Carroll Williams played his college football at Xavier where he took over the starting QB job in his sophmore season. Williams set many school records and was elected to the Xavier Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982. The NFL was not noted for being open to the idea of a black quarterback at that time, and that probably contributed to Williams' decision to come North and play in the CFL. Williams played three seasons with the Montreal Alouettes, from 1967 to 1969. Unfortunately for Williams, the Als were struggling at the time and there was a lot of pressure for the new quarterback to turn things around. You can get a feel for the pressure the rookie quarterback was under in his rookie season as he was sacked 40 times in just 8 games. 1968 was a much better year for Williams who completed 52.3% of his passes for nearly 3000 yards. Williams lost his starting job to newcomer Sonny Wade in 1969, and he then went to BC for one final season in the CFL in 1970.
Profile of Carroll Williams at Xavier
| Year | Team | GP | PA | PC | % | Yds | TD | Int | Sacked | Yds | TC | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | MON | 8 | 139 | 61 | 43.9 | 1222 | 3 | 14 | 40 | 318 | 34 | 178 | 5.2 | 1 | 1 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 31 | 6 |
| 1968 | MON | 14 | 365 | 191 | 52.3 | 2968 | 20 | 33 | 35 | 338 | 57 | 436 | 7.6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| 1969 | MON | 8 | 53 | 30 | 56.6 | 480 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 59 | 11 | 73 | 6.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1970 | BC | 7 | 22 | 9 | 40.9 | 210 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 37 | 8 | 34 | 4.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Year | Team | F | FL | OFR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | MON | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1968 | MON | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| 1969 | MON | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 1970 | BC | 1 | 0 | 0 |
