A two-time All-American and national champion in 1949, Williams was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988.

[2] By the time Williams returned from military service, the Bears had moved along to a new starting quarterback.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were interested in bringing Williams back to the field, and team owner Art Rooney gained permission from George Halas and the Bears to discuss possible terms.

[2] Following his NFL career, Williams became the sales manager for the Opfer-Dickinson Company, a real estate development firm in Maryland.

[3] Baltimore sportswriter John Steadman remembered Williams as "Baltimore's most famous home-grown football product" and one of Notre Dame's "finest quarterbacks in history, a name to be linked with those of Frank Carideo, Angelo Bertelli, and John Lujack.