Pryor Williams Explained

Pryor Williams
Position:Guard/Center
Birth Date:26 December 1893
Birth Place:Athens, Alabama, U.S.
Death Place:Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Height Ft:6
Height In:1
Weight Lbs:226
College:Vanderbilt
Pastteams:
Pfr:WillPr20.htm
Highlights:Championships

Honors

  • All-Southern (1915, 1916)

Pryor Allen "Pigiron" Williams (December 26, 1893 - January 1, 1948), was an American football player who played one season in the National Football League (NFL) with the 1921 Detroit Tigers.[1] He was the first Alabama native to play in the NFL.[2] He played college football at Auburn University and Vanderbilt University.[1] While at Vanderbilt, Williams was elected for an All-Southern team in each of 1915 and 1916.[3] [4] Both years his teams had strong records in the South, including a 9 - 1 record and SIAA championship in 1915, outscoring opponents 514 to 41.[5] That "point-a-minute" team was led by Rabbit Curry at the quarterback position, and on the line were anchored by Josh Cody and Russ Cohen along with the guard Williams. Red Floyd was in the backfield. Williams studied dentistry at Vanderbilt,[6] and after retiring from football, he was a dentist in Birmingham, Alabama. He died from a heart attack at his home in Birmingham in 1948.[7] He was nominated though not selected for an Associated Press All-Time Southeast 1869-1919 era team.[8]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Pryor Williams. Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com. September 23, 2014.
  2. Web site: NFL Players from Alabama. AHSFHS.org.
  3. Dick Jemison (November 30, 1915). "Composite All-Southern Of Ten Of The Dopesters". Atlanta Constitution.
  4. News: All-Southern Football Team As Picked By Sport Writers. December 3, 1916. Augusta Chronicle.
  5. Web site: Champions of the South regardless of conference affiliation.
  6. Draft registration card for Pryor Allen Williams, born December 26, 1893. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line].
  7. Web site: Pryor Allen Williams. OldestLivingProFootball.com.
  8. News: U-T Greats On All-Time Southeast Team. Kingsport Post. July 31, 1969.