Tulsa safety Cristian Williams' playing career cut short

It was a very rough week for those in the Tulsa football program, especially so for safety Cristian Williams.

Coming into his own this season in his junior year after gaining valuable experience the previous two seasons, Williams was given the tough news that his playing career at Tulsa is over.

A spinal cyst is the culprit, and it will keep him from playing football again. Williams, a 6-foot, 190-pound junior from Dallas Lincoln HS, communicated on Instagram Saturday that he would not be playing again.

“Cristian, you know, been a tough week for us from that standpoint, and Cristian is coming off his best game ever,” said Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery. “Led our team in tackles last week, did an outstanding job, was playing at a really, really high level.”

Williams had 11 tackles, including one for a loss, in Tulsa’s 28-21 loss at Texas last Saturday in Austin.

“He noticed some things in fall camp, and it had nothing really to do with football. I mean, he was coughing and sneezing, started feeling some pains in his right arm,” Montgomery said. “All of that to be said, give credit to Dr. Boone and our team doctors."

Montgomery and Tulsa defensive end Trevis Gipson talked about Williams after Tulsa’s tough 29-20 loss to Arkansas State Saturday night.

“We did some X-rays, did some stuff, just to make sure. We thought it was like a little pinched nerve type deal. It reoccurred,” Montgomery said. “Give a lot of credit to Cristian, too. Was able to really articulate to Dr. Boone kind of what his symptoms were, and then Dr. Boone started doing a lot of research, and then I can't remember which day it was. He had five different MRIs done with a contrast.

“We found that he has and has had it since probably birth, but he has a cyst in his spinal column, and it has grown for whatever reason. Don't know. And there was too much -- there was not enough space really left with the cyst doing what it's doing.

“Now, he is perfectly fine. He's not in any type of tragic type situation from the standpoint of just being a regular person and health. That being said, if he took a shot or a load of some certain stance, this could paralyze him.”

With any talk of that type of possible injury, there was no decision to be made about continuing his career.

So for the student-athlete who majors in Organizational Studies, whose favorite actor is Tom Cruise, whose favorite athlete is Kobe Bryant, whose favorite NFL team is New Orleans (the city where he was born), and whose favorite sports movie is Carter High, there won’t be any more games to play in. But there will be plenty to watch.

“And so very, very tough on Cristian and our football team,” Montgomery said. “Very proud of Cristian and the way he's handling it. But at this point right now, his football playing days are probably over. They can do a surgery, but even if they do the surgery, you can't play again after the surgery.

“Like I said, he's going to live a great, normal life. He's going to get a great education right here that's going to carry him through. He's going to continue to be part of our family and a part of our football team and help us in a lot of different ways.

“But it's a pretty -- that's a pretty tough talk to sit down and have with a young man, and a guy that's been a great leader for us that has worked his tail off and was playing the best he's ever played."

Breaking the news to Williams was excruciating.

“The tough part about that is it's like dropping a bomb, you know, because for the most part, he feels fine,” Montgomery said. “This is one of those deals where he's playing the best he's ever played, he's right in the thick of it, he's just coming off the best game he ever played, and then all of a sudden to say I've got to pull your pads and it's over is tough.

“He's one of those guys that's very contagious in our locker room. He's still going to be a huge part of what this team and this football program is about. We're just going to have to do it in a different way now.”

It was especially tough news for Gipson, a junior starting defense end.

“Cristian is one of our hardest workers. He gives us a lot of energy when we need it,” said Gipson. “He’s been my roommate since we touched campus. I feel like that put an extra chip on our shoulder. We may not have shown in tonight, but going in to the rest of season we’ll be playing for him and our fans and everyone else who supports us.”

Williams finishes his career with 69 tackles in 27 games for Tulsa.