One day after his Seahawks return Luke Willson abruptly quits football, cites heart issue
One day after he was bopping to his favorite techno music, wearing the shortest of shorts and catching passes from Russell Wilson to begin his fourth stint with the Seahawks, Luke Willson has decided he’s done with football.
The 31-year-old tight end coach Pete Carroll calls “a gifted, spirited soul” cited a heart issue that had put him in a hospital this offseason as he made his announcement online Wednesday.
“After signing with the Seahawks yesterday, I have decided to walk away from the game of football,” Willson wrote on his social-media account. “This off-season I went through some health issues and spent numerous days in the hospital with a severe pericardial effusion. That situation has really challenged me as an individual and changed my perspective on a lot of things with regards to my life. After reflecting on everything yesterday and being in the building, I have decided that it’s time for me to begin with the next chapter of my life.”
Pericardial effusion is the sometimes-dangerous buildup of extra fluid in the sac, the pericardium, around the heart. It can prevent the heart from pumping normally, as described by Cedars Sinai hospital’s health library.
“I want to first say thank you to the Seahawks organization. I am eternally grateful for everything this organization has given me. Thank you for the memories, the life lessons, and the all of the relationships I have built,” Willson wrote.
“To the city of Seattle and the 12s: The love and support you’ve shown me throughout my time here has been truly special. Thank you. You really are the best fans in the world.”
Willson, the joking, long-haired Seahawks’ fifth-round draft choice in 2013 out of Rice, is a native of LaSalle, Ontario, outside Windsor across the Canadian border from Detroit.
“And last but not least, to my homeland, specifically Windsor/Essex county and hometown, LaSalle, Ontario: Thank you,” Willson wrote. “The opportunities I was given throughout my childhood gave me a chance to dream and one day make that dream a reality. Thank you to the coaches, teachers, and everyone who has been a part of this journey. I have always tried my best to be a true representation of the characteristics that make up our area. I hope I’ve made you proud.
“Football is really all I know. It’s all I’ve done for the last 2 decades. I’ll be honest, I have no idea what’s next at the moment, but whatever it is, you can sure that I will bring a lot of energy to it.”
Willson has been part of some of the most memorable moments this franchise — and locker room — has had the last eight years.
He won Seattle’s only Super Bowl title as a rookie with the 2013 team.
The following season he caught the two-point conversion pass from wildly scrambling Russell Wilson, one of the more improbable plays in Seahawks history from their crazy comeback win over Green Bay in overtime of the NFC championship game in January 2015. That wild victory got Willson and Seattle into their second consecutive Super Bowl.
Willson was also the creator of the Seahawks’ Techno Thursday stunt of short shorters and blaring techno music that tickles about half the team — and ticks off the other half.
The Seahawks had signed Willson Tuesday after tight end became a position of need for the team last week. Colby Parkinson re-injured the foot he broke last summer. That required surgery in 2020 and the 6-foot-7 draft pick from Stanford last year missed the majority of his rookie season. Carroll said Friday Parkinson does not appear to need surgery this time.
Tyler Mabry has also been injured for much of this month, though he returned to practice behind starters Gerald Everett and Will Dissly Tuesday.
More than that, Willson quitting football leaves a hole Carroll and the Seahawks thought they had filled in the locker room the day before.
“I think it’s real important, you know. It sure is important in our program,” Carroll said of Willson’s persona and energy. “We’re trying to live on the high end of this thing. Keep the spirit up, keep the energy high. Expectations are really high to do that. It takes leadership and participation. Certain people just have more juice than others.
“Luke has always been a great part of that for us, and he’s just one of my favorites that we’ve had in the program over the years.”
This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 2:04 PM.
