Club Shay Shay - Ricky Williams

Episode Date: March 1, 2021

On episode 23, Shannon welcomes in 1998 Heisman trophy winner, 2002 NFL rushing yards leader, yoga instructor, astrologer & host of the Curious Questions podcast: Ricky Williams. Ricky discusses choosing the University of Texas over USC, playing minor league baseball and college football, being drafted by the Saints, signing with Master P’s agency, and his 2002 First-Team All-Pro and Pro Bowl season with the Dolphins. He talks Shannon through his experience failing two drug tests in Miami, retiring early from the NFL and traveling the world on a journey of self-discovery before returning to the league. He discusses how astrology, yoga, and cannabis have helped him reconnect with his spiritual side, and how his career might have panned out differently if he didn’t receive so much negative attention. Ricky’s football career is known both for his on-the-field accolades and the heavy media scrutiny over his early retirement. In this honest & candid conversation, Ricky tells his side of the story.#DoSomethinB4TwoSomethin & Follow Club Shay Shay:                                                                 https://www.instagram.com/clubshayshayhttps://twitter.com/clubshayshayhttps://www.facebook.com/clubshayshayhttps://www.youtube.com/c/clubshayshay Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey there, it's Michael Lewis, author of Going Infinite, Moneyball, The Blind Side, and Liar's Poker. On the latest season of my podcast, Against the Rules, I'm exploring what it means to be a sports fan in America

and what the rise of sports betting is doing to our teams, our states, and ourselves. Join me and listen to Against the Rules on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search Against the Rules. Listen to Against the Rules on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hello, welcome to another edition of Club Che Che. I am your host, also the proprietor of Club Che Che. And the guy that's stopping by for a drink and conversation today is the 1998 Heisman Trophy winner. He also led the NFL in rushing.

He was once the NCAA rushing leader. He broke the Tony Dorsett record, since been broken. He's a holistic healer, yoga instructor, and a trained astrologer. None other than Ricky Williams. All my life, been grinding all my life. Sacrifice, hustle paid the price. Want a slice, got to roll a dice. That's why all my life, I've been grinding all my life. Ricky, how you doing today, bro? I'm doing great. Thank you.

So when people say, OK, you won a Heisman Trophy winner, you were the first round draft pick, you led the NFL in rushing, and then they get to astrologer yoga instructor what goes through your mind when you hear all that well i get it i mean i get it it is it's hard for people to understand and to be like how do you go from doing something that's you know so so masculine. Just something that's so, you know, woo-woo. And it was weird. I kind of had to wake up to it myself. And it was soon after I left the NFL and rushed in,

I started to read more and look at certain things and realize this stuff kind of interests me. And it interested me so much that I ended up retiring from the NFL and spending a year really studying and learning about these things. And then when I came back to the NFL, it was really strange because I then had these two parts of myself and I was trying to find a way to make them come together. And it took a long time. You know, at first it was just me sitting in my locker reading books. And then slowly I got more comfortable and I started talking to some of my closest teammates, asking them for their birth information, to start looking at their charts. And then I just slowly became more comfortable allowing these two parts of myself to come together.

And it's been weird and it's been strange. And I finally feel like I've come to the place where I'm coming out of this is who I am. You talk about that. You have a podcast, Curious Questions with Ricky Williams. Well, you talk about that. You have a podcast, curious questions with Ricky Williams. Well, you talk about astrology and your guests, they tell you their birthday, you delve into the astrology. So clearly you believe in that, that the signs aligning and the astrological, you, you, you believe in that.

Well, you know, it's, it's, you can say it's a belief, but, but most people don't really understand what astrology is you know to me it's just it's just a lens it's just a way to it's just a way another way to look at it you know and uh let me ask you a question so let me so let's just say for the sake of argument uh my astrological sign i'm And people say, well, you're a water sign, so that's a crab, so your hard exterior, you're soft inside, you're tender, you're caring, you're loving.

And then people start to believe that. Can you start to believe something that maybe you're not? Of course, of course. It's called the placebo effect. But let me give you an example. This is a great example, you being a cancer. So I'm guessing some of those things probably might be true. But astrologically, like if I was talking to a cancer, you know, if I was talking to you and you sat with me and you gave me money to look at your chart, I would say cancer is really about what you're here to do, what you're here to learn.

