Retirement doesn’t sit well with everyone. After 27 days of focusing on school and nearly four weeks out of football, the Utah football team, ailed by injuries more so than in years past according to head coach Kyle Whittingham, called Joe Williams. The Utes needed the running back to wear the number 28 again — they needed every bit of help they could get at that point. More importantly, they needed him to be that heir to Devontae Booker he looked to be at the end of the 2015 season. And this past Saturday at the Rose Bowl, he looked to be the part.
Williams rushed for 332 yards, and he broke Utah’s single game rushing record. Williams also recorded four touchdowns. And because of his performance, Williams was awarded both the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week and the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week. However, he attributes those yards to the play of his offensive linemen, but he finds himself in much more publicized position than he did just a few weeks ago.
On Sept. 13, 2016, Williams hung up his helmet, turned in his jersey and retired from football. He wasn’t feeling that motivation, that strive to be great. He was somewhat lagging behind the other running backs. As a result of a couple of fumbles in the Utes’ first two games of the season, his name wasn’t on the depth chart. The day after is when he retired.
Williams cited that he wanted to ensure himself a bright future. Williams is set to earn his degree at the end of the fall semester and the potential risk of injury was too risky. Williams thought he would never suit up for the Utes again, but retirement didn’t exactly live up to the hype. Utah became shorthanded quickly as injuries began to take a toll.
Zack Moss took over that starting running back role, but he was soon sidelined with an injury. Backup running back Troy McCormick was also sidelined with an injury, so true freshman Armand Shyne looked like he was going to fill in that gap. Then Shyne suffered a season ending injury against Arizona. He was the first Ute this season to rush for 100 yards, and the Utes were desperate.
The Utah coaching staff knew they were going to have to come up with a solution and fast.
Williams never missed a home game — he may not have been on the field, but for the games against USC and Arizona, Williams was there as a fan. Williams and his fiancé sat in section 37, around row 10. No one really knew he was there. He caught a few glimpses from his then former teammates, but that was it.
“It was an enlightening thing to be a spectator,” Williams said. “I was real incognito.”
After the Arizona game when Shyne was undoubtedly done for the rest of the season, his fiancé turned to him and she said, “They might call you,” and she was right.
The coaches reached out to Williams. After speaking to his family and his fiancé, he decided to be selfless instead of selfish.
“I made the decision for the team rather than myself,” Williams said. “I put all that injuries and selfish attitude aside and put it on the line for them.”
Williams returned to Pac-12 play against Oregon State. In a more or less weather driven game, he was given the amount of carries he wanted at the start of the season, 34 to be exact, for 179 yards.
“He really hit the ground running I guess you could say,” Whittingham said. “[We are] very fortunate we had Joe available to us. It was us who reached out to Joe. We figured we’d test the waters and see what his interest level was, physically if he could do it. When it was all said and done he felt it was the right thing to do to come back and help the football team, and that’s what he did.” But that amount of carries wasn’t easy for the senior.
It’s not that Williams ever got out of shape, but he hasn’t been in football-shape. He was only expecting to get about 20 carries in his first game back, but with the poor weather conditions he shouldered much of the responsibility that day. His mind isn’t where he would like it to be. Williams is fighting a few psychological battles that he would rather not get into, but he’s back and he has his teammates’ support.
Before Williams had officially decided he would rejoin the team, Kenric Young and Brian Allen made sure he was going to be ready for anything.
“They FaceTimed me early in the morning and they’re like, ‘Come on, we got to run and condition today, so you need to get out of bed,’” Williams said.
In quarterback Troy Williams’ opinion, Joe picked up right where he left off and he is glad Joe is back out on the field for Utah.
“That’s our brother, so we welcome him back with open arms,” Troy said.
Joe still has some ways to go, but his teammates and coaches have faith he will make a positive impact for the Utes.
@kbrenneisen