Doug Williams was selected as one of two inductees into the Ring of Honor in 2015, along with former fullback Mike Alstott.
Williams joined the Buccaneers as the team's first round draft choice (17th overall) in the 1978 NFL Draft out of Grambling State and was immediately saddled with the hopes of a struggling franchise searching for a long-term solution at the quarterback position.
Taking over the reins of a team that had won two games combined in its first two NFL seasons, Williams' rookie year led to 10 starts and four wins. He would then start every game over the next four seasons and, in his sophomore season, he engineered one of the most unforeseen success stories of the era when he led the Buccaneers to the 1979 NFC Central Division crown and a berth in the NFC Championship Game.
Williams also took the Buccaneers to a division title in 1981 and led his team to a record above .500 in three of his final four seasons (1979, 1981-82) as Tampa Bay's quarterback. In comparison, from 1976-96, without Williams under center, the franchise did not register another winning season.
In that four-year stretch from 1979-82, Williams started all of the team's 57 regular season games and three playoff contests. Among his peers during that span, Williams ranked seventh in passing yards (11,369), 10th in touchdown passes (66), and seventh in lowest interception rate (3.8 percent). He also topped all quarterbacks during that period with 856 rushing yards and tied for the most rushing touchdowns with 12.
Williams later played in the USFL (1984-85) before joining the Washington Redskins in 1987, where he won Super Bowl XXII Most Valuable Player honors after leading them to a victory over Denver. The Buccaneers would not reach the playoffs again for a decade and a half, until after the team had been purchased by Malcolm Glazer.
Following his playing career, Williams entered the coaching profession and went on to serve two stints as head coach of his college alma mater (1998-2003, 2011-13), winning four conference championships.
Williams has also served as a personnel executive in NFL front offices, first with the Buccaneers from 2004-10 and currently with the Redskins after being hired in 2014.
Williams is also a member of the Washington Redskins Ring of Fame and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001. As a collegiate player at Grambling, Williams posted a 36-7 record as the starting quarterback and finished fourth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy in 1977.