Willie Thedric Andrews was born the son of Walter and Thelma Andrews on November 2, 1983 in Longview, Texas ... Attended Longview (Tex.) High School, where he was selected as a first-team member of the Texas Football's Super Team as a senior defensive back ... Earned honorable mention 5A All-State honors from the Texas Sports Writers Association and was named one of the top 100 prospects in Texas by The Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Houston Chronicle, Waco Tribune-Herald and Austin American-Statesman ... Willie's head coach at Baylor was Guy Morriss, who played for the Patriots from 1984-87 and began his coaching career as an assistant offensive line coach with New England from 1988-89 ... Majored in speech communications.
Willie Andrews was drafted by the New England Patriots in the seventh round (229th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft ... Signed by the Patriots (7/11/06).
View Willie Andrews' Career Statistics >>
2007 (15/0/0/1): Saw action in 15 games in his second NFL season... Scored his first career NFL touchdown on a 77-yard kickoff return against the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 10, 2007.
at N.Y. Jets (9/9): Saw action on special teams coverage units. San Diego (9/16): Played in reserve on special teams coverage units. Buffalo (9/23): Played in reserve on special teams coverage units. at Cincinnati (10/1): Saw action in a reserve role at safety and played on special teams coverage units in the Patriots' 34-13 victory and credited with a special teams tackle... Fielded his first career kickoff for a 24-yard gain during the second quarter. Cleveland (10/7): Played on special teams coverage units in the Patriots' 34-17 win over the Browns. at Dallas (10/14): Saw action on special teams coverage units in the Patriot's 48-27 win over the Cowboys... Was not credited with a tackle. at Miami (10/21): Took his second career kickoff return 77 yards for a touchdown, breaking several tackles and restoring the Patriots' two-touchdown lead at 21-7 just three seconds into the second quarter... Prevented a 58-yard Chris Hanson punt from skipping into the end zone and downing the ball to hem the Dolphins in at their own 1-yard line during the second quarter. Washington (10/28): Played in a reserve role on special teams coverage units in the Patriots' 52-7 win over the Redskins... Downed two Chris Hanson punts within the Redskins' 20-yard line... Made one special teams tackle. at Indianapolis (11/4): Played in a reserve role on special teams return and coverage units in the Patriots' 24-20 comeback win over the Colts. at Buffalo (11/18): Played in a reserve role on special teams return and coverage units in the Patriots' 56-10 win over the Bills... Registered one special teams tackle, dropping Terrence McGee after just a 2-yard gain on a second-quarter kickoff... Returned one kickoff for a gain of 15 yards. Philadelphia (11/25): Saw action in a reserve role on special teams coverage and return units in the Patriots' 31-28 win over the Eagles... Made one special teams tackle. at Baltimore (12/3): Played in a reserve role on special teams coverage and return units in the Patriots' 27-24 win over the Ravens. Pittsburgh (12/9): Saw action in reserve on special teams coverage units in the Patriots' 34-13 win over the Steelers... Made two special teams tackles. N.Y. Jets (12/16): Played in a reserve role on special teams coverage and kickoff return units in the Patriots' 20-10 win over the Jets... Saved a Chris Hanson punt from skipping into the end zone with a one-handed grab at the goal line, which allowed Kelley Washington to down the ball at the Jets' 3-yard line in the first quarter... Made one special teams tackle. Miami (12/23): Played in reserve on special teams return and coverage units in the Patriots' 28-7 win over the Dolphins... Returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a 33-yard gain... Made one special teams tackle. at N.Y. Giants (12/29): Inactive.
2007 Postseason (3/0/0/0): Jacksonville (1/12): Saw action on special teams return and coverage units in the Patriots' 31-20 win over the Jaguars... Made one special teams tackle... Returned one kickoff for a gain of 13 yards. San Diego (1/20): Played on special teams return and coverage units in the Patriots' 21-12 win over the Chargers in the AFC Championship Game... Returned one kickoff for a 10-yard gain. N.Y. Giants (2/3): Played on special teams return and coverage units in Super Bowl XLII.