And so it's the kind of way I look at astrology. It's spiritual in this way. And if someone talks to you and they say, you know, you're here to learn, you know, cancer is about learning how to, like, keep your heart open, right, to go through stuff, right, to go through stuff, to get beat up, but still learn to keep your heart open. And so part of this process means you got to learn to know your own heart. Okay. And so part of that is if Emily comes in, when I think about cancer, because the only way you can truly know your own heart is if you have people around you,

where you feel comfortable and safe enough that you can share your heart. Right. And by sharing with these people, you get a better sense of who you are and it's easier to keep your heart open. Right. To me, that's the core basis of cancer. And if I'm talking to a cancer and they're like, that makes sense to me, right? Then it's useful. If they say, you know, that doesn't make sense for me, then it's not useful to them. And that's the way, that's the way it's just a lens to look at. So you're trying to get them to, to look within themselves, find something that you're saying that's going to be useful. That's going to be beneficial that they can go back out and use it to the best of their ability. That's exactly what I'm doing. And so what I'm doing with the podcast is I'm bringing people on

and I look at their chart and I look, because in everyone's chart, there's something interesting or unique that kind of jumps out at. And so I try to ask them questions, not necessarily telling them what I'm looking at, but just asking questions to see if I can get to that thing that I see. And very often, sometimes it's a question I don't even think is going to get there. But I ask the question, and the words that come out of their mouth are almost verbatim as the words you would read in an astrology book about this person's sign. And so I call it people speak their chart, you know? And so astrology helps us tune into, it's not mythology, but it is kind of like mythology, right? Like for us, right?

There's a mythology about a warrior, right? How do warriors, how we, right? Challenges come, we don't back down. We come up and we meet the challenges right also part of the warrior especially if you can get military and football is we got to come together as a team to accomplish this one goal and we have to be tough and trust each other right and so this is a myth right and as we put on the football helmet we decided as kids that we're going to be athletes we entered into that myth okay and so astrology can give you a sense of how to interact with the myths that you've entered

into and how to be more conscious of them so an example is like the warrior myth the old warrior myth is that we can't be sensitive right we have to hide our feelings we have to be tough right but as warriors as embodying this if we realize that doesn't work, that we can be a sensitive warrior, right? That's a new myth. And astrology can help tune you into the myths that you're unconsciously living out. So you can be more conscious and live them out in more empowering ways. So in order for a person to get the true meaning, the true understanding of their, his or her astrological reading, they have to come in with an open mind. Of course. They can't be, they can't,

but I made this a bull job. I'm just doing it just cause, but you have to be open-minded. You have to be, have a willingness. Well, to a certain extent, I think to get the most out of it, yes. To get the most out of anything, you have to have an open mind. But I'm telling you, people that come in that are skeptical in the way that I explain it to them and approach it, every single person, they walk. It's an interesting conversation that provides a different way to look at it that can be useful, very useful. At least it has been in my life. Okay. And also the yoga side. So how do they merge?

Because obviously yoga is a very peaceful, you're trying to get in tune and in step with yourself your body you're one yeah so they're they're very much related and the thing about astrology is is when people say astrology most people are saying something completely they're different they might be related because they're related to the stars but truly astrology is like a language and so depending on who the person is and how they're looking at it, they're going to use astrology differently. I'm a spiritual person. So I'm always looking for how to connect the dots in life, right? To me, where I find peace and yoga is how to understand the big picture. And so growing up, I grew up Christian. And I'm telling you, as a kid,

my favorite thing to do in the world was Sunday school. I love to hear the stories about Jesus, because again, religion gives us the way to try to understand the world but you know I got 16 and then they said you got to wait married to have sex and I was like I need to find me a different religion so I let go but but you know when I found yoga it was like coming home you know a more expansive way to understand how everything works. And then I found astrology from my yoga teacher. And I was like, wow, this is something I can actually work with. This gives me a way to look at the world where I can see how things are connected, how things make sense.

You are a big cannabis advocate. So which came first? Was it cannabis helping you get to where you are now or was it that you started doing this and like to to reach that inner self to where you found calm where you found a peace yeah well i think the ultimate goal for me was to find some kind of peace and i found peace in cannabis and in that peace my mind started to expand and i started to look at the at the bigger picture. And so my relationship with cannabis over the years has definitely evolved the same way the

relationship with our country's relationship with cannabis has evolved. And I just think I just was fortunate enough to be kind of on the leading edge of that. And so as an advocate, it's from my own personal experiences. I've used cannabis in ways that have enhanced my life. And I've also used it in ways that have gotten me in trouble. And so I've learned from those experiences. And I think I have something meaningful to say about it. I think the thing is, Ricky, is that you have a very unique perspective. Is that it seems to me, I mean, there are some people that smoke and they just smoke just to smoke.

