North Carolina State University Athletics
Mario Williams Nominated for Defensive Player of the Year
1/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Houston Texans and former NC State defensive end Mario Williams is one of five finalists for the 2007 GMC Defensive Player of the Year Award. The voting for the award is done strictly by the fans at the NFL.com. Voting for the award has already begun and will end on January 23. The winner will be presented the 2007 GMC Defensive Player of the Year award during a press conference in Arizona, the site of Super Bowl XLII.
Williams finished the season with 59 tackles, 14 sacks for 82.5 yards, two forced fumbles, one pass defended and one fumble recovery that he returned for a 38-yard touchdown. Williams finished tied for third in the NFL and set a franchise record with 14 sacks, accounting for 45.2% of the Texans sacks (the highest percentage of team sacks in the NFL). In six straight games, from 11/18 - 12/23, Williams totaled 10 sacks, the most by any player over a six game stretch this season. He is also the only player in the NFL to record a sack in six consecutive games. Williams had a big game Week 1, when he made five tackles, two sacks and returned a fumble in the third quarter for a 38-yard touchdown in the Texans' 20-3 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. Williams played the best game of his career against Denver when he totaled 3.5 sacks against QB Jay Cutler. Williams was nominated for two GMC Defensive Player of the Week awards.
This is GMC's third year as the official vehicle of the NFL and the first year that GMC will present the Defensive Player of the Year award. To vote for Mario click here.
