San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Trent Williams does not plan to hop on the recent bandwagon of star players retiring during their prime. The 11-time Pro Bowler wants to make sure he uses up all his productivity in the league before hanging up his helmet.
The nearly 37-year-old (his birthday is July 19) plans to play at least for a few more years.
"I would love to play until I'm 40," Williams said this week, via NBC Sports Bay Area. "I would love to make it to that special group. But if it's just 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 OTAs or even being at the offseason program in probably 10 years.
"So it's one of the things where I'm going to do everything possible to play as long and put a good product of football out there, and then, when it's not going my way, then I know. But I could play until I'm 41, you know, who knows? But that is a goal of mine. I'm definitely not going to retire with something left on the table."
This is definitely a fresh perspective compared to some recent NFL stars, like Aaron Donald who retired arguably in his prime at age 32 after winning three Defensive Player of the Year awards. Most recently, Philadelphia Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley admitted he might retire in his prime like Barry Sanders once did at age 31.
It's somewhat of a rarity for NFL players to continue competing in their 40s, as there's a short list of players who have done so in history. Fellow offensive tackle Jason Peters just announced his retirement after 19 seasons and at the age of 43 back in February. Williams could be looking to follow in his footsteps.
Williams noted that he's not going to overstay his welcome, though. He's going to pay attention to his body and his performance, and if he starts to decline, he'll hang it up earlier than he plans to.
"I feel like one day coming in, I should know when it's getting that time. And then I do the responsible thing, and then let them know early enough so that they can make the adjustments needed."
Williams will be entering his 15th NFL season in 2025.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as 49ers Star Trent Williams Reveals How Long He'd Like to Play in the NFL.