But you strike me as a guy that not only did you smoke but you try to learn the origin and the different strands and and and what effect that it has on the body okay which one is going to give me to that place that where i'm calm and that i can do something meaningful in society that can help my brother and they can help my fellow man and then so what was that process like? Yeah, that's a great question. So it really started with this big question. You know, I found myself, you know, I failed another drug test and instead of like going through all this stuff,

I called up Dr. Brown and called the NFL and said, don't worry about me. Don't worry about me. Don't worry about me. I'm good, you know? And so I started traveling around the world a little bit. And I had this question of, okay, I kind of just gave up everything that I've ever worked for, you know, and it's connected to this plant. So is it true what everyone's saying, that I'm just a pothead and a loser and I'm throwing everything away? Or is there something else going on here? And, you know a loser like that didn't feel good and so I went the other direction and I said I'm going to learn as much as I can about what's really going on here yeah so you travel around the world so obviously you've probably tried cannabis in each different

country or location you know what I'm telling you you are a The sensitivity, because of the things that I'm about to say, you're already asking the question. So that was the crazy part of it, is I started traveling around the world and going places where nobody had any idea who I was, right? Right. And everywhere I'd go, I'd end up, and somebody, some nice, kind person would come up to me and offer me to smoke something. Like, I called it the weed fair

because i i mean i'll be in this i was on a bus in fiji and this dude this indian dude walked to the back and he sits down he offers me some rice and then we start talking he's like hey do you want to you know my uncle has some plants you want to go smoking and like you know break bread together and i was like sure i was in samoa same thing happened i was in australia the same thing happened so i started to be like you're's something. You're very trusting, Ricky. There's something. Hey, I am. I can't help it.

There's something going on here. And so I just followed that scent. So when you, how old were you when you first started smoking marijuana? So the first time I smoked, it was was I was a junior in high school. I grew up in San Diego so it was a wrap. Yeah yeah yeah. I was a jock though so it was like a one-time experience and I didn't like it and so I didn't really I didn't really mess with it and then I got to college and my my college roommate he he spoke and so sometimes on Fridays the guys would come around and they would pass it around and I would just do it social but you know I wasn't really into it and then it was my senior year um it's funny one thing about my

senior year we played a lot of Madden I played with the Broncos so you were it's you were an inspiration you were an inspiration to me that year that was so so so I was running for the Heisman and and I my girlfriend my girl for two years, okay? We broke up and it's like right after we broke up, I went to her house to bring her stuff back and your quarterback on the football team's car was parked. Uh-oh. That's what started you smoking for real. For real.

Your team had a bad door to you. He was handing the ball to you in the front and then stealing you. He's tackling you from the back. Oh, my dirty rascal. That's how it started. And I was like obsessing about this. And my friend was like, dude, you got to chill.

And so he just brought it out. He said, you got to hit this. And I did. And it was the first time where I was like, OK, I wasn't obsessing. I wasn't thinking about it. I could sleep and relax. And from that moment, I noticed, OK,

this can be helpful to me so when you failed your first so did they not test in college or did you never fail a test in college or did they keep that hush hush so again this this was this was way in my senior year and it was just that one experience where I realized okay like this is nice but I didn't become a smoker then. It was just when I had that first experience. And, you know, they weren't going to test me. I was running, you know, so they were, but I wasn't smoking anyway. And then I got into the NFL and again, I kind of smoked on and off, but I wasn't a smoker. So it was easy to pass the drug test. What got me was when I was in New Orleansleans they always tested us during um training camp right when i got traded to miami they tested in otas and nobody i guess nobody

knew i smoked so nobody told like passed the message to me and so you know i i went in that morning and they were like we're drunk testing i was like damn and so then i got into the program but really i wasn't even a smoker you know i just would smoke occasionally but then I got into the program, but really I wasn't even a smoker. You know, I just would smoke occasionally. But then I got in the program and it became like this big issue. And then I started to realize that cannabis actually helped me, you know, because it was like when I was there and I could use it, I didn't realize it. But when it was taken away, I started to realize, wow, this was really doing something to help me deal with all the stress and take care of my body. And so although I was being tested, you know, I found a way that I could take like two hits the day after I got tested

and I would be clean for the next test. And this worked for like a year and a half. But then we were playing the Eagles on Monday night. And it was like the game that eliminated us from the playoffs and I separated my shoulder. And I just was in a bad spot. So I think I took a little bit too many hits. So you took too, too many.

