Former Oklahoma safety Roy Williams was officially named to the College Football Hall of Fame's 2022 class on Monday. Action Network's Brett McMurphy first reported on Jan. 7 that Williams would receive the prestigious recognition.
𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑙𝑙!Congratulations @roywilliams31 on being named to the 2022 class of the College Football Hall of Fame!➡️ https://t.co/vcPOGo1toz | #OUDNA pic.twitter.com/HrvBx3YRU4
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) January 10, 2022
Colorado Heisman Trophy RB Rashaan Salaam, Oklahoma State RB Terry Miller, Oklahoma DB Roy Williams, Florida State LB Marvin Jones & former Toledo/Mizzou coach Gary Pinkel named to College Football Hall of Fame’s 2022 class, sources told @ActionNetworkHQ https://t.co/YUngzCOW6C
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) January 7, 2022
Williams played at OU from 1998-2001 and finished his college career with 269 tackles and 44 pass breakups. He's best remembered for "The Superman Play," in 2001 when he soared through the air and clobbered Texas quarterback Chris Simms, forcing a scoop and score that helped the Sooners defeat the rival Longhorns.
During his final season in Norman, Williams was recognized as the best safety and overall defensive player in college football with the Jim Thorpe Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy. He was also an All-Big 12 first teamer, Big 12 defensive Player of the Year and a first team All-American.
"This is absolutely so deserved," former OU coach and 2021 hall of fame inductee Bob Stoops said in a press release on Monday. "In all my years as a college coach, Roy's as dominant a defensive player as I've been around, with his strength, speed, size, all of it. He was exceptional in coverage, tackling, blitzing, just could do everything and totally controlled the wide side of the field for us where we lined him up.
"The 'Superman' play against Texas, only one guy could have made that play and it's him. To make it work the way he did and when you've got to have it, and then on the very next play they run a seam route down the middle of the field and he picks it off to finish the game. When we held Arkansas to three points in the Cotton Bowl that year, you could tell he was just a man among boys. I remember thinking, 'He's outgrown this.' I told him he needed to go to the NFL because I felt he would be a top-10 pick. And he was.
Williams went on to play nine seasons in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals. He was first team All-Pro in 2003 and was named to five straight Pro Bowls from 2003-07.
Williams joins former Colorado running back Rashaan Salaam, former Oklahoma State running back Terry Miller, former Florida State linebacker Marvin Jones and former Toledo and Missouri coach Gary Pinkel in the hall's 2022 class.
"So happy for Roy," Stoops said in the release. "He's the first of hopefully many we've coached here since 1999 who will be in the Hall of Fame."
