AFL player Chandler Williams, 27, dies while playing flag football

CHICAGO Arena Football League player Chandler Williams has died. He was 27.

The AFL said Sunday that Williams died while playing in a local flag football tournament in South Florida. The league did not release a cause of death.

The wide receiver was a seventh-round draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 2007 out of Florida International. He got into NFL preseason games in four seasons but never played in a regular-season game, also spending time with the Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons and Kansas City Chiefs. Williams also played for the CFL's Toronto Argonauts.

He caught 83 passes for 996 yards and 17 touchdowns while leading the AFL with a 23-yard kickoff return average for the Tampa Bay Storm last season.

"We are shocked and saddened to hear about the passing of Chandler," said Storm team president Derrick Brooks.

He is survived by his fiancee, Vanitia Harrigan, and a daughter, Tori Williams.