Buffalo Bills Draft Pick Jimmie Williams Dead at 43

Williams played collegiately at Vanderbilt and was a sixth-round pick of Buffalo in 2001.

Jimmy Williams, a cornerback who was a standout for the Super Bowl Seattle Seahawks for two seasons and was a co-special teams captain in 2006, has died, the team announced Friday.

Williams, 43, was originally a sixth-round draft pick of the Buffalo Bills.

Williams died after battling an illness, according to a report from WBRZ-TV in his home town of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Williams had been working as an assistant football coach and teacher at Episcopal High School there.

"Devastated by this news," former Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said on Twitter. "Jimmy had the best personality on the team! He loved his teammates and we all loved him too. Praying for his wife Chandra and the whole family."

In a tweet from Friday night, the Seahawks said that they are “devastated’’ by the loss of Williams and send their “deepest condolences’’ to his family.

Williams played collegiately at Vanderbilt and was a sixth-round pick of Buffalo in 2001. He never played for the Bills but then played four seasons for the 49ers from 2001-04.

He was released by his hometown Saints before the 2005 season opened but then signed with the Seahawks, becoming an important fixture on special teams while playing in a reserve role in the secondary.

Williams played in the last 14 games of the 2005 season as the Seahawks advanced to their first Super Bowl. That year he recorded 45 tackles as a part-time starter, as he also had two interceptions. He also led the Seahawks in punt returns that season with 24 returns for 139 yards.