I took too, too many. Dude called me in the morning and he pissed at me and then it came back. And then so that was number two. And number two failed test, I was a month away from being out of the program. But number two failed tests they um they they fine you for four seventeenths of your salary right and and so because of that they have to tell the team to take it out of your check so then the team knows

right right and so i went into the office and they were like whatever and i was like fine and so it was like okay and then i appealed the test because the a bottle was like 0.157 the b bottle was underneath so i felt like i had a case that i barely failed that one too many hits i barely failed the test and so and so they came back and they said okay if you agree to stay in the program for eight weeks of the season then we'll you're you're free right and so i said that's two months rick you got two months no here not two not one just eight weeks cold turkey you out the program completely you can smoke much as you want yes yes it was i was right right in front of me and at the same time i started thinking about is this really what i want to be doing with my life you know as i started i started i started reading i

started opening my mind and realizing you know if i stay doing this for the rest of my life, am I going to have the time and the energy to be able to have the experiences that I want to have? And I started thinking about it. I got enough money that I could live comfortably for the rest of my life. Then I started thinking, why am I even doing this? And so then I had to make a decision. Right. I had to make a decision decision i made is and again when i made this decision i in my in my heart of hearts i truly believe i was never coming back not coming back to the nfl not even coming back to america okay i was on one all right i'm not gonna lie but but i i needed

that you know i needed that i needed that and and and thank goodness right and it's so interesting how it all comes full circle okay because you know i was out in australia you know everyone in my mind everyone i thought i lost my mind but my my own personal path was i was reconnecting to my spiritual roots as i was traveling i felt this deep connection to jesus christ and i literally i wasn't really a huge reader but this point in my life i was trying to read everything i could about jesus and and i ended up you know reading the gospels and i And I came across a verse in Matthew and it changed everything for me, right? The verse was, if you give up home, family, you know, you give up everything and come looking for me, it will all be returned to you. And I found solace in that.

I found solace in that. And it came true. I was able after that year away to find myself. I was able to come back, reintegrate into the Dolphins, have another thousand yard season, finish my career with 10,000 yards rushing. And I feel like I was able to make it all work, you know, to turn something that could have turned into a crash and burn story to turn it into an uplifting story. Ricky, do you believe you said you started smoking what really got you on the path to smoking continuous was the situation with your girlfriend. Do you believe she broke up because she was seeing the other guy or you guys wanted to separate and then it bothered you because it was a teammate?

Because I don't know. Would you have started smoking if the guy was on the basketball team or the baseball team or just a regular Joe Smoke walking campus campus it would no it was a lot it was a lot so so when i was in um when i was in college i used to play i played minor league baseball right and so and so at the end of at the end of finals in may i take my last final i get in my car i drive to florida and start playing baseball then i come back in august right so, like, the day before I left, crazy college. So the day before I left, like, me and my girl, we got into an argument. You know, and it was just, we're like, okay, let's break up.

You got into an argument before we even, she started it, Ricky. This actually, it was mostly my fault, but this time it actually was her. But anyway, so we got into an argument, and then I was like, all right. And then I went to Florida, but after a week, I was like, yeah, I missed her. And so we started talking and started kind of like working on the relationship. And at the time, her and the quarterback were friends, and I knew they hung out and they were hanging out. And I was like, oh.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on. Time out. Time out. Let me get a time out. I'm going to take a full time out, not a 20 second. I need a full time out. You mean to tell me you got a girlfriend and you allow her

to hang out with guys? She talking about, oh, that's my friend? Well, because we all hung out together before. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We, we. But ain't no we. Ain't no once I leave, he can still hang out. Oh, hell no. You must have been smoking then, Rick. I learned the hard way like you said i'm too

trusted you said yeah i'm too trusted i'm too trusted and so it's funny so i came back you know and we worked it out and so i came back and she i was driving back from new york to come back to training camp she met me in tennessee you know in nashville and we drove the rest of the way back and we decided okay we're gonna work on this and as we're starting to like go through she's like spending a lot of time with dude like shooting pool and and i'm thinking okay it feels kind of strange but yeah yeah yeah but they're friends and so and then it was we played we played ucla it was the second game of the year and it was the day after i was sitting in the hot tub and somebody and somehow my girlfriend's name came up and somebody was like that's not ricky's girl that's blah blah's girl and i was like wait a

minute i was like wait a minute i was like wait a minute wait a minute i popped out of the hot tub and i went back we had payphone we're doing the payphone in the trade in the facility and i i picked up and i called her and i and i told her what I just heard. And she had that pause, you know, when they pause. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you got it. You got it, you got it. Because she thinking, she pause, she thinking of a lot of tenure. Because she could have just came up and said, no, no, that's not true.

