On Friday evening, football fans were alerted with surprise news. It was announced that the Seahawks center Connor Williams was retiring with eight games left in the season.

This decision was shocking due to the fact that Williams was only 27 years old and had started all nine games for Seattle and played every offensive snap so far this season.

He was at practice earlier in the week when the Seahawks returned from their bye.

Head coach Mike Macdonald said that the seven-year veteran made his decision during the week for “personal reasons”, per Brady Henderson of ESPN.

Williams is not yet a full year removed from shredding his knee and requiring reconstructive surgery.

Despite suffering two ACL tears in his career, he was able to make another comeback after signing a one-year deal with the Seahawks. Macdonald wanted to underline that the decision didn’t have anything to do with his knee injury.

Regardless of the reasons for his abrupt retirement, Williams will be remembered fondly for his time in Dallas and Miami.

Williams was a second-round pick of the Cowboys in the 2018 NFL Draft. He played in 57 games (51 starts) in his four years in Dallas.

He was the starting left guard who spent some time at right guard during Zack Martin’s absence and was a consideration at center.

After his best seasons in Dallas in 2020 and 2021, Williams signed a two-year, $14 million deal with the Dolphins and switched to center. He thrived in his position and established himself as one of the better offensive linemen in the league.