Sad news to share as one of the pioneers of the Ole Miss football program has passed away at age 65 as the Rebels announced on Monday that “Gentle” Ben Williams recently died of natural causes in Jackson.

For those that don’t know, Williams and James Reed were the first African-American student-athletes to land scholarships to play football at Ole Miss back in 1971.

Williams went on to become the first African-American to claim All-American honors at Ole Miss and was a three-time All-SEC selection during his playing career in Oxford. Following the end of his playing career, Williams was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the 1976 NFL Draft.

To this day, Williams owns the all-time sack record at Ole Miss with 37 career quarterback takedowns. During the 1973 season, Williams had an incredible 18 sacks.

Williams was inducted into the Ole Miss Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.

Ole Miss AD Keith Carter issued the following statement following news of Williams’ passing:

“Gentle Ben’s impact on our university, the SEC and college football as a whole is immeasurable. Ben not only helped break the race barrier for our football program but was also the first African-American student to be elected by the student body for what is now known as Mr. Ole Miss. He was a great person, player and ambassador for our university and will forever be beloved by Rebel Nation.”

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