The team traded their first round draft choice (#28-Derrick Brooks) to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for two second-round picks (#41-Ron Davis and #63-Shane Hannah).
In 1997, he was expected to relieve more of Emmitt Smith's workload, but the additional playing time exposed him as fumble-prone, even though he had a career-high 468 rushing yards.
Williams was released during the 1998 offseason, after the team signed Chris Warren to be the backup running back to improve their depth.
[8] In the 1999 NFL preseason, after the Cowboys third team running back (Tarik Smith) suffered a season-ending knee surgery, Williams was once more re-signed, but was eventually released after the first game of the regular season.
In 2000, Williams was sentenced to 15 years and 8 months in prison, for three counts of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and a separate plea for passing counterfeit currency.
[9] Saying that his time as a professional football player toughened him, Williams said in a prison interview, "You know, I would think that things that would kill the average man wouldn't even make me flinch".
After his release from prison, Williams started a community assistance program for disadvantaged children and returned to the University of Alabama, receiving his degree in May 2018.