‘Going to be a blast’ for Williams with 49ers’ vibe
More than 65 players have opted out of the NFL season because of COVID19 concerns, but 49ers left tackle Trent Williams said Thursday he never gave a “single thought” to not playing in 2020.
“If I don’t play this year, it’s going to be by force,” Williams said, “not by option.”
Williams, 32, noted the fact that he didn’t play a snap in 2019 had something to do with his strong desire to return to the field.
Left unsaid was this: After spending nine years with Washington, a dysfunctional franchise he for which refused to play in 2019, there was no way the seventime Pro Bowler was going to miss suiting up for a stable and successful organization that won last season’s NFC title.
Williams, who was acquired in a trade in April, dropped an “ecstatic” two sentences into his virtual news conference. And that set the tone for his 15minute session in which he didn’t protest when a reporter said Williams was coming from a franchise “not necessarily known for having a winning culture.”
Williams, in effect, opted out of playing for Washington last year because of displeasure over his contract and the team’s medical staff.
“It’s one of those things you’ve got to experience to believe.”
Trent Williams, on the good vibes around his new 49ers teammates
He did not win a playoff game in Washington, which last month changed its racially insensitive team name while dealing with the fallout of a Washington Post investigative report in which 15 women alleged former employees of sexual harassment.
“As soon as you walk in this building,” Williams said of the 49ers’ facility, “the vibe is different.”
Williams said that vibe extended to the field. The 49ers are in a trainingcamp acclimation period that includes conditioning and lowkey, nonpadded practices.
“Where I came from, a walkthrough was a walkthrough,” Williams said. “Our walkthrough here was pretty intense. There was a lot of focus. A lot of attention to detail. Guys were flying around. You could tell this is a hungry group of guys. I feel like I fit right in.”
Washington went 59841, had three winning seasons and went 02 in the playoffs in the nine seasons Williams played. The losing ate at Williams, as former Washington general manager Scot McCloughan and tight end
Logan Paulsen told The Chronicle in May.
Paulsen said Williams routinely played through significant injuries for goingnowhere teams.
“Trent is extremely competitive and he really wants to win football games,” Paulsen said. “I think that’s one of the reasons why he wanted to leave Washington because they didn’t support him. And I don’t think they appreciated what he was bringing every week for them.”
McLoughan referenced the fact that Williams has been flagged for five personalfoul, unnecessaryroughness or unsportsmanlikeconduct penalties in his career.
“He’s frustrated — the team and the season isn’t going the way he wants it to go,” McCloughan said. “And he’s one of those guys that’s so gifted, he expects to win.”
Williams doesn’t lack for motivation in 2020. He’s in the final year of a contract that will pay him $12.5 million this season and he will earn another massive deal if he proves his time away hasn’t eroded his skills.
He’s clearly enthused about being on a team that returns 18 starters from a 133 season. He hasn’t played for a powerhouse since his junior season at Oklahoma in 2008, when the Sooners went 122 and lost in the national title game.
“I just want to get this team to a game,” Williams said. “It feels like college again when we had three of the top four (recruits in the nation). I haven’t gotten that feeling since then . ... I can’t wait to get started. I feel like it’s going to be a blast. I can’t say enough good things about this team.”
Unlike 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who was Williams’ offensive coordinator from 2010 through ’13 in Washington, Williams hasn’t taken any verbal swipes at his previous employer.
Last season, Shanahan said working with his dad Mike and being around other good coaches were the best parts about working in Washington.
The worst parts? “Everything else,” Shanahan said.
On Thursday, Williams did offer that Washington’s new name — the Washington Football Team — sounded “kind of weird.”
But it’s what he said about his new team that spoke volumes about where he’d previously been.
“We’ve got a bunch of likeminded fellas in the locker room,” Williams said. “I think everyone feeds off each other. And everyone encourages each other. It’s one of those things you’ve got to experience to believe.”