Oklahoma Teammates Reflect After Gentry Williams' Scary Collapse

The Sooners' rising sophomore DB is OK after going down in a drill two weeks ago, and his teammates described their fears and appreciation after practice Tuesday.

NORMAN — It was a simple tug-o-war.

That’s what caused Oklahoma defensive back Gentry Williams to collapse during an offseason workout on March 9.

Of course, there’s nothing simple about the strain of fighting for every inch, even for elite athletes.

“I saw fight in him,” said senior cornerback Woodi Washington. “We were doing drills and he just kind of fell out.”

Williams, a freshman from Tulsa, is fine now, by all accounts. He spent last week at home with family over spring break, and Monday he was back in Norman getting more checkups. It’s anticipated he’ll rejoin the team for workouts eventually, but no one can speculate when that might happen.

OU players spoke to the media on Tuesday night after the first day of spring practice, and several described the fear that immediately struck them, the admiration that washed over them as the trauma unfolded, and the love that was reaffirmed for Williams, and for each other, in the days following the incident.

Washington said he was “not far from him” when Williams experienced what the OU athletic department called an “exertional collapse.”

“We were doing a tug-o-war type drill and there were two guys going,” Washington said, “and after they finished, he just kind of fell out.”

“It’s scary,” said sophomore defensive back Billy Bowman, “because you never think a situation is as serious as it is. It can happen to anybody. It’s a situation where you have to take it very seriously. You’ve seen a lot of people around in the sports world going down just randomly.”

The visibility and recency of Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin’s collapse during a game cast even greater fear as OU athletic trainers provided immediate response to Williams. Hamlin is OK now, but he needed resuscitation on the field.

“I feel like it kind of traumatized a couple of the guys,” Washington said, “because it’s not something that you want to see every day, especially playing this game. It’s a physical game as it is, so something like that, it’s not good to see.”

“Gentry is a fighter,” said sophomore linebacker Danny Stutsman. “You hate for something like that to happen to such a good kid. But thankfully he's back here on the field. We're praying for him. That's like our brother, so when something happens like that, it really hurts. But we know he's going to be strong.”

OU’s medical team quickly had Williams in an ambulance, and he was immediately taken to a local hospital and was discharged that evening.

“It was great,” Washington said. “Just doing their job. Everybody has a job on this staff, and they just did what they were supposed to do to help Gentry out.”

Teammates didn’t get to ride along, but figuratively speaking, some of them never left his side.

“Dudes were following the ambulance back,” Stutsman said. “That just shows what family we are.”

“We all went to the hospital,” said Washington, “checked up on him and made sure he was good.”

Head coach Brent Venables briefly discussed the incident on Monday and said Williams is on the road to recovery.

“His labs have all checked out,” Venables said. “We're getting the labs again (Monday). He's got a cardiac clearance meeting (Tuesday). We'll see where that is. But I'm really proud of the response by the medical staff. We're always looking at ways to make sure that our players' safety and health is first and foremost. I'm just thankful that Gentry appears to have gotten himself out of harm's way and recovered just fine.”

Now the Sooners await the talented Williams’ return to the football field. He played in 12 of the team's 13 games last season — 250 snaps in all, according to Pro Football Focus, including a lot of special teams — and showed speed, reaction, instincts and ball ability, with an end zone interception against UTEP.

“We know he's going to fight through it,” Stutsman said.

“Gentry is a very bright guy,” said Bowman. “He’s very uplifting and has a great attitude about everything. He’s been great. I know he can’t wait to get back out here and compete.”

“Yeah, same old Gentry,” Washington said. “Obviously he can’t play right now, but once he’s back, I know he’ll make a huge impact for us.”