Former NFL player graduates from NYPD academy
A former NFL player has traded his helmet for a shield, graduating from the New York Police Department academy
Officials said Dominique Williams will soon suit up for the NYPD now that he has graduated from the police academy.
Being part of the police department was always Williams’ goal. He just joined the roster a little sooner than he planned.
“It’s a lot of structure, and I’ve been doing that structure discipline thing my whole life in sports,” Williams said in an interview posted to the NYPD’s Instagram account. “You have that structure to understand and help and guide you to be a better police officer.”
Williams, 29, was a standout at Washington State University, where he majored in criminal justice, before he was signed by the San Diego Chargers in 2016.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound wide receiver failed to make the team’s 53-man roster, and spent the first year of his NFL career playing on the practice squad.
A year later he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles — but an injury to his Achilles tendon kept him on the sidelines.
The Eagles released Williams from the team the following year, when the Detroit Lions signed him. Ultimately, he didn’t make the final roster.
Williams was one of 561 NYPD recruits who graduated to the rank of officer at Madison Square Garden on Friday.
