Leonard Williams set to play his 18th game of the season on Sunday
Seahawks defensive lineman Leonard Williams is poised to do something on Sunday that no living NFL player has ever done: Play in his 18th game in a single regular season.
Williams played in the first eight games of this season for the Giants, who hadn't had their bye week when they traded him to the Seahawks. Seattle had already had its bye week, so Williams has played in nine consecutive weeks since they acquired him, and he'll play in his 10th game for Seattle and 18th game overall this season in Sunday's regular-season finale.
Playing 18 games in a season only became possible in 2021, when the NFL added a 17th regular season game and an 18th week to the season. Williams will be the first player in the league to play for two different teams during an 18-week season and never get a bye week.
Williams is not actually the first NFL player to play 18 games in a season, however. In the early days of the NFL, schedules were not standardized and some teams played more games than others. From 1925 to 1930 the Frankford Yellow Jackets played more games than other NFL teams, and according to pro-football-reference.com, four Yellow Jackets players played in 19 games in a season, and another 11 Yellow Jackets played in 18 games in a season.
The last time an NFL player played in 18 games in a regular season was in 1930. Williams will be the first to do it in nearly a century.
