Luke Michael Willson (born January 15, 1990) is a Canadian former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). Willson played his first five seasons in the NFL for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

where he won

Super Bowl XLVIII Super Bowl XLVIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2013 Denver Broncos season, Denver Broncos and National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2013 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks to ...

. After spending the 2018 season with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

, Willson then had an offseason stint with the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

in 2019 before rejoining the Seahawks during the regular season. In 2020, Willson played for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

for part of the regular season before joining the Seahawks for the third time near the end of the season. Despite signing an extension with the Seahawks, he retired during the 2021 offseason. Willson played with the Canadian Junior National baseball team in 2008. In 2011, he signed with the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

organization, but decided to return to football.

Early life

Willson attended St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic Secondary School in

LaSalle, Ontario LaSalle is a town in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. It is a bedroom community of the City of Windsor, part of the Windsor Census Metropolitan Area, and located south of that city. LaSalle, along with Windsor, is the oldest French settlement a ...

, near Windsor, and was all-conference three times in football. He had 29 receptions for 638 receiving yards along with eight receiving touchdowns in his senior season. Willson was selected as the school's athlete of the year in both his junior and senior seasons, and graduated in 2008.

College career

Willson played as a tight end for

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

each year from

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

through

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. His position coach at Rice was former

tight end David Sloan. After reporting late to camp in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

due to his baseball commitments in Canada, Willson

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

as a true freshman.

Freshman season

Willson finished his redshirt freshman year with 7 receptions for 122 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.

Sophomore season

He finished his sophomore season in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

with a total of 33 receptions, 425 receiving yards, and 3 receiving touchdowns.

Junior season

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, he was selected to

Phil Steele Phil Steele (c. 1960) is an American sportswriter and analyst who focuses exclusively on college and professional football. He is considered a "highly respected prognosticator" within the sports media. His company, Phil Steele Publications, pro ...

's midseason All-

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

team as tight end. He was selected to the Consensus first-team preseason All C-USA and also was selected to the first-team of Dave Campbell's Texas Football All-Texas College preseason team before his junior season. He finished his junior season with 29 receptions, 313 receiving yards, and 3 receiving touchdowns. Willson was selected by the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

in the 2012 CFL Draft, but did not sign.

Senior season

Willson finished his senior season in

with a total of nine receptions for 126 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns, which earned him a spot in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks (first stint)

He was selected by the

in the fifth round of the

2013 NFL draft The 2013 NFL draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

out of

. Willson played in every game for Seattle in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and scored his first touchdown against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

. At the end of the regular season, Willson was graded as the second most valuable rookie tight end by

Football Outsiders Football Outsiders (FO) was a website started in July 2003 which focused on advanced statistical analysis of the National Football League (NFL). The site was run by a staff of regular writers, who produced a series of weekly columns using both t ...

, despite being the eighth tight end selected in the 2013 NFL draft. Willson's rookie season was capped with a blowout win in

; he caught two passes for 17 yards in the Seahawks' 43–8 victory over the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

. Willson's second season in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

saw an increased role when starting tight end

Zach Miller Zach Miller may refer to: *Zach Miller (tight end, born 1984), NFL tight end for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Chicago Bears *Zach Miller (tight end, born 1985) Zachary Joseph Miller (born December 11, 1985) is an Ameri ...

was injured after a Week 4 Super Bowl rematch against

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, eventually ending up on injured reserve. Willson caught a game-winning 23 yard touchdown pass with less than a minute left in week 8 against the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

. He later starred in a week 16 game against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

, catching three passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns. Willson ended the season with 22 catches for 362 yards and three touchdowns. In that season's

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, Willson caught four passes for 68 yards and a touchdown in a divisional round game against the

. A week later, he caught a key two-point conversion in the

NFC Championship Game The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semifinal National Football League playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional Ame ...

against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

, as the Seahawks rallied to defeat the Packers 28–22 to reached consecutive Super Bowls. In

Super Bowl XLIX Super Bowl XLIX was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2014 NFL season, 2014 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2014 New England Patriots season, New Eng ...

, Willson had no catches as the Seahawks failed to repeat as champions, defeated by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

, who rallied in the fourth quarter behind quarterback On March 17,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, Willson re-signed with the Seahawks.

Detroit Lions

After five years in Seattle, Willson signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the

on March 21, 2018.

Oakland Raiders

On March 29,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, Willson was signed by the

, but was released during final roster cuts on August 30.

Seattle Seahawks (second stint)

On September 25,

, Willson was signed by the Seahawks after they traded tight end

Nick Vannett Nick Vannett (born March 6, 1993) is an American professional football tight end. He played college football at Ohio State and was a member of the Buckeyes team that won the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship. Vannett was selec ...

to the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. Willson re-signed with the Seahawks on April 21,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, and was released on November 3.

Baltimore Ravens

On November 17, 2020, Willson was signed to the

' practice squad. He was elevated to the active roster on November 21 for the team's week 11 game against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after the game. He was elevated to the active roster on December 2 for the team's week 12 game against the

, and reverted to the practice squad after the game. He was promoted to the active roster on December 4, and waived on December 19.

Seattle Seahawks (third stint)

On December 30, 2020, Willson signed with the practice squad of the Seahawks. He was promoted to the active roster on January 6, 2021. Willson re-signed with the Seahawks on August 24, 2021. He announced his retirement the next day, citing a heart-related condition.

Personal life

Willson has attributed his success in life to being a part of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Willson had a Tuesday guest spot with BJ & Migs Mornings on 99.9

KISW KISW (99.9 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a mainstream rock format in Seattle, Washington. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and has studios in Downtown Seattle and a transmitter on Tiger Mountain in Issaquah. In addition to a standard analo ...

"The Rock of Seattle" radio station titled "The End Zone with Luke Willson." He has also appeared several times as an NFL analyst on Canadian sports television network TSN during the 2022-23 season and playoffs. He continues his appearances on TSN as a post-game analyst in studio.

References

External links

Rice Owls bio
*
"Luke Willson Opens Up About Super Bowl 49, The Pete Carroll Effect & Retirement,"
KJ All Day Podcast, YouTube.com, June 19, 2023. {{DEFAULTSORT:Willson, Luke 1990 births Living people American football tight ends Baltimore Ravens players Baseball people from Ontario Canadian baseball players Canadian Roman Catholics Detroit Lions players Players of American football from Ontario Oakland Raiders players Sportspeople from Essex County, Ontario Rice Owls baseball players Rice Owls football players Seattle Seahawks players