A college football career ended before it could ever get off the ground. Wisconsin Badgers freshman cornerback James Williams, trying to make his way back from an injury, decided to end his playing career on Friday.
He made a statement on Twitter, with errors being corrected to reflect actual dates and a consistent chronology:
“On September 11, 2018, I tore my meniscus, and I, being the person I am, and the way I love the game so much, I decided to continue to play and finish out my senior season (of high school). After the season I decided to get surgery. After the season I decided to get surgery, and I knew I would miss at least the first couple games of my college career, but I was okay with that because I won my school a state championship, and that was all that mattered at the time. I did my rehab over the summer and the first two weeks of fall camp I tore my meniscus again. Had my second surgery for the same meniscus on August 23, 2019. After my second surgery my knee didn’t get any better, and unfortunately I will be receiving my third surgery for my meniscus on February 12, 2020. Unfortunately this surgery will lead to the end of my football career.”
In a tweet, Williams said, “Gonna miss it so much.”
Gonna miss it so much đŠâ¤ď¸ pic.twitter.com/0f9q7Egt7e
— James Williams (@gf_jw5) February 7, 2020
The toll this sport takes on the human body is well-known and considerable. That is something outsiders (fans and commentators) can easily see and grasp. This is a brutal collision sport, and even when not referring to the contact and physical pounding that are part of football, this can be a violent sport in other ways as well.
Football doesn’t just involve hitting and tackling; it also requires violent and abrupt movements from players. Making cuts and jab steps; quickly turning around or shifting direction; planting feet and just as readily bouncing toward the next movement needed to perform a task. Players have to make split-second decisions, and the body needs to cooperate with those decisions. Any hesitation or any intervention from an opposing player can change that calculus in highly complicated ways.
Yet, as much as the physical toll of football is apparent, imagine the emotional toll on a player when injuries repeatedly occur. I fractured my wrist when I was a kid, but I wasn’t pursuing a college football career. I was okay. My career wasn’t on the line. To make an upper-tier Big Ten college football program and then not get the chance to show it is stinging and sad on levels I honestly can’t relate to. There is no way I can truly grasp the enormity of pain James Williams must be feeling.
We at Badgers Wire, along with the entire Wisconsin family, wish James Williams the best in the future, as a young man tries to find a new career path and a new vision for his life. We hope and pray that James’ family and friends will be strong sources of support during this time, and that the Feb. 12 surgery goes smoothly.