I
t has not even been a month, and already a former Charger is already talking about unretiring. Mike Williams, who announced his retirement from the NFL after eight seasons on July 17, made an interesting comment about potential unretiring in the future. Live-streaming Call of Duty gameplay on August 5, Williams spoke on how he is not ruling out the possibility of returning to the NFL in the future.
Williams, who spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Los Angeles Chargers, rejoined the team on a one year deal this offseason, but after dealing with some injuries at the start of camp that forced him to go on the PUP, Williams decided to hang it up instead. His retirement left a major hole at receiver, ultimately leading to the Chargers bringing back legendary pass catcher, Keenan Allen.
Williams’ Comments
Only three weeks after announcing he was retiring from football, Williams was live on Twitch playing a video game when he started to interact with his audience and seemingly revealed that a return to the NFL as early as next season was not out of the realm of possibility. Only 30 years old, Williams could use this season as a year off to reset and get his mind and body right so that he can return to dominance if he does decide to return to the gridiron.
“Chat, I’m retired, but you never know,” Williams said about a potential return. “Not this year, though.”
As Williams suggested, a return this season is highly unlikely. Combined with the fact that he has had injury issues the last couple of seasons, inconsistent performances contributed to him leaving the Chargers and struggling to find a rhythm last year, struggling during his time with both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets. And if retiring is Williams’ way of regrouping, then it could help him in the long run if he does indeed decide to return.
Williams’ Career at a Glance
A star for Clemson from 2013-16, winning a national championship in 2016 and All-ACC honors twice, Williams was drafted seventh overall by the Chargers in the 2017 draft. And despite struggling to find a rhythm in his rookie season, catching only 11 passes for 95 yards, Williams showed flashes of greatness in his sophomore campaign in Los Angeles, catching 43 passes for 664 yards and a career high of 10 touchdowns.
Then in 2019, Williams broke out and began to live up to his status of being a top 10 draft pick. Catching 49 passes for 1,001 yards and two touchdowns, Williams locked himself in as the long-term starter alongside Allen, and continued in that role through 2022. In the final season of his first stint with the Chargers in 2023, he caught 19 passes for 249 yards and a touchdown, but played only three games after tearing his ACL in a week three win over the Minnesota Vikings. But the best season of Williams’ career came in 2021 where in 16 games, he caught a career high of 76 passes for 1,146 yards and nine touchdowns.
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