampa Bay, Florida area. During this incident, a steel beam fell on his head, resulting in a serious head injury. Following the accident, Williams was transported to a nearby hospital in Tampa, where he remained unconscious and never regained consciousness, according to his family.
“As a result of this accident, there was swelling on his brain and swelling on his spinal cord that was ruptured,” the father said. “These injuries resulted in complete paralysis in his right arm as well as his lower body from the waist down. As you can probably imagine, this is painful for me and has me distraught.”
“Dang man hurts my heart seeing the news of my former teammate and Buccaneers 2010 draft class brother Mike Williams,” Williams’ former teammate Gerald McCoy wrote on X. “Always great energy brought joy and laughter to the locker room and a heck of a player!! Prayers and blessings to his family!!”
In his NFL career, he totaled 223 receptions for 3,089 yards and 26 touchdowns.
