Shaun Williams (American football)

Shaun LeJon Williams (born October 10, 1976) is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the New York Giants. He played college football for the UCLA Bruins, earning second-team All-American honors in 1997.

Early life
Williams attended Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, California and played both tailback and safety. He won All-CIF Division I and Del Rey League MVP in his last two seasons of his high school career.

College career
He attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he majored in Pre-Psychology. Williams started in three of his four seasons for the Bruins. As a junior, started nine games and registered 59 tackles (3rd on the team) and three sacks resulting in All-Pac-10 Honorable Mention. In his senior season, Williams started nine games and recorded two interceptions and nine pass deflections. He also finished second on the team with 68 tackles. Was chosen for the All-Pac-10 Conference First-team.

Professional career
Williams was drafted in the first round with the 24th overall pick in 1998 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. In the 1998 and 1999 seasons, he mainly played in the nickel defense and special teams. Williams started every game in the 2000–2002 seasons. In 2003, Williams suffered a season-ending right knee injury in 10th game of the season versus the Philadelphia Eagles. He started two games in the 2004 season before tearing a ligament in his left knee, which forced him to miss the remainder of the season.

In his nine years in the NFL, Williams recorded 335 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 15 interceptions with a total of 130 yards in the returns.

Post NFL
In 2013, Williams became the defensive coordinator at William Paterson University for their football team, the Pioneers, after spending the preceding four seasons as a part-time assistant coach there. He was promoted to head coach in 2022. Williams announced the New York Giants 33rd overall pick for the 2015 NFL Draft Landon Collins.