Washington Huskies QB Demond Williams Jr.’s transfer decision goes beyond disappointment

First reaction? Demond Williams Jr. had to do what’s best for him. 

College football is cutthroat these days, with coaches and players regularly leaving their schools on a moment’s notice to earn more money or improve their chances at a title. 

Loyalty is a defunct word in that world these days, so when Williams, Washington’s starting quarterback, announced Tuesday that he is heading for the NCAA transfer portal, I thought, “You can boo him, but you can’t blame him.” 

Then I started to learn more. On second thought — booing seems like the more appropriate reaction. 

It isn’t uncommon for players to leave their schools in the Name, Image and Likeness era — where stars can earn seven figures annually. It may sting when it happens to your school, but if you look at quarterbacks such as Cam Ward (transferred from Washington State to Miami before being a Heisman finalist and going No. 1 overall in the NFL draft) or Fernando Mendoza (transferred from Cal to Indiana before winning the Heisman), one can see why athletes do it. 

But Williams’ actions don’t have the same vibe as previous QBs who have left for potentially better opportunities. This one just feels … wrong. 

For one, Williams reportedly signed a massive contract Friday to stay in Washington. And by the sound of things, it may end up keeping him with the Huskies despite his portal entry. 

According to Yahoo! college football writer Ross Dellenger: “Demond Williams signed what Washington officials describe as a legally binding revenue-share contract with the school. The university plans to pursue legal avenues and has been in contact with officials from Big Ten [Conference], who draft rev-share contracts for its league members.”

In other words “you can try to leave, but good luck.” Probably not a recipe for success if your star QB has to play for a school he tried to depart, but either way, this story isn’t going away anytime soon. 

Second, Williams posted his social-media transfer announcement during a memorial for former UW soccer player Mia Hamant, who recently died of kidney cancer at 21. Many of his teammates were in attendance. He knew that. To post his decision to enter the portal during the service was, at best, the result of horrible advice from this PR team, and at worst, a stunning lack of self-awareness. 

This wasn’t Marshawn Lynch taking to Twitter to announce his retirement during the Super Bowl 10 years ago. This reeked of a me-first moment when all the attention should have been on a beloved athlete taken way too soon. 

Look, there is no doubt that Williams — who will be a junior next season — is a product of this circuslike college football landscape. It’s hard to blame players for weighing their options when there are incessant opportunities to make more money, raise their draft stocks or inch closer to a national title.

Coaches act similarly. Lane Kiffin was this season’s coach at Ole Miss, a team that is in the College Football Playoff’s final four, and he bounced on the Rebels before the postseason to take the same job at LSU. You can hate the game all you want, but it’s hard to hate the player.

But I have a feeling that Husky fans might make an exception in this case.

Washington’s trajectory was skyrocketing under soon-to-be third-year coach Jedd Fisch, who won six games last season and nine this season while landing one of the best recruiting classes in school history. Now a playoff berth seems highly unlikely for UW, and the unceremonious exit from one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the country is the reason. 

A couple of things. 1) Williams is 19. Few, if any, of us look back at all the decisions we made at that age with pride. 2) This story is raw. Emotions are driving a lot of the reactions right now from fans and media who haven’t had the chance to take a breath. 

Even so, this transfer-portal announcement seems to go beyond mere disappointment. It’s in the anger territory. Williams made sure to thank all the fans and the “Seattle community” in his Instagram post Tuesday. Not sure the thanks is going to be returned.