For a third straight year, Washington Redskins Pro Bowl offensive lineman Trent Williams will be the American Diabetes Association Health Ambassador. Redskins Pro Bowl offensive tackle Trent Williams is once again making an impact on the diabetes community.
For a third year in a row, Williams is the Health Ambassador for the American Diabetes Association, focusing on the importance and wellness in life. Diabetes is a condition that hits close to home for Williams, who lost his grandfather to type 2 diabetes.
"As we all know, it affects a lot of Americans, not just around the world, but in America we have almost 30 million people living with disease," Williams said in a press conference Thursday. "It's almost catastrophic, and it can be without the right awareness. Obviously, I lost my grandfather at a young age to this disease so I have a special interest in working with the ADA every year."
Williams explained that the disease took, "a major part" of his life away from him because his paternal grandfather was the man that passed away from diabetes while Williams's mother never knew her father.
"Not being able to build that relationship with (my grandfather) – sometimes I still think about it," Williams said.
Almost 30 million Americans are affected by the disease, including someone being diagnosed every 23 seconds, according to the ADA.
"To me, I feel like it's something that I have to do," Williams said. "I owe it to my family and to myself to do. Truth be told, I'm probably predisposed to diabetes myself – help raise awareness to myself and read up on it and learn more about it. I feel obligated to do it."
This upcoming weekend is the fourth annual Tackle Diabetes game as the Redskins host the Cleveland Browns. The Redskins created this game four years ago to as a way to create awareness and highlight healthy living habits to help those affected manage the issues that come with the condition. This is the third year ADA has been the presenting sponsor of the game with the proud support of Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Williams has begun to live a healthy lifestyle beyond the necessary work put in to be top level athlete. In the summer leading up to last season, Williams lost more than 30 pounds to bring his playing weight down between 315-320 pounds. On top of that, Williams and Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson opened a gym this offseason – O Athletik.
"As I started my transformation over the last two years, the biggest thing that contributed to that, to me, was the diet," Williams said. "Opening the gym in Houston, O Athletik, I think it made it easy for me. Not only did I look at it as going to work out and get in shape and to become a better player, but I looked at it as a job. It's one of my first business ventures that I was heavily involved in. I felt like it was my duty to go in there pretty much every day."
Williams, who has two girls, plans on preaching the same dietary methods that he has practiced. However, they are "daddy's girls" after all and can get the treats they want.
"I kind of spoil them here and there," Williams said with a laugh. "But I definitely make a conscious effort to make sure, not too many sodas, eat their vegetables – just to continue to build a habit of putting the right things in their bodies so later on down the line it doesn't have to be a thing they have to force."
This Sunday the Washington Redskins take on the Cleveland Browns at the 4th Annual Tackle Diabetes game, presented by the American Diabetes Association and proudly supported by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. For more information on how to manage your diabetes, visit diabetes.org/teamup.
