Will Dissly (born July 8, 1996) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. Dissly was

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

's Gatorade High School Player of the Year in 2013.

High school

Born and raised in

Bozeman, Montana Bozeman is a city and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. Located in southwest Montana, the 2020 census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it the fourth-largest city in Montana. It is the principal city of th ...

, Dissly graduated from

Bozeman High School Bozeman High School (or BHS) is a public high school for grades 9 through 12 located in Bozeman, Montana. It is the second-oldest high school in the state of Montana.Burlingame, p. 321. In 2011, it had an enrollment of roughly 1,844 students, and ...

in 2014. During his senior year, the Bozeman Hawks football team won the state championship. He played on both sides of the ball, recording 57 tackles and 11 receiving touchdowns while being named Montana's Gatorade High School Player of the Year. He originally committed to

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a publ ...

in but then followed head coach

Chris Petersen Christopher Scott Petersen (born October 13, 1964) is a former American football coach who was most recently the head coach at the University of Washington. Previously the head coach for eight seasons at Boise State University, Petersen guided ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

to play at

College career

After his sophomore season at Washington in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, he transitioned from

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. His first reception, against

Sacramento State California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...

, went for a 27-yard touchdown. After garnering only four receptions as a junior, Dissly had 21 catches as a senior in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. Most reports projected Dissly as a blocking tight end.

Professional career

2018

Dissly was selected by the

in the fourth round (120th overall) of the

2018 NFL Draft The 2018 NFL Draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; it was the first draft ...

. He quickly became a trusted target of quarterback

Russell Wilson Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played his first 10 seasons for the Seattle Seahawks. Wilson is widely regarded ...

. In the season-opening 27–24 loss to the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

, Dissly had three receptions for 105 yards and his first professional touchdown in his NFL debut. He followed that up with three receptions for 42 yards and another touchdown in the ''Monday Night Football'' loss to the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

in Week 2. During Week 4 against the Cardinals in Arizona, Dissly was carted off the field with 7:52 left in the first quarter after a tackle by Cardinals' safety

Antoine Bethea Antoine Akeem Bethea (; born July 27, 1984) is a former American football safety who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football for Howard and was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the sixth round o ...

. Although the catch resulted in a 5-yard gain, Dissly's rookie season was cut short after suffering a patellar tendon injury, the same injury that had affected

Jimmy Graham Jimmy Graham (born November 24, 1986) is an American football tight end who is a free agent. He played only one year of college football at Miami Hurricanes football, University of Miami after playing four years of college basketball, basketball ...

in 2015.

2019

In Week 2 against 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 club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, Dissly caught 5 passes for 50 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Seahawks won 28–26. In Week 3 against the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, Dissly caught 6 passes for 62 yards and a touchdown as time expired in the 33–27 loss. In a Week 6 game against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

, left the game with an Achilles injury. He was later diagnosed with a torn Achilles and was placed on season-ending injured reserve on October 19, 2019.

2022

On March 14, 2022, Dissly signed a three-year $24 million contract extension with the Seahawks. In Week 8, Dissly had a forced fumble and a fumble recovery on special teams in a 27-13 win over the New York Giants, earning NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

References

External links

Seattle Seahawks bioWashington Huskies bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dissly, Will 1996 births Living people American football tight ends Players of American football from Montana Seattle Seahawks players Sportspeople from Bozeman, Montana Washington Huskies football players Ed Block Courage Award recipients