She paused. Because you called. Rick, that one hurt. I knew, I knew, I knew, I knew. And then I was like, okay. And I just, you know, then I just, he got bad. And like you said, and then the crazy part, in the UCLA game, the starting quarterback was my homie.

He hurt himself. And then the backup quarterback, who is still married, they're still married. And it's a happy story. Well, you can't be mad about that, Rick, because they got married. That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. That's why, but at the time, I didn't know that. Now, that's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. That's why, but at the time I didn't know that. Now that's why I'm good with it now.

One time, one time I lost my temper. One time I lost my temper in practice. One time. I kept it together. You fired on him, didn't you? You fired on him, didn't you? No, no, I just, you know, he called like an audible or something wrong and I just threw the ball

at his helmet real hard from up close. But I lost my cool. I lost my cool for that one moment. But the thing is, look, okay, maybe they were meant to be together. But y'all not meant to be together while we together. Y'all can't be working on that behind me. Exactly. That's all I'm trying to say.

That's all I'm trying to say. I'm a senior. I'm about to go. It's a great time to leave. You got, you know. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay's all I'm trying to say. I'm a senior, I'm about to go. It's a great time to leave. You got, you know. Yeah, okay, okay, okay. But I can understand now, see. I can understand what started you on that path.

Cause you know, probably up until then, Rick, you probably smoking that mild strain. Probably on a scale of 10, probably a three or four. But once that happened, you probably went to that heavy stuff like nine. I'm telling you, I wasn't even smoking before then. I just was like, just natural good.

Everything was good. Everything was good. After that, you know, it wasn't so good no more. So I had to find my balance. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast,

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Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, you win the Heisman. You break Tony Dorsett's own hand. You rush for the rep. You break the record.

You win the Heisman. You're a first-round draft pick. Mike Dicker, who's the head coach of the New Orleans Saints, trades an entire draft to draft Ricky Williams. And you do something that was very unique and surprised a lot of people. You hired a guy to represent you that had never represented an NFL player.

Now, this is not a shot at masterpiece because he's done a great job in the record industry. He's done a great job since of building his brand. But what made you sign with a guy that had never represented someone in this field? Yeah. So, like I said, I played minor league baseball. And so I had a baseball agent that I liked. And so I just figured as I went into football, I just would keep the same agent. And so it was easy for me to tell all the agents, you know, to stay away, but, or the runners to stay away. But Master P had a runner, his dude named Terry. And Terry was just

cool, you know, and me and Terry, we just were kicking and we could talk and he was the one person I could be real with. But I didn't think it would turn to anything because I already had an agent. agent well something fell apart in that agency and they and they fell apart so then i was like in need of an agent and so i started talking to different agents and it just felt like slimy and so in my mind i thought you know i'm a you know i'm gonna be a top you know five well i think i'm gonna be a top three but anyways i think i'll be a top three pick and that, you know, I could be creative with this contract and do it the way that I want to do it. And then I could do it in partnership with with P's company, no limit sports.

And the bigger thing was was really just to make a statement, you know, that we don't have to do it the same way that you can do it different ways. Right. And so and so when I started working with the agent, Leland, Leland Hardy, we started working on the contract negotiations. It got down to the point where he laid out three options for me. He said, this option will make you the highest paid rookie contract in the history of the NFL. This one will give you a big signing bonus, but we can put incentives in for you to become the highest paid player. And then the middle one is kind of in between where you get a big chunk of guaranteed money,

but we have some more mild incentives. And I said, and this is all on me. I said to trust it. I said, I want the one where I get the signing bonus for what I've done before, but I want to have to earn, I want to have to earn the rest. And what we did is by winning the trophy and being the all-time ncaa russian champ you earned that signing bonus and whatever else but see and that's where the agent supposed to come in and work in your best interest ricky i cannot in good faith allow you to sign this contract because x y z might happen and then you won't reach these incentives. He did. He did. He did say that.

