Veteran cornerback Tramon Williams announced via social media on his 38th birthday that he's retiring from football.
Williams opened an Instagram post by referencing the uniform number he wore with the Green Bay Packers and saying that “No. 38 is clocking out at 38!” He then proceeded to thank his family members and each of the NFL organizations he played for during his career.
He played six regular-season games and one playoff game for the Baltimore Ravens last season and was waived after their AFC divisional playoff loss to Buffalo. The Packers signed him to their practice squad that week and elevated him to the active roster for their NFC championship game loss to Tampa Bay, though he didn’t play in the game.
Williams’ 34 interceptions had ranked him second among all active players behind Richard Sherman (36). Williams made 153 starts in 205 regular-season games. He earned Pro Bowl honors in 2010 while playing for a Packers team that won the Super Bowl that season.
“We want to congratulate Tramon, a true pro, on a very successful career that was filled with individual achievements and incredible contributions to team success,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said in a statement.
“He was a talented, humble and hard-working player who was a great teammate both on and off the field. We wish him, his wife, Shantrell, and their family all the best."
He played for Green Bay from 2007-14 and again from 2018-19 before making his brief return in last year’s postseason. Williams also played for Cleveland (2015-16), Arizona (2017) and Baltimore (2020).
The Houston Texans signed Williams as an undrafted free agent from Louisiana Tech in 2006, but released him before the regular season. He joined Green Bay’s practice squad later that year and made his debut with the Packers in 2007.
More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A sprawling betting scheme to rig NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games ensnared 26 people, including more than a dozen college basketball players who tried to fix games as recently as last season, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
The scheme generally revolved around fixers recruiting players with the promise of a big payment in exchange for purposefully underperforming during a game, prosecutors said. The fixers would then place big bets against the players’ teams in those games, defrauding sportsbooks and other bettors, authorities said.
Concerns about gambling and college sports have grown since 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on the practice, leading some states to legalize it to varying degrees. The NCAA does not allow athletes or staff to bet on college games, but it briefly allowed student-athletes to bet on professional sports last year before rescinding that decision in November.
According to the indictment unsealed Thursday, fixers started with two games in the Chinese Basketball Association in 2023 and, successful there, moved on to rigging NCAA games as recently as January 2025.
The fixers’ scheme grew to involve more than 39 players on more than 17 different NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams, who then rigged and attempted to rig more than 29 games, prosecutors said. They wagered millions of dollars, generating “substantial proceeds” for themselves, and paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to players in bribes, prosecutors said, with payments to players typically ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 per game.
Four of the players charged — Simeon Cottle, Carlos Hart, Oumar Koureissi and Camian Shell — played for their current teams in the last few days, although the allegations against them do not involve this season.
Calling it an “international criminal conspiracy,” U.S. Attorney David Metcalf told reporters in Philadelphia that this case represents a “significant corruption of the integrity of sports.” The indictment suggests that many others — including unnamed players — had a role in the scheme but weren't charged, and Metcalf said the investigation was continuing.
Of the defendants, 15 played basketball for Division I NCAA schools during 2024-25 season, prosecutors say. Five others last played in the NCAA in the 2023-24 season while another, former NBA player Antonio Blakeney, played in the Chinese Basketball Association in the 2022-23 season.
The remaining five defendants were described as “fixers” who recruited players and placed bets. They include two men who prosecutors say worked in the training and development of basketball players. Another was a trainer and former coach, one was a former NCAA player and two were described as gamblers, influencers and sports handicappers.
One fixer, reassuring another fixer, texted him that there are no guarantees “in this world but death taxes and Chinese basketball,” court papers said.
At the end of the Chinese Basketball Association's 2022-23 season, fixers put nearly $200,000 in bribe payments and shared winnings from rigged games into Blakeney's storage locker in Florida, authorities said.
Players also helped fix games by recruiting other players, authorities said. In many instances, the defendants’ wagers on the rigged games were successful. “The sportsbooks would not have paid out those wagers had they known that the defendants fixed those games,” the indictment said.
The charges, filed in federal court in Philadelphia, include bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy.
One betting scandal after another has rocked the sports world, where gambling revenue topped $11 billion for the first three-quarters of last year, according to the American Gaming Association. That’s up more than 13% from the prior year, the group said.
The indictment follows a series of NCAA investigations that led to at least 10 players receiving lifetime bans this year for bets that sometimes involved their own teams and their own performances. And the NCAA has said that at least 30 players have been investigated over gambling allegations. More than 30 people were also charged in last year’s sprawling federal takedown of illegal gambling operations linked to professional basketball.
Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Associated Press writer Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia contributed.
David Metcalf, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, speaks during a news conference to announce charges against 20 people including 15 former college basketball players, in what prosecutors called a betting scheme to rig NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Tassanee Vejpongsa)
