Aeneas Demetrius Williams ( un-NEE-us; born January 29, 1968) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback and safety in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football for the Southern Jaguars and was selected in the third round of the 1991 NFL draft by the Phoenix Cardinals, where he spent 10 seasons. During his final four seasons, he was a member of the St. Louis Rams. Williams received eight Pro Bowl selections and three first-team All-Pro honors, as well as being on the second NFL 1990s All-Decade Team. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014.
Williams was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Lawrence and Lillian Williams. Aeneas is the youngest of 3 brothers, Malcolm and Achilles. He attended the now defunct Alcee Fortier High School, where he played football on a team with three future NFL players: Maurice Hurst, Kevin Lewis, and Ashley Ambrose. In 1985, the Fortier Tarpons went undefeated through 10 games and won the District 10-4A championship and proceeded to the Class 4A semifinals. Aeneas was selected to the all-district team as a strong safety that season.
Williams was not offered a scholarship when he graduated high school. He attended Southern University, the same school his brother Achilles attended, planning to simply get his accounting degree. "Our parents always expected that we would go to college and get our degree," he explained. "(Playing football) never crossed by mind, I was preparing for the rest of my life."
At Southern, he concentrated on his academics, not playing football until his junior year. Eventually, after being encouraged by his old high school teammate Maurice Hurst, he decided to join the team as a walk-on. He started out playing mostly on special teams, but made the starting lineup in the 5th game. Williams kept his involvement with the football team a secret from his family until he made the travel squad for the 2nd game of the season. In the following season, Williams was named to the All-Southwestern Athletic Conference team after leading the conference with seven interceptions. In 1990, Williams stayed on the team as a graduate student and fifth year senior in order to improve his draft status. He made the All-SWAC team again and tied the Division I-AA record for most interceptions with eleven.
Williams finished his college career with 20 interceptions and 28 pass deflections.
The Phoenix Cardinals selected Williams in the third round (59th overall) of the 1991 NFL draft. He was the sixth cornerback selected. He became Southern's ninth highest player selected in the history of the NFL Draft and their 55th player selected in the draft since 1967.
On July 19, 1991, the Cardinals signed Williams to a three–year, $960,000 rookie contract that included a signing bonus of $200,000. Throughout training camp, Williams competed against Cedric Mack, Robert Massey, and Jay Taylor to be the No. 1 starting cornerback under new defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur. On August 23, 1991, the Phoenix Cardinals unexpectedly cut Cedric Mack as part of their final roster cuts. Head coach Joe Bugel named Williams and Robert Massey as the starting cornerbacks to begin the season.
On September 1, 1991, Williams made his professional regular season debut and earned his first career start in the Phoenix Cardinals' season-opener at the Los Angeles Rams and recorded three solo tackles and had his first career interception on a pass thrown by Jim Everett as they won 24–14. The following week, he recorded three solo tackles, set a season-high with two fumble recoveries, and intercepted a pass running back Keith Byars attempted to throw as he was hit by linebacker Garth Jax during a 26–10 win at the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2. In Week 12, he set a season-high with nine combined tackles (eight solo) during a 10–14 loss at the San Francisco 49ers. The following week, Williams recorded four solo tackles, set a season-high with three pass deflections, and intercepted a pass by Jim McMahon as the Cardinals lost 34–14 to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 13. On December 15, 1991, Williams made four solo tackles, two pass deflections, and set a season-high with two interceptions on passes thrown by John Elway during a 19–24 loss at the Denver Broncos. He finished his rookie season with 66 combined tackles (58 solo), 10 pass deflections, six interceptions, and two fumble recoveries in 16 games and 15 starts. His six interceptions tied for the most in the NFC in 1991, alongside Deion Sanders, Tim McKyer, and Ray Crockett.
He returned to training camp slated as the No. 1 starting cornerback with Robert Massey and Lorenzo Lynch competing for the other starting role. Head coach Joe Bugel named Williams and Lorenzo Lynch the starting cornerbacks to begin the season. Prior to Week 4, defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur demoted Lorenzo Lynch to a backup and replaced him in the starting lineup with Robert Massey for the rest of the season. On November 22, 1992, Williams set a season-high with seven combined tackles (six solo), made one pass deflection, and intercepted a pass attempt by Troy Aikman during a 16–10 loss against the Dallas Cowboys. He started all 16 games throughout the 1992 NFL season for the first time in his career and made 50 combined tackles (39 solo), 10 pass deflections, and three interceptions.
He returned to training camp slated as the de facto No. 1 starting cornerback. Robert Massey was a contract holdout and would miss the entire preseason as well as the first seven games of the season. Head coach Joe Bugel named Williams and Lorenzo Lynch as the starting cornerbacks to begin the season.
On September 5, 1993, Williams started in the Phoenix Cardinals' season-opener at the Philadelphia Eagles and set a season-high with six solo tackles and made one pass deflection as they lost 17–23. On October 31, 1993, Williams made six combined tackles (five solo), one pass deflection, and scored a career-high two touchdowns on an interception return and a return on a fumble recovery during a 20–17 loss against the New Orleans Saints. He scored the first touchdown of his career in the first quarter after recovering a fumble by wide receiver Quinn Early and returning it 20–yards for a touchdown. The first pick-six of his career occurred in the second quarter after he intercepted a pass Wade Wilson threw to wide receiver Eric Martin and returned it 46–yards for a touchdown. The following game, Williams recorded three combined tackles (two solo), set a season-high with two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass by Ken O'Brien as the Cardinals defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 3–16 in Week 10. He started all 16 games throughout the 1993 NFL season and made 47 combined tackles (43 solo), 12 pass deflections, two interceptions, two touchdowns, and one fumble recovery. He was selected to play in the 1994 Pro Bowl to mark the first Pro Bowl selection of his career.
On January 24, 1994, the Arizona Cardinals fired head coach Joe Bugel after they ended the 1993 NFL season with a 7–9 record. On February 3, 1994, the Cardinals hired former Philadelphia Eagles' head coach Buddy Ryan to takeover as their new head coach. On February 17, 1994, the Arizona Cardinals signed Williams to a two–year, $3 million contract extension that included a signing bonus of $900,000.
Entering training camp, Williams remained as the No. 1 starting cornerback under the new defensive coordinator Ronnie Jones. Head coach Buddy Ryan named Williams and James Williams the starting cornerbacks to begin the season.
On September 18, 1994, Williams made five solo tackles, one pass break-up, and had his first interception of the season on a pass Vinny Testaverde threw to wide receiver Mark Carrier during a 0–32 loss at the Cleveland Browns. On October 16, 1994, Williams made two solo tackles, two pass deflections, and set a season-high with two interceptions on pass attempts thrown by Heath Shuler during a 19–16 overtime victory at the Washington Redskins. In Week 12, he recorded two solo tackles, set a season-high with three pass deflections, and intercepted a pass Randall Cunningham threw to wide receiver Fred Barnett as the Cardinals defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 6–12. On December 11, 1994, Williams made five solo tackles, one pass deflection, and made his ninth interception of the season on a pass thrown by Heath Shuler to wide receiver Olanda Truitt as the Cardinals defeated the Washington Redskins 15–17. He started all 16 games for the third consecutive season and made 42 combined tackles (40 solo).