He did say that. But it's my bonehead, and I acknowledge it. You said it. The one thing that I didn't see, that I didn't realize, is what if I get hurt and I can't play? The first preseason game. First preseason game, high angle spray. It happens quickly.

Plus, also, what you learn from playing in the NFL, they also can control whether or not you get those incentives. So instead of Ricky getting his 25-30 carries, all of a sudden

they give Ricky 15-10 carries instead of Ricky playing. It happens. It happens. It happens. It happens. I mean,

my second, my third year in New Orleans, I was leading the NFC in Russia. We got towards the end of the season. We didn't make the playoffs. They started playing deuce for us. They started playing deuce for us.

I started playing deuce for us. So this is going on. So were you smoking in New Orleans? Not my rookie year. I started smoking in my second year after I broke my ankle. You know, it was one of those things where my rookie year, again, I missed four games my rookie year, and I played hurt pretty much every game but two.

And so I underperformed, obviously. And so that was the first time in my life that I ever underperformed on the football field. And so when I came back that next year, Ditka was fired, a new coach who didn't like me because I was tied to Ditka, but I was out to prove myself. And I did. You know, I got to week 10

on my thousandth yard, week 10, my thousandth yard, broke my ankle. And that's when I started smoking again, you know, dealing with like, damn. Dealing with, you were depressed. I finally was, I was, yeah, I was finally making, I was finally making it back and then this, you know? And part of it, it got me thinking, okay,

like if there's got to be something more to life than just this up and down writing on whether my success on the football field defines my happiness. And to me, I had to find something else to define myself by. Had you been allowed to smoke, do you believe your NFL career would have been more productive that now you had a great career I mean 10,000 yards is nothing to sneeze at but do you believe you would have had even a more productive career had you been allowed to smoke of course no doubt

about it because so much you know after 2002 on the NFL and I came back so much of the story around me was it just was this heaviness in this, you know, the stigma around me and failing that test and leaving. And I think it just, it wasn't all that heaviness around my career, that it was just a cleared space that I could do what I do and run the football. And whenever, you know, there weren't those times where there was that space, I showed up, you know, I put up numbers. Let me ask you about the helmet situation because you did a lot of your interviews with your helmet on were you always like this or was it the expectations of

someone gave up their entire draft and the expectations of useful supposing to be one of these historically great nfl running backs because what did you always do interviews at the university of texas with your helmet on that was i go ahead i never i never did it so the way it started is you know so my first preseason game we go to miami i get a get an ankle sprain and then i'm already like feeling like damn you know this is not a great way to start right and the media the media just you know i remember one day it was we were in the training camp and it was raining. And they put me on a golf cart to take me to like this covered area to do an interview. And as soon as I sat down to do the interview, the media dude was like, take your helmet off. And I was like, dude, I just sat down. So that started off as kind of an act of rebellion.

You don't get to tell me what to do. And then it kind of turned into something that actually felt comfortable. Kind of like, you know, my humble way of saying fuck you to the media and you know because to me and this is my sensitivity to me you know it's like you guys expect me to be this this image of what a football player is but you don't even care who i am on the inside and so you say take the helmet off you don't really care who's under the helmet. You just care who's in the pads and all. So it just was a, it was an act of rebellion.

So once you did that, you just kept it on, said, well, after you, I'm going to keep, I'm going to do all my interviews from moving forward with my helmet on. Yeah, I didn't do all of them, but all the ones during the week, I would take my helmet off on Sundays for the post game interview.

Right. So you grew up in San Diego. You play football, obviously. You play baseball. Were there any sports, any other sports that you played? And did you always want to be an NFL player? I wrestled a little bit in high school. And I loved it.

I love wrestling. I ran track a little bit when we didn't make the playoffs when you're in baseball and I ran track. But when I was growing up, I was seven years old in San Diego listening to the San Diego Padres on the radio. So I was a big, big, big baseball fan, big Tony Williams fan. Tony Williams was the king. Yeah, he was. And so I wanted to be the right hand of Tony Williams. I wanted to, I thought, I thought all the way until draft day, until the NFL combine, actually, I thought I was going to be a right hander to win so i wanted to i thought i thought all the way until draft day until the nfl combine actually i thought i was going to be a professional baseball player

but i went to the combine and nfl teams were like uh-uh and i was like all right and so i and i was better at football to be honest so i i stuck with football so they gave you they basically nfl team says uh nah you either play in football or you play in baseball yeah yeah and i was like, if I was smart, I'm going to stick with football right now. But had they given you a choice, an opportunity, says, okay, do you feel you could have been a Bo Jackson, you could have been a Deion Sanders, played both sports?

