Connor Williams and the NFL Shelf Life

By Trevor Speetzen November 20, 2024 17:19

Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images

Seattle Seahawks center Connor Williams recently announced that he is retiring from the NFL at only 27 years old. Williams played eight seasons in the NFL and was currently on a one-year $6 million contract with Seattle.

The reason behind Williams abrupt, mid-season retirement is unknown at the moment. Seahawks head Mike Macdonald spoke to the media about Williams’ retirement and stated it was due to “personal reasons”

“Connor earlier this week decided to retire,” Macdonald told the media. “Personal reasons. We respect that, wish him the best, we’ve got to move forward.”

Williams was a former second-round pick out of the University of Texas, Austin. In the 2018 draft, he was taken by the Dallas Cowboys where he played his first four seasons.

From 2022-2023, Williams played for the Miami Dolphins before signing with the Seahawks for the 2024 season.

It’s unclear why Williams decided to retire in the middle of the season, but it seems that it may be injury related. Last season in week 14 against the Tennessee Titans, Williams suffered a torn ACL in his left knee that ended his season.

When Williams signed with Seattle in the offseason, there was speculation that he may have a hard time rebounding from his injury. In the last few games of his career, Williams struggled at the line; especially with shotgun snaps.

Williams opened up to the News Tribune last month about his difficulty returning from his knee injury.

“I’m definitely nowhere close to where I want to be,” Williams told the New Tribune. “And I’m nowhere close to contributing to this team and this offense.”

This is the second time in his Williams career where he suffered a season-ending torn ACL. In 2019, Williams suffered his first ACL injury during his time with the Cowboys. Williams was able to rebound in 2020 and played all 16 games, something he’s now unable to do.

While it’s not confirmed that Williams retired solely due to injury, it’s a good reason to believe that his nagging knee injuries have played a role.

If it’s due to injuries then Williams will join a long list of players who were cut down in their prime before turning 30.

Players such as Andrew Luck and Luke Keuchly, players who were in the prime of their career but had their careers cut short due to constant injuries and rehab.

Williams is only 27 years old and had only played eight seasons in the NFL and yet his knees couldn’t take it anymore. It really shows how short the shelf-life of an NFL player is.

Williams played only eight seasons, Luck played for six seasons and Kuechly only played eight years as well.

The life of a professional athlete is brutal, but to have such a short career in a short amount of time is cruel.

Williams was replaced by Olu Oluwatimi, a fifth-round pick from the 2023 draft. Oluwatimi is 25 years old and played college football from 2017-2022. He was with Air Force in 2017, then Virginia from 2018-2021 and then with Michigan in 2022.