Trent Williams, the offensive lineman for the Washington Redskins, recently opened up about his cancer diagnosis and his frustration at the organization for underestimating his medical condition, according to multiple reports.
The lineman revealed on Oct. 31 that he had been diagnosed with cancer this season and had to undergo a few surgeries to remove the cancerous growth from his skull, according to Bleacher Report. The growth had been found back in 2013, but the team had downplayed the cancer and told the lineman not to worry about it, according to Complex.
“I was told it was something minor, so I didn’t really question it,” Williams said, according to Bleacher Report. “The diagnosis that they gave me in the beginning, they kind of underestimated it.”
ClutchPoints reported that doctors had diagnosed him with Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans, and that it was recently removed. Williams said, according to the Bleacher Report, that doctors told him he was only weeks away before the cancer going into his brain. Luckily, he got it removed before it did.
“I almost lost my life. Seriously, I almost lost my life. You’re 30 and coming off seven straight Pro Bowls and a doctor tells you to get your affairs in order. It’s not going to sit well with you. It still doesn’t. It’s a scary thing to go through. Think how you describe to your 9-year-old, your 5-year old that daddy might not be here. It’s tough,” Williams said, according to Fox News.
During the surgery, he lost nearly 30 percent of his scalp, but according to Fox News, it was the only choice he had considering that he did not want to go through radiation therapy. He said that doing so would mean that he “would have put a cap on my life.”
With the cancerous growth removed, Williams tried to return to the game. But because a standard helmet did not fit comfortably for him, he failed the physical and was not able to return to playing on the field, according to Fox News.
He said that the trust he previously had with the Redskin’s organization has been broken, according to Fox News.
“Why was I holding out? Like I said, a culmination of things. What I went through health-wise took me away from the game for a minute, anyway. When it pertains to that, just that and the contract status was a thing as well. You know, playing with no guaranteed money, I don’t think any, any premier player would want to do that, especially not in the game we play today,” Williams said.