Jets tryout Giovanni Williams looks to join brothers Quinnen and Quincy to make some NFL history

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Giovanni Williams watched his older brothers chase their NFL dreams and become playmaking teammates with the New York Jets.

Now, the young linebacker is getting a chance to join them — and perhaps make some history.

Williams, the younger brother of defensive tackle Quinnen and linebacker Quincy, is in rookie minicamp with the Jets as a tryout after going undrafted out of Miles College, a Division II historically Black college in Fairfield, Alabama.

“It feels good,” Giovanni Williams said Saturday after practice. "It feels, I'd say, honestly, bittersweet just because living behind them, making my own name, I had to still live behind them. But it’s sweet because me and my brother (Quincy) play the same position. So it’s like, I can call on him for help and we've got the same competition level. So it's going to be like competition, just like always.

“Just like we're back home, just a big competition.”

If the younger Williams can make the team, it's believed the Jets would be the first NFL squad in nearly 100 years to have three brothers on the same active roster. According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, brothers Bill, Cobb and Joe Rooney were all members of the 1927 Duluth Eskimos after also previously being on the 1924 Duluth Kelleys' roster together.

“Honestly, it will mean a lot to me just to know that I came to the minicamp and I was coachable, I had urgency,” Williams said. “And just to be on the team with my brothers, it’ll feel good. It’ll be historical.”

He still has plenty of work to do to pave that path to potential football history. But getting on the field with the rest of the Jets' rookies was a good start.

“I just think it’s outstanding that he has a Jets jersey on and both of his brothers are actually here with us, so it’s a beautiful story,” coach Aaron Glenn said. “He’s working his butt off.”

Quinnen was a first-round draft pick of the Jets — No. 3 overall — out of Alabama in 2019. He has since been selected once as an All-Pro and three times for the Pro Bowl.

Quincy, the oldest of the three brothers, was a third-rounder the same year as Quinnen, taken by Jacksonville out of Murray State. He has also made an All-Pro team and become one of the league's top middle linebackers.

Giovanni, meanwhile, spent three years at Texas A&M Kingsville and played the 2021 and 2022 seasons after sitting out as a freshman during the 2020 COVID-19 year. He transferred to Miles and played in two games in 2023 and had 29 total tackles and a sack in 11 games last season — after breaking his right hand in the season opener — while helping the school win a conference championship.

“I'm in the middle — I've got Quincy's speed, but I've got Quinnen's build,” said Giovanni, who said he weighs 222 pounds and was listed as 6-foot-1 in college. “So it’s like I’m the middle of both of them. So everybody compares me as the hybrid of both.”

It wasn't always that way, though. In fact, Giovanni said, he weighed more — a lot more — than the 303-pound Quinnen when he was younger.

“Yeah, I was like 350 pounds in high school,” Giovanni said smiling and shaking his head. “I know, I know. I was huge. I've got pictures you need to see now.”

He has videos and photos posted on his Instagram page, showing how he dramatically transformed his body.

“Yeah, actually, there’s a funny story about that,” Giovanni said. "So I went from 350 (pounds) to like 185 in like three or four months and then I had to build it all the way up to like 220 just to get solid because when I was like 350, that was like, all right, you know, you've got to look the part. So I didn’t look like I was a middle linebacker.

“So I kind of was, like, I got in my head a little bit. I won’t say depressed, but I just got in my head a little bit and I was like, ‘You’ve got to work now, you've got to look the part.' So I just did everything I could do and just got all my weight down and then just built it back up solid.”

And now he's on an NFL field after getting a call from his agent saying that the Jets were going to give him an opportunity to join his brothers.

“Honestly, seeing my chances, all I can do is just come out here and do me and just handle my business,” he said. “Put my best foot forward and see whatever happens, happens.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

New York Jets linebacker Giovanni Williams responds to questions from media during the NFL football team's rookie camp, Saturday, May 10, 2025, in Florham Park, N.J. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

New York Jets linebacker Giovanni Williams responds to questions from media during the NFL football team's rookie camp, Saturday, May 10, 2025, in Florham Park, N.J. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

New York Jets linebacker Giovanni Williams responds to questions from media during the NFL football team's rookie camp, Saturday, May 10, 2025, in Florham Park, N.J. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

New York Jets linebacker Giovanni Williams responds to questions from media during the NFL football team's rookie camp, Saturday, May 10, 2025, in Florham Park, N.J. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo blocked a shot by LeBron James and stole the ball from him on consecutive possessions in the final minute, and the Milwaukee Bucks blew a fourth-quarter lead before rallying for a 105-101 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.

Kevin Porter Jr. scored 22 points, and he hit two free throws to break a tie after Antetokounmpo blocked a driving layup attempt by James with 39 seconds left.

Antetokounmpo then knocked the ball out of James' hands from behind with 2 seconds left, and Porter hit two more free throws to seal Milwaukee's fifth win in seven games — its first over a team with a winning record since Dec. 11. Antetokounmpo finished with 21 points in his lowest-scoring effort since returning from his right calf strain.

Luka Doncic had 24 points and nine assists on 8-of-25 shooting for the Lakers. He had his lowest-scoring performance since Christmas, and he fouled out on Porter's 3-point attempt with 16.2 seconds to play.

James had 26 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, but Antetokoumpo got the best of the top scorer in NBA history at crunch time. Los Angeles has lost six of 10.

Milwaukee surged to a double-digit lead in the first half even with Antetokounmpo on a minutes restriction in his injury return. Doncic scored 12 points in the third quarter but also committed four fouls in the period, including his fifth of the game.

Los Angeles abruptly erased its deficit by going on a 17-4 run to open the fourth, with James putting the Lakers ahead when he stole the ball from Antetokounmpo for a layup with 6:02 left. Milwaukee missed nine of its first 12 shots in the period, but Porter's layup tied it with two minutes left.

Lakers starters Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura remain sidelined by injury, but Hachimura (calf) might return early next week from his six-game absence, coach JJ Redick said.

Bucks: At Denver on Sunday.

Lakers: At Sacramento on Monday.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

Los Angeles Lakers guard Marcus Smart, left, tries to shoot as Milwaukee Bucks guard Gary Trent Jr. defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic, left, and Milwaukee Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr. go after a loose ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)