Ricky Williams Announces his Retirement from Football
I can honestly say that my love and passion for the game of football first began while watching Ricky Williams run.
When I was a student at The University of Texas in Austin, one of my fondest sports memories was watching Ricky Williams plow over the Texas A&M “Wrecking Crew” defense while breaking the (then) NCAA all-time rushing record and snatching up the Heisman Trophy on the way to the end zone.
I remember the cries of, “Run, Ricky! Run!”
I remember passing this giant of a man nearly every day on the way to class.
I even owned the burnt orange t-shirt that had a silhouette with dreadlocks striking the Heisman pose.
Many will say that getting Ricky Williams to stay for his senior season in college was Mack Brown’s greatest recruiting feat. It’s no wonder that the two were on campus at the same time, as together, they worked to get Texas back into the national spotlight from which it had been hiding for several years.
Several years since his Heisman winning season with the Longhorns, the Austin-American Statesman is reporting today that Ricky Williams has decided to retire from football.
Since his time at Texas, he’s had an interesting professional career, to say the very least.
After Mike Ditka traded the equivalent of an arm an a leg to draft him, Ricky played his first 3 seasons for the New Orleans Saints before being traded to the Miami Dolphins.
It was during his time in Miami that Ricky Williams ran into a bit of trouble. After being diagnosed with social anxiety disorder and clinical depression, the eccentric running back tested positive for marijuana. Due to this violation of the NFL’s substance abuse policy, Williams received a four-game suspension.
On the heals of the suspension and in desperate need to “find himself,” Ricky walked away from football in 2004 in search of something he hoped would be more fulfilling to him.
His hiatus didn’t last long, as Williams returned to the Dolphins the following season, publicly apologizing to the organization for his abrupt departure. However, it wasn’t long before Ricky once again tested positive for another illegal substance.
Suspended once again, Ricky headed to Canada to play for the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL before again returning to Miami where he stayed until the end of the 2010-2011 season.
In 2011, Williams signed with the Baltimore Ravens, where he spent the year as a back-up running back to Ray Rice. In the final regular season game of his career, Williams became one of only 26 running backs to ever gain more than 10,000 yards in his career.
Having been a fan of Ricky since his days on the Forty Acres, I have followed him throughout his unconventional career. Though I have often thought he was quite unique fellow and haven’t always agreed with some of the choices he has made, I have always respected his ability to bravely take the road less traveled.
As his time running the football comes to and end, the quiet and soft-spoken giant of a man ends a quietly outstanding professional career.
But in the end, Ricky showed us that life wasn’t just about football for him; it was about finding himself.
After his long journey, I truly think that Ricky has finally found an inner peace that many look so hard for, yet usually fail to find.
He seems to have found fulfillment.
When asked what he plans to do now, his answer is simply:
“Something really special.”
Run, Ricky, Run.
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