By Zed Williams, right, makes contact with Frank Gore Jr. during the Buffalo Bills’ rookie minicamp on Friday.
Photo courtesy of the Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills announced its rookie minicamp roster on Friday and among the 52 names was a very familiar one, but not necessarily for football.
Irving native and professional lacrosse player Zed Williams was one of 26 tryout players at Friday’s camp, joining the 10 Bills’ draft picks, 12 undrafted free agents and four eligible roster players vying for a spot.
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Williams has done just about everything you can do in the sport of lacrosse, both in box and field.
Last summer, the Silver Creek Central School graduate, took third place with the Haudenosaunee Nationals in the 2023 World Lacrosse Championship; in 2022 he won the National Lacrosse League championship with the Colorado Mammoth; and in 2020 he won the Premier Lacrosse League championship with the Whipsnakes while earning the league’s Most Valuable Player award.
Zed Williams.
Photo courtesy of the Buffalo Bills
Those are just the major highlights of his lacrosse career since turning pro after graduating from the University of Virginia.
The road to his illustrious lacrosse journey comes back to where he first made a name for himself — at Silver Creek.
While playing for the Black Knights, Williams became, and still remains, the all-time goal high school career scorer in history with a whopping 444 goals. When it came time for Williams to leave for college he was the No. 4 recruit in the nation, according to Inside Lacrosse.
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There is no doubt that lacrosse is his calling, but when attending Silver Creek, Williams was able to show how athletic he was in a variety of sports. Williams set records on the lacrosse field, but it was obvious when he competed on the gridiron and hardwood that he was just as gifted an athlete.
Fast forward to more than a decade after playing football with the Black Knights in Section VI and Williams is stepping onto the field again. However, this time Williams is living out a childhood dream and trying out for the Bills.
Williams is sporting jersey No. 35 and is listed among the tight ends, but is also an option at linebacker.
While lacrosse is not as brutally physical as football, Williams is known for his goal scoring and his strength. He is listed at 6 feet, 2 inches tall, weighs 230 pounds and, in the photos released by the Bills, does not look physically out of place at all.
Williams is not alone among local products looking to live their dream of playing for the Bills. Joe Andreessen is also trying out as linebacker and the former University at Buffalo Bull is from Depew, while kicker Alex McNulty is from Caledonia and also played at UB.
Rookie minicamp in Orchard Park will wrap up today.