I mean, I had a lot of improvement to make in baseball, but I would have loved to have taken a shot. And because at the time the owner of the Texas Rangers uh was a UT alum and the UT donor he uh he put me on the the pro roster for training camp with the with the Texas Rangers so I was gonna get my shot I was gonna at least get a shot um but I decided to stick with football you were drafted in the eighth round by the Phillies out of high school got a $70,000 signing bonus. Did you think about not even going to college, not even playing? I mean, obviously you could have went to college and played your own way.

That was never, never, never, it never, it never crossed my mind. I decided when I was 11 years old, watching Notre Dame football on NBC that I'm playing college football. I said, I don't care. I'm playing college football. And so when I don't care. I'm playing college football. And so when I was being recruited by the baseball team, I said, I want to be a baseball player, but I need to play college football. And so everybody knew the deal. The football teams knew I was playing minor league baseball.

All the baseball teams knew I was playing college football. You recruited Stanford, Cal, Texas. What made you choose the University of Texas? And Priest Home, one of my former teammates, was your host. So what led you to go, a Cali kid going to Texas? Yeah, so I made a list. I was one of the most highly recruited players in the nation that year. And so I made a list of what I, what I want out of the college experience. And one, I wanted to start as a freshman.

You know, that was a, that was a must. Two, I wanted to go to a big program where people could see me on national television. Three, I wanted to go to a place that had a strong education. Four, I needed to have a relationship with the, with the head coach. And five, I was looking for a program that was right on the verge of being great again.

And I wanted to be that Mississippi. And so it was interesting. I ended up taking my trip to USC because they were probably, they were like number one on my list. Texas was two. So I took my trip to USC and my trip to Texas, like back-to-back days.

So I got to compare both. And I went to USC and it was just all right. You know, the team kind of felt fractured. They kind of talked fractured they kind of talked trash about each other one of the dudes even told me don't come here we got too many running backs I love I love coach Robbins I love coach Robinson it was a program a big program it was on the verge so it had all those pieces except for it didn't have that family feel right went to Texas I I you know talking talking to coach John McAfee talking about how he's going

to use me as a fullback. I believed him and I respected his offensive mind. Hung around the team and the guys felt like a family. You know, there was one instance on a recruiting trip where Lavelle Peetney, our big receiver, in one of the back of the running backs, like, you know, throwing hands. And Lavelle, like, tagged him, like, three times.

I was like, damn. And you're like, I want to come here. Half an hour later, we're all back in the room like kicking it, right? To see that they could intensify like that and they could squash and be family again. To me, that spoke volumes to me. So it just, Texas checked off all my boxes.

Because you know, USC at that time was running back U. They had all the heisman trophy winning running backs and start you know uh garrett and oj and marcus allen and charles white charles white was a running back coach he was a running back coach too and i i i love i love charlie and again everything was there except i just didn't feel good being around the guys on the team to me i need to feel like family i need to feel like family. I need to feel like family. Right. So was it difficult for you to juggle playing minor league baseball and collegiate football?

That was awesome because I got to get out of summer workouts in baseball. I dropped 20 pounds and really would come back super fast. And so it was great. And I need variety in my life. And minor league baseball is hard. It's really, really hard, but it kept me sharp and it kept me in shape. Your junior year, the Heisman trophy finalists was Randy Moss, Peyton Manning, Charles, Charles Woodson. And did you actually, did you think you had a chance to win?

I think if you lead the nation in rushing and scoring, you shouldn't leave. You should have a chance. You shouldn't be up for the Heisman, but we in rushing and scoring, you should have a chance. You should be up for the high. But we were 4-7, you know, our team didn't play well. And so I think I was fifth that week. You broke Earl Campbell's, who the Tyler Rose, you broke his record, 1,893 yards, 25 touchdowns, six 200-yard games.

