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Chiefs release ex-Sooners RB Damien Williams

After opting out of 2020 to take care of his sick mom, Williams had reportedly been preparing to return to Kansas City in 2021
John E. Hoover|
Chiefs release ex-Sooners RB Damien Williams
Chiefs release ex-Sooners RB Damien Williams

Former Oklahoma running back Damien Williams was released by the Kansas City Chiefs, the team announced Tuesday.

Williams, who opted out of the 2021 season to spend time with his ailing mother, Virleana Alexander, didn’t get to participate in Kansas City’s return to the Super Bowl this year, but last year was a major player in the Chiefs’ first Super Bowl title in 50 years.

Nate Taylor of The Athletic tweeted that Williams was “stunned” by the team’s decision and that he had been anticipating a return to the Chiefs next season.

Williams played at OU in 2012 and 2013 as a junior college transfer from Arizona Western College. He rushed for 946 yards and scored 12 touchdowns as a junior (he had 1,266 yards from scrimmage), then ran for 553 yards and scored seven TDs as a senior before Bob Stoops dismissed him from the team for failing a drug test. He played in just nine games in 2013 before heading off to pro football.

READ MORE: Damien Williams chose family over football

in December 2018, Williams signed a two-year, $8.1 million deal with the Chiefs. His release will reportedly save the team in excess of $2.1 million of salary cap space, according to Over The Cap. Earlier Tuesday, Kansas City re-signed running back Darrel Williams.

In the Chiefs’ victory over San Francisco in Super Bowl 54, Williams accounted for 133 total yards from scrimmage (104 rushing), and scored the team's last two touchdowns: a 5-yard TD catch from Patrick Mahomes with 2:44 left to give Kansas City its first lead of the second half, and a 38-yard TD run with 1:12 to play that finished it off.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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