Heartwarming: Trent Williams Says Ricky Pearsall Almost Dying Pushed Him To Return To Job Where He’s Paid Millions To Play A Game

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Future Hall of Fame left tackle Trent Williams ended his contract holdout this week by agreeing to a restructured three-year, $82.66 million deal with the San Francisco 49ers.

Trent Williams’ new deal is one of many contracts he’s signed during his storied career, having previously signed a 5-year, $68M deal with the Washington Commanders in 2015 and a 6-year, $138M deal with San Fran in 2021. In layman’s terms, he’s made *a lot* of money since entering the NFL in 2010.

Part of the reason Williams decided to end his holdout, he says, is because of the recent shooting of Ricky Pearsall, who was shot in the chest during an attempted robbery on August 31.

“Honestly, to be real, I felt compelled to come back after that, more than anything,” Williams told reporters on Tuesday. “Because I’ve never experienced that, to have a teammate shot, so to speak. So in my mind, I just want to get back and get around the team.”

“Ricky stood out to me because when I popped in for OTAs for the 30 minutes I was here, he did go out of his way to introduce himself to me. Obviously we were going to meet each other eventually but I’m getting there and there are 90 guys on the team.”

While the intentions of Williams’ comments are obviously benign and made in an effort to sound like a good teammate — which, by all accounts, he is — it’s difficult not to roll your eyes at the irony of needing something as serious as a potential life-and-death situation to motivate you to return to your job in which you get paid tens of millions of dollars to play a game.

Williams and the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers will open their 2024/25 season with a home Monday Night Football matchup against Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets on September 9. The 49ers are favored by 4.5 points over Gang Green.