Utah State QB Levi Williams Trading Cleats For Combat Boots After Deciding to Enter SEAL Training

Williams is going to forego his last year of eligibility to join Navy SEAL training.

Every year, student-athletes around the world dedicate their lives to the goal of excelling in both education and athletics. And, while many embrace that title to the fullest, deciding what comes next after college athletics remains a vital question all must answer.

In the case of Utah State quarterback Levi Williams, the answer to that age-old inquiry has led him to an ambitious and unique mission ahead of his senior season: hanging up his football cleats to pick up a pair of combat boots and join Navy SEAL training.

Williams, a graduate junior quarterback, spoke Monday about his plan to forego his last year of eligibility in order to join SEAL training as a way to carry on his family’s legacy of military service. 

“I love football and it’s so great,” Williams said on KSL Sports Zone’s Hans and Scotty G. show. “But I knew that, eventually, it was going to come to an end.”

“I just want to be in a spot where I can protect this great country where we get to play football with the freedom to do that. I think this is the best country in the world. So I’d like to keep it that way and protect it as long as I can.”

If chosen when the selection process begins in February, Williams’s training would begin in the summer, with graduation sometime later in 2024, according KSL Sports.

Standing at 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, Williams, a native of Canyon Lake, Texas, will now look to see how his intangible translate to the military as he continues his pursuit of greatness off the gridiron.

Amazingly, as Williams gears up for his next challenge, the QB left perhaps his best performance for the Aggies for his last collegiate game. In his first start in two years at USU after three years at Wyoming, Williams tallied 351 yards of total offense and five total touchdowns in a 44-41 double-overtime road win over New Mexico to help the Aggies (6–6) become bowl eligible.