2006 (15/0/0/1): Saw action in 15 regular season games as a rookie, mostly on special teams coverage units ... Tied for the team lead with 15 special teams tackles ... Led the team or tied for the team lead in special teams tackles six times in 2006 (at NYJ, vs. DEN, at CIN, at BUF, at MIN, at MIA) ... Saw action in a reserve role on special teams during his NFL debut against Buffalo (9/10/06).
Buffalo (9/10): Made his NFL debut, playing on special teams coverage units and registering one solo tackle ... Stuffed Terrence McGee at the Buffalo 18-yard line with a blistering hit during a first quarter kickoff return. at N.Y. Jets (9/17): Led the team with three special teams tackles in the Patriots' 24-17 win over the N.Y. Jets. Denver (9/24): Saw action on special teams coverage units and collected a special teams stop ... Pinned the Broncos at their 2-yard line when he teamed with Lonie Paxton to stuff Darrent Williams for a 4-yard loss on a punt return in the third quarter. at Cincinnati (10/1): Tied for the team lead with two special teams tackles in the Patriots' commanding 38-13 victory over the Bengals ... Teamed with James Sanders to tackle Kenny Watson at the Bengals' 18-yard line on a kickoff return in the second quarter. Miami (10/8): Inactive. at Buffalo (10/22): Played on special teams coverage units and registered a solo special teams tackle in the Patriots' 28-6 road victory over the Bills. at Minnesota (10/30): Saw action on special teams coverage units ... Tied for the team lead with two special teams tackles in the Patriots' commanding 31-7 road win against the Vikings ... Stonewalled Bethel Johnson for just a 16-yard gain on a kickoff return to the Vikings' 21-yard line in the second quarter. Indianapolis (11/5): Saw action on special teams coverage units. N.Y. Jets (11/12): Played on special teams coverage units. at Green Bay (11/19): Played on special teams coverage units in the Patriots' 35-0 road victory over the Packers. Chicago (11/26): Saw action on special teams coverage units in the Patriots' 17-13 victory over the Bears. Detroit (12/3): Recorded two special teams tackles in the Patriots' 28-21 comeback victory over the Lions. Miami (12/10): Tied for the team lead with two special teams tackles on coverage units. Houston (12/17): Saw action on special teams coverage units in the Patriots' commanding 40-7 victory over the Texans. at Jacksonville (12/24): Played on special teams coverage units in the Patriots' 24-21 division-clinching win over the Jaguars. at Tennessee (12/31): Registered a special teams tackle on coverage units in the Patriots' 40-23 victory over the Titans.
2006 Postseason (3/0/0/0): N.Y. Jets (1/7): Saw action on kickoff coverage units in the Patriots' 37-16 AFC Wild Card victory over the N.Y. Jets. at San Diego (1/14): Played on special teams coverage units in the Patriots' 24-21 AFC Divisional playoff victory over the Chargers ... Saw limited action at cornerback but did not record a tackle. at Indianapolis (1/21): Collected a solo tackle on special teams coverage units.
Played in 46 games with 34 starts at Baylor, setting multiple school records as a return specialist while also starting every game of his final three seasons at safety ... Recorded 219 tackles (153 solo), with 8.5 sacks, 26 tackles for losses, three interceptions and 13 passes defensed ... Set Baylor career records for total kick returns (164), total kick return yards (2,596), kickoff returns (67), kickoff return yards (1,647) and punt return yards (949) ... Ranked second in total punt returns (97), fourth in yards per kickoff return (24.58) and fifth in yards per punt return (9.78) ... Had 42 career returns of 25-plus yards (31 kickoff, 10 punt, 1 interception), including nine such returns (6 kickoff and 3 punt) in 2005 ... Finished his career with 2,654 all-purpose yards (2,596 kick return, 51 interception return and 7 rush), good for eighth on Baylor's all-time list ... Became the first player in school history to crack the all-time all-purpose list with fewer than 10 total rushing or receiving yards.
Willie's coach at Baylor University was Guy Morriss, who played center for the Patriots from 1984-87 and was the team's assistant offensive line coach from 1988-89.
Willie tied for the Patriots' team lead with 15 special teams tackles as a rookie in 2006. It marked the first time a Patriots rookie had led the team in that category since Tebucky Jones did in 1998.
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