NIC-10's 100 Greatest Football Players: No. 17 - Len Williams, Guilford

Guilford's Len Williams was never surrounded by top level talent, but he set passing records that still stand 30 years later.

The 17th ranked player on this list was one of a number of great quarterbacks to play at Guilford in the 1980s. Unlike Jeff "Whitey" Anderson and Sean Cook, Williams was on some good but not great teams at Guilford. The Vikings went 11-8 in Williams' two years at quarterback.

Defenses keyed on Williams, but he still passed for 2,051 yards and rushed for 659 in 16 games - three boxscores never appeared in print - with 18 rushing TDs and 16 passing. Hononegah, though, also had top flight passing attacks and Williams was never voted all-conference.

Northwestern saw potential in the 6-foot, 220-pound Williams and offered him a scholarship. They didn't really know what they had. At first, they moved Williams to fullback, but they moved him back to QB after a coach saw him throwing the ball around at practice. After redshirting in 1989, Williams moved up the depth chart quickly and was inserted as an emergency starter in late September 1990.

Williams would never give up the job, starting 43 of 44 games over the next four seasons for teams that went 10-34. Williams thrived despite being overmatched weekly. He threw for 7,487 yards with a 59.9 percent completion rate and 44 touchdown passes. He finished fifth in the NCAA in completion percentage in 1991 and sixth in 1992. He was third in the Big Ten in passer efficiency rating in 1991 and second in 1992.

Williams is one of only four Big Eight/NIC-10 quarterbacks to throw for more than 3,000 yards at the highest level of NCAA Division I football and his career total is more than 900 yards ahead of Chris Finlen.

Williams compiled the numbers and highlight films for a shot at the NFL, but he was decades before his time. While the NFL is full of run-pass quarterbacks today - Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts come to mind - in 1994 teams were spending their top picks on tall, slow QBs such as Heath Shuler (3rd overall), Trent Dilfer (6th) and Perry Klein (111th).

Instead, Williams headed to the Canadian Football League. He played for the Las Vegas Posse in 1994, appearing in 17 games, starting three and throwing for 1,222 yards. In 1995, he was a backup for the Calgary Stampeders, appearing in six games.

No. 17 - Len Williams, Guilford
Year	Level	School	Accomplishments	Points
1987	High School	Guilford	Playoff Team	1
1988	High School	Guilford	Winning Team	1
			Special Mention All-Conference	1
1990	College	Northwestern	Letter Winner on Power 5 Team	4
			Starter	1
1991	College	Northwestern	Letter Winner on Power 5 Team	4
			Starter	1
1992	College	Northwestern	Letter Winner on Power 5 Team	4
			Starter	1
1993	College	Northwestern	Letter Winner on Power 5 Team	4
			Starter	1
			League Leader	1
			Career Record Holder	1
1994	CFL	Las Vegas	Played in CFL	2
			Starter	1
1995	CFL	Calgary	Played in CFL	2
			Winning Team	1
			Playoff Team	1
			Title Game	1
Total				33

NIC-10's 100 Greatest Football Players