Jerry Williams (American Football) - Early Life

Early Life

Williams was a native of Spokane, Washington. He attended North Central high school where he was an All-City running back and All-Inland Empire Athlete of the Year (1942) as a three sport athlete. Graduating in 1942, Williams enrolled at the University of Idaho, but with the war efforts building he made the decision to join his older brother, William H. Williams (eventual Chief Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court) in the Army Air Corps. Williams became a fighter pilot flying P-38's in the Pacific theater. One of his most notable missions was as a fighter escort to both Japanese and American dignitaries traveling to Tokyo Bay and the peace signing on the USS Missouri in 1945. Returning form the war efforts Williams enrolled at Washington State University where he played both offense and defensive Halfback for the WSU Cougars from 1946-1948. He set the Pacific Coast Conference kickoff return record and led the Cougars in total offense in his senior season at WSU. Most notable was a punt return of 97 yards against Oregon in '47 and kickoff returns of 88 and 87 yards against Montana and California. In Williams' senior season (1948) he earned All-Coast honors accumulating 1,500 all-purpose yards. He participated in both the East-West Shrine game and College All-Star Classic before joining the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL.