Chris Williams Returns To CFL

The Ottawa REDBLACKS of the Canadian Football League made a major player announcement today, signing international wide receiver and kick returner Chris Williams, the CFL Most Outstanding Rookie in 2011, to a one-year contract.

The 27-year-old Williams played for the NFL’s Chicago Bears last season, returning 24 kickoffs for 579 yards, including one for a 101-yard touchdown on November 9, 2014 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

Prior to the NFL, Williams was a star in the CFL with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, with whom he played for two seasons in 2011 and 2012.

In 2011, he caught 12 passes for 1,064 yards and six touchdowns and also returned 12 kickoffs, including one for a 93-yard major against Edmonton on Sept. 16.

In addition to being named the league’s top rookie, Williams also made the East Division All-Star squad.

Williams continued on his torrid pace in 2012 with a record-shattering season in which he emerged as a bona fide star, a touchdown-producing machine and one of the most electric players in the league.

He scored 17 majors that season, five on punt returns, one after a missed field goal and 11 on pass receptions on throws primarily from Henry Burris.

Among the amazing accomplishments in 2012:

• Caught 83 passes for 1,298 yards
• Four times named the league’s Special Teams Player of the Week
• Returned a missed field goal 119 yards for a major on July 14 vs. Toronto
• On September 3, scored a punt return touchdown vs. Toronto, the third consecutive game in which he had a major by punt return, setting a league record
• The punt return touchdown on Sept. 3 set a league record for most touchdowns in a single season by kick return (six).
• It also equalled the single-season record of punt returns (five), set by Henry “Gizmo” Williams of the Edmonton in 1991.

Williams will attend REDBLACKS mini-camp, which begins on Monday, April 27 at TD Place. The camp, which will be open to the public, runs for three days,with the last workout on Wednesday, April 29.