57 Days to Gator Football: John L. Williams

John L. Williams came to Gainesville as one of the greatest Florida high school football players of all time. He played fullback for Charley Pell's and Galen Hall's Florida Gators from 1982 to 1985 where he shared the backfield with tailback Neal Anderson behind the Great Wall of Florida and was part of the two best seasons of Gator football, the 9-1-1 seasons of 1984 and 1985. In those seasons, John L. was named 2nd team All SEC and honorable mention All American. He finished his career with 2477 rushing yards on 478 attempts (5.2 YPA) with 14 TDs, 863 yards receiving, and 156 yards in kick returns. He was the 15th overall pick of the 1986 NFL Draft (fellow Gator Neal Anderson was 27th) where he went on to play for the Seattle Seahawks from 1986 to 1993. He finished his NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1994 to 1995 alongside fellow Gator running back James Jones. He was admitted to the University of Florida Athletic Association (UAA) Hall of Fame as a Gator Great in 1997.

Well, I already pulled out the top QBs. Might as well do the same for the RBs. At first blush, the top Gator running backs are:

1. Errict Rhett '90-'93 (4163 yards, 34 TD)
2. Emmitt Smith '87-'89 (3928 yards, 36 TD)
3. Neal Anderson '82-'85 (3234 yards, 30 TD)
4. Fred Taylor '94-'97 (3075 yards, 31 TD)
5. Tim Tebow '06-'09 (2947 yards, 57 TD) [yeah...a QB is the 5th-best RB in terms of career yardage, tops in rushing TDs]
6. Tony Green ''74-'77 (2590 yards, 16 TD)
7. John L. Williams '82-'85 (2409 yards, 14 TD)
8. Elijah Williams '94-'97 (2187 yards, 15 TD) [note the overlap with Fred Taylor]
9. Larry Smith '66-'68 (2186 yards, 24 TD)
10. Jimmy Dubose '73-'75 (2159 yards, 10 TD)
11. James Jones '79-'82 (2026 yards, 17 TD)

Wow four RB first rounders (Jones, Hampton, Williams, and Anderson) in the mid 1980's.

Be sure to vote for your favorite running back [here]. In the linked thread I compare the best running backs by career yardage, number of 100-yard games, and yards per carry.