When San Francisco 49ers’ training camp begins, left tackle Trent Williams will have just turned 37, making him one of the team’s, let’s say, most mature players.
“Some of the older guys, like myself?” Williams joked to the local media after Tuesday’s mini-camp practice.
The 49ers are coming off a 6-11 season, a season marred by injuries and personal tragedies off the field. The team has had a much longer offseason than they’ve had in awhile. It’s not something they want to make a habit of, but the rest was needed.
“Two extremes, right? You go from having the shortest offseason to having the longest offseason that you can be allowed as an NFL team,” Williams said…”One of the most traumatic events you experience in sports is losing the Super Bowl and the depression that comes behind that. And then only having a little bit of time before it’s right back to OTA’s and summer workouts, and trying to put something behind you…It took me a long time…I think that this offseason could’ve been a blessing in disguise. We’ll see. Obviously, refresh your roster and we got some younger guys. But I think, in the long run, it should help us, having that time off.”
Last year’s 49ers team was the oldest in the league. Getting younger was a priority, and younger they got. This infusion of youth has been noticeable in the vibes and energy at Levi’s Stadium, while it’s also been somewhat of an inspiration – that’s dramatic, but you get where this is going – for the veterans.
“It energizes you to see that raw enthusiasm,” Williams said. “You got a guy like me in the 16th year, and then you got a guy that’s just now kind of on the cusp of living his dreams, and it does make me appreciate it more. It does make me appreciate coming to work, because I do remember when that was my reality. My first OTA, the second OTA and I’m like, ‘I’m living a dream.’ And to watch those guys live a dream and to watch them take full advantage of it and go 100 miles an hour every snap, it’s fulfilling and it makes you want to pick up your level of enthusiasm as well.”
Williams will continue his tradition of working out with some of the younger, or newer to the NFL, offensive lineman.
“My door is always open,” Williams said. “[Spencer Burford] has been with me basically, for the most part, this whole summer. The door is always open…I do have a few people working out with me that play on the team, not on the team. But my door is always open. I’m always looking to help to push this O-line, the game, the offensive line play forward, whether they play for the 49ers or not.”
Williams missed the final seven games of the 2024 season with left heel and ankle injury, while he experienced a tremendous personal tragedy, after losing his son, Trenton Jr., who was stillborn in November.
“It is difficult,” Williams said. “It’s very difficult. But my road I travel has always been difficult. So it’s one of those things where your faith has to get you through. There’s a lot of things that happen that, humanly, you don’t have the answer for and you can’t make sense of. I think a lot of it is your faith. And second, it’s just to have enough composure to know that life will throw you curve balls. No matter how hard things get for me or how hard things get for anybody else, you can find a situation much worse.
“So, every day, thank God for being able to have air in my lungs. I know that that’s not promised. And then, just keep moving forward. Knowing that what’s in the rearview is in the rearview. It may shape who you are, going forward, but I don’t think you should let it linger and let it affect who you are going forward.”
That mindset is why Williams was able to come back for Year 16 and why Williams is planning to be back far beyond this year.
“I would love to play until I’m 40,” Williams said. “I would love to make it to that special group. But if it’s not in my cards, it’s not in my cards. But I’m going to do everything physically possible. I’m going to stay engaged. As you see, my first time here doing OTA’s or even being in the offseason program, the first time in probably 10 years. So, it’s one of them things to where I’m going to do everything possible to play as long and to put a good product of football out there, then when it’s not going my way, then I’ll know…I’m definitely not going to retire with something left in the tank.”