College football is full of inspiring stories. Twin brothers Chase and Sydney Brown were homeless at age 16 but went on to play football together at the University of Illinois. Zamir White had so many health problems in the womb that doctors tried to convince his teenage mother to abort him. He eventually became a key part of the Georgia Bulldogs’ 2021 national championship run. Ray Ruschel lived his dream of playing college football — at the tender age of 49.
And then there’s Levi Williams’ story. When Williams led the Utah State Aggies to a thrilling victory last weekend to make his team bowl-eligible, it seemed like a different kind of storybook ending to a season.
WHAT A GAME!!!! @USUFootball wins on a long run by Levi Williams#AtThePeak l #MWFB l #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/R1uRfJiKS1
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) November 25, 2023
After the two quarterbacks ahead of him on the depth chart suffered injuries, it was up to the third-string quarterback to sweep in and save the day. All of it came after Williams was in an accident on Tuesday that totaled his car; Williams walked away without so much as a scratch.
“I was telling my head coach, ‘You know what? I think this is a sign God really wants me to play in this game, because if not, it could’ve been a lot worse,'” he told The Athletic.
The twist on this season-ending miracle is that Williams announced that he will forgo his last year of eligibility. Usually, when a player makes that sort of announcement, it’s because he has chosen to declare for the NFL draft. Not Williams — he’s leaving college football for something much more inspiring.
The Athletic reports that Williams has chosen to become a Navy SEAL. It’s a dream that Williams has harbored ever since he heard a Navy chaplain speak at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes event.
“It’s always been in my heart my entire life. My mom was Army. My grandparents were Army and Navy,” Williams said. “People in the military are always what I want to emulate because they’re some of the best people, best teams on the planet.”
Related: Here's the Feel-Good Story of the College Football Pre-Season
Williams will graduate with his master’s degree in December, and all the while, he has been training with a former SEAL with whom the chaplain connected him. Aggies head coach Blake Anderson says that this unconventional choice is the right one for the quarterback.
“The guy is just unique in every sense. I think his true sense of selflessness and fight for the guy next to him is something that’s tangible and real. You can see it,” Anderson told The Athletic. “His capacity for work and to do tough things and to fight through things that are hard, difficult, and painful is just something that, in our society today, is hard to see. I think he’ll do an amazing job. I can’t imagine having anybody better suited for what he’s wanting to do. I’m super proud of the path he’s chosen.”
Williams has a good head on his shoulders and a proper perspective on what he believes he’s meant to do. At the end of the day — or at the end of the season, if you will — he knows that football isn’t his long-term calling.
"I love football and it’s so great. But I knew that, eventually, it was going to come to an end," Williams told a local radio station, as Fox News reported. "I just want to be in a spot where I can protect this great country where we get to play football with the freedom to do that. I think this is the best country in the world. So I’d like to keep it that way and protect it as long as I can."
Williams is leaving the gridiron for a different kind of heroics. For that, he deserves our prayers and admiration. I wish him the best as he serves this country.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member