Fred "The Hammer" Williamson (born March 5, 1938 in Gary, Indiana) was a star defensive player in the American Football League during the 1960s, playing for the Oakland Raiders and later the Kansas City Chiefs. Afterwards, he had a career as an actor, much in the mold of star running back Jim Brown.

Two of his early film roles were in well-received films of 1969, M*A*S*H and Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon . He also got to play, in 1973, an African-American mafioso in Black Caesar and its subsequent sequel. After this he appeared as an actor and worked as a director in several films, most of which are considered to be of the "blaxploitation" genre. In 1974 he was selected by the ABC television network as a commentator on Monday Night Football to replace Don Meredith, who had left (temporarily, as it turned out) to pursue an acting and broadcasting career at rival network NBC. Williamson was used on a few pre-season broadcasts, but proved so inarticulate that he was relieved of his duties at the beginning of the regular season, becoming the first MNF personality not to endure for the entire season. He was replaced by fellow former player (and Gary native) Alex Karras.

Since then, Williamson has continued his career as an actor and director, recently appearing in the feature film version of the 1970s television series Starsky and Hutch.