Trent Williams

Early life

Williams was born on July 19, 1988, and raised in Longview, Texas. He attended Longview High School, where he played for the Longview Lobos high school football team and was teammates with Malcolm Kelly, Chris Ivory, and Robert Henson. Williams was a unanimous first-team all-district selection as a senior. Longview entered the 2005 UIL playoffs on a 10–0 season record, but lost 14–13 to Nick Florence's South Garland. He was also on the field team as a shot putter. Considered a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Williams was listed as the No. 28 offensive guard prospect in the nation. He chose Oklahoma over offers from Louisiana State, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M.

College career

Williams attended the University of Oklahoma, and played for coach Bob Stoops's Oklahoma Sooners football team from 2006 to 2009. Playing as a true freshman, Williams became the starter at right tackle just before the Missouri game in late October 2006 after Branndon Braxton went down with a broken leg, then started the last six games of the season. Williams played 462 snaps, had 75 knockdowns, and was named to The Sporting News Freshman All-American second-team.

In his sophomore year, Williams saw action in all 14 games and had six starts at right tackle, sharing time with Branndon Braxton. As a junior in 2008, he started all 14 games, the first at left tackle and the remaining 13 at right tackle, and registered 131 knockdowns. He was part of a dominant 2008 Sooners offensive line that included Duke Robinson, Phil Loadholt, and allowed only 11 sacks all season, the third-lowest total of any team in the country. The two teams that finished above them (Air Force and Navy) combined to attempt 231 passes. Oklahoma attempted 476, and—featuring quarterback Sam Bradford and running back DeMarco Murray—became the highest-scoring team in the modern era (702 points).

As the lone holdover from the 2008 offensive line, Williams was listed at No. 2 on Rivals.com's 2009 preseason offensive tackle power ranking. He was also named to the 2009 Outland Trophy watch list. Despite missing the regular season finale due to injury, Williams led Oklahoma with 102 knockdown blocks and 885 plays, and was named an All-American by the American Football Coaches Association.

Personal life

Williams is friends with running back Adrian Peterson and they co-own a gym in Houston. The two were teammates at Oklahoma in 2006 and with the Redskins in the late 2010s. Williams and his former wife, Sondra, have three daughters. The couple separated in 2019 and Williams filed for divorce in November 2020. In November 2024, Sondra announced that she had a son who was stillborn; this came after the son's twin was miscarried.

Williams' nickname is "Silverback", named after the male gorilla. Williams has a large gorilla tattoo on his back and owns gorilla art and a bejeweled gorilla keychain. At the 2010 NFL Draft, he was introduced by league commissioner Roger Goodell with the moniker, after Williams dared Goodell to do it. He was the subject of a documentary called Silverback, which debuted in December 2021 and covered his comeback from a life-threatening sarcoma on his scalp.