Karl Williams (born April 10, 1971 in Albion, Michigan) is an American former football player. He was a successful wide receiver and punt/kick returner who played professional football for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Arizona Cardinals in the National Football League; as well as the Tampa Bay Storm in the Arena Football League. Signed by Tampa Bay as an undrafted free agent out of small school Texas A&M-Kingsville; Karl Williams retired as the all-time Buccaneers leader in punt return yardage (2,565) and punt return touchdowns (5) across 8 seasons with the club; records that still stand today. Despite Williams' success in the NFL, he said, “From the first time I stepped on a football field, everybody told me I couldn't do it. It seems like every year I found a way to prove everybody wrong. If you say I can't do it I'm going to prove you wrong.” Williams overcame playing college ball at a virtually unknown school (Texas A&M Kingsville), a small frame (5 foot 10, 177 pounds), and going undrafted by NFL teams. Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Tony Dungy brought him on as an undrafted free agent in 1996. Williams said about these early years in the NFL, “I remember those last phone calls when they were making the final cuts my rookie year. It was me and Jeff Gooch, and we were sitting around waiting for that phone call. We called it the Grim Reaper. Everyone was packing up and getting ready to go home and we were still waiting. Then they came around and said ‘Did you get the call? No? Then you're good.’ I remember Jeff and I just falling back and saying, ‘Yeah!’” As an NFL rookie he established himself as Tampa Bay’s primary kick and punt return man by the end of the season. He earned the NFC’s Special Team’s Player of the Month award for December that first year in 1996. Williams parlayed his success as a return man into more reps as a wide-receiver. His 1997 campaign was his best ever at wideout; he achieved 486 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns in that role. Williams also continued to be a successful punt return specialist, and was picked as a candidate to end the Bucs’ kickoff-return drought. The team had never returned a kick for a touchdown in its 30-year history. However, the majority of Williams' success concerned return punts