Widell attended South Catholic High School in Connecticut, where he originally played the trombone in the school band.[1] In football, he played at tight end and nose tackle. He didn't start until his junior season. He received All-state honors at both positions as a senior.
In 1989, he started 2 contests at right tackle in place of an injured Gogan.[4] From games 10 to 14, he was a part of a platoon with Gogan at right tackle, with Widell being used mostly on passing situations. He missed the season finale with a sprained right knee injury.
On August 24, 1990, he was traded to the Denver Broncos in exchange for a seventh round selection in 1991 (#173-Leon Lett) and an eighth round selection in 1992 (#222-Mike Pawlawski).[5]
In 1993, he started a total of 15 games. He started the first contests at left guard, the next
five at center and five of the last six at left guard. He was declared inactive in the fifteenth game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was the team's long snapper on the punt unit.
In 1996, he appeared in 15 games with 14 starts at center. He missed 2 offensive snaps with a sprained knee for the first time as a Jaguar, during the second game against the Houston Oilers. He played the entire fifth game against the Carolina Panthers, despite having a torn meniscus in his right knee. He missed the next game against the New Orleans Saints, while recovering from knee surgery. He did not start in the seventh game against the New York Jets, but still took over at center in the second quarter. He played only in the first offensive series of the divisional playoff game against the Denver Broncos, after suffering a strained left calf, but still remained in the game as the long snapper on the special teams units.
In 1997, he started at center for the first 8 games of the season, before being passed on the depth chart by Michael Cheever. He returned to the starting lineup in the thirteenth game to replace an injured Cheever.
Atlanta Falcons
On May 11, 1998, Widell signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Falcons, reuniting with Dan Reeves who was his head coach with the Denver Broncos.[8] He was declared inactive in 14 games and played in only one contest. He was also a part of the Atlanta Falcons' Super Bowl XXXIII losing team. He was released on February 17, 1999.[9]