Hall of Fame Nominees Profile: Aeneas Williams

Aeneas Williams-Arizona Cardinals/St. Louis Rams-Southern-1991-2004


Aeneas Williams is a first-time eligible player who is caught in a rough position. He has the problem of being a first-time eligible with Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice. His numbers are clearly Hall of Fame worthy. He played for 14 seasons and amassed 55 interceptions during the course of those 14 years. Perhaps the thing that hurts his cause the most, even though it should help it the most is the fact he played mostly for the bad Cardinal teams of the 90s. This does take away from his image, but his play over that period should show that he was truly an individual star who could make a defense rather than a mere cog in a system. He also played well (though was well-past his prime) when he was with Rams for the last four years of his career. Comparatively Darrell Green, had 54 over a 20 year career. Green did have an interception in every year of his career, but he never surpassed 5 interceptions in a year, whereas Williams 5 seasons of 6 or more (including four straight seasons from 94-97 (9, 6, 6, 6,)). Also he returned 9 of his interceptions for touchdowns and 3 of the fumbles he recovered for touchdowns, making him a major scoring threat on the defensive side of the ball. It’s not likely that he’ll make it this year, but he is certainly a Hall of fame caliber with his 3 first-team All-Pro selections and 8 Pro Bowls. He’ll get in eventually and deservedly.