Senior defensive end John Williams wasn’t in uniform or on the sidelines for the Tennessee-Chattanooga game. Stoops said Monday it appears Williams has left the team for good.
“Right now John is having a hard time and right now we don’t anticipate him rejoining the team,” he said.
Williams was granted a sixth year of eligibility following last season. He suffered season-ending injuries three times during his career. Williams went through preseason practices with the team. But he decided he no longer wanted to play football.
“In the end you have to want to play,” Stoops said. “You have to be willing to do the things necessary to play well. It’s unfortunate, but in the end we have to play this Saturday, so we’re going to get ready to play.”
Gustav effect
OU has four players from Louisiana on its roster feeling the effects of Hurricane Gustav. Safety Nic Harris and Chris Brown are both from Alexandria, La. while Frank Alexander is from Baton Rouge. Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Alex Williams is from New Orleans.
Stoops said Williams left Norman to help his family evacuate the city.
“Hopefully, he’ll be back tomorrow,” Stoops said. “He’s the only one I know of right now.”
Brown said he talked to his mother before Monday’s practice, but the hurricane hadn’t quite hit Alexandria quite yet.
“I guess it was just hitting and had just really started to rain there,” Brown said. “Anytime a hurricane comes around now everybody just holds their breath.”
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
Williams may be done
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