Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Buffalo Bills wide receiver Mike Williams died in September at just 36 years old, and now an official cause of death has been made public.
According to ESPN, the Hillsborough County (Florida) Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Mike Williams died as a result of a rare bacterial sepsis.
The medical examiner’s office’s initial case summary report stated that Williams’ death was a result of “bacterial sepsis with cerebral abscesses and necrotizing lobar pneumonia due to multiple dental caries and retained dental roots”
ESPN reported that the rare condition is linked to poor dental health, decay, and infection.
Williams was working a construction job and was taken to the hospital with head trauma after heavy supplies landed on his head at a job site on Aug. 21. He went to the hospital the next day and was admitted to the ICU for acute hypoxic respiratory failure, cardiac arrest and sepsis due to multiple brain abscesses. After going into cardiac arrest on Sept. 1, he was administered CPR and was intubated and sedated. On Sept. 7, he was transferred to hospice care and was eventually removed from life support and died at 8:20 a.m. local time on Sept. 12.
Williams joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a fourth-round pick out of Syracuse in 2010. After playing three seasons with the Buccaneers, Williams signed with the Buffalo Bills for the 2014 season, which marked the last season he was on an active roster. Williams was out of football completely in 2015 but signed with the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad in 2016.
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