He's watching in Texas. I mean, you play the running back position. I mean, you play the running back position i mean you play the running back position and you go to university of texas that's who you're measured against yeah you know you so this this speaks to it so true story okay i was at usc and they had this this fancy trophy room with all the heisman trophies okay and i was at usc and i was doing a trip and i walked into the room and it was cool right i didn't it was just cool right that's cool texas right they had earl's heisman trophy in this dusty like glass like kind of hidden away and i remember like i walked out of the door and i looked at it and it was like

you know i could hear the the angels singing and it was like the message i got was if you come here you can get one of these yeah and so that that connection to earl and and they show me earl campbell highlights on my recruiting trip they took me to go meet him and so you know we we started to create that bond um you know I was christened by by Earl very very early on and sausage yes yes yes I mean I love Earl I mean he's he Earl. I mean, he's been so good to me. He really had my back through everything. Right. When I go back to the hall, I used to see him all the time.

You go back for your senior year. So what were your expectations? Obviously, you want to come back, possibly win the Heisman, maybe have the team in contention to win a national championship. So what was your thought process? Because there was a lot on the line, Ricky. You could get hurt all of a sudden. So like I said, like I said, when I was a kid, I said,

I want to play college football. And of course, when I was a junior and I led, you know, then I started to kind of listen to all the talk, agents reaching out, you know. And then one day I was in my SID, in the Sports Information Director's office, and he had the college football almanac on his desk. And so I just flipped through it,

and I kind of flipped to the all-time leading rushing stats. And I looked, and I was like, if I have a similar year to what I had this year, I could be the all-time leading rusher. And I was like, hmm. And I flipped a couple more pages to the all-time touchdown lead, all-time scoring leader.

And I was like, if I have a similar year that I had last year, I can break this record too. And then I flipped to all-purpose yards. And I was like, if I have a similar year than what I had last year, I can break this record too. And I was like, if I break all these records, there's no way I'm not going to win the Heisman. And so in that moment, I said, I'm coming back.

And the expectation was to break all three of those records and to win the Heisman trophy. And you did it. And I did it. Because you see your 2,100, over 2,100 yards, 27 touchdowns, school record, set 21 NCAA records, received 85% of the votes, the highs at that time, unanimous All-American, first ever AP

National Player of the Year. So you feeling good? You're like, okay, I did what I said I was going to do. Now I'm just going to sit back. I'm going to be at, like you said, you thought you were going to be a top three, at the bare minimum, top three. I mean, I was really thinking Cleveland Browns

coming back, an expansion team. Of course, Dog Pound needs a big running back. I thought for sure. I thought for sure I was going to Cleveland. Ricky, when you look at it, when you look back, you and Earl, you won the Heisman. So when they think of running backs, not every running back that comes in,

they get compared to Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams. You have the field name, Earl Campbell, Ricky Williams field. What does that mean? I mean, when you go back, what does that make you feel like? That they think that much and they thought that much of you. It says, this guy is so special to us. We don't want anybody to ever remember that he was here and what he did for this university.

Yeah, I mean, I first got that when they erected this statue back in 2012, this feeling of. And it was a healing moment for me, because all the ups and downs I went through, and, you know, the hits to my reputation, to come back to Texas and see they still found enough of me to erect a statue, and then to put my name on the field, it just speaks to, back to that question of when I was making a decision of where to go to school, you know, I felt that this is the place I could go where people are going to appreciate me. And it speaks to that. And, you know, I'm flying to Austin this week

and I'm going to meet with the athletics director and we're going to talk about how I can be more involved in the program. And so it feels really good to know that no matter what happens in my life, I always have a home in Austin, Texas. I'm looking at that 1990, looking at that draft, and Tim Couch was one, Donovan McNabb was two,

Akeely Smith was three, Edrin James four, you're five. But also in that draft, Torrey Holt, Champ Bailey, David Ball. Champ Bailey. Yeah, Dante Culpepper, Antoine Winfield Sr., whose son Junior just won the Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So while you look at it, Tim Couch didn't live up to expectations. Donald McNabb had a great career. Akeely Smith blamed that.

Edrin James, Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame. Rick, yourself, what does that mean? You guys had a nice little draft there. Torrey Holt was on the ballot this year. Eventually, probably within the next year or two, going to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Champs in the ballot this year. Eventually, probably within the next year or two, going to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Champ in the Hall of Fame.

You know, it's kind of that thing where you come out together. And so, you know, starting my junior year, doing the award circuit and getting to know kind of, you know, the superstars of my era. And then to go into the draft and, again, sharing that experience with each other and then sharing our careers with each other, you know, it feels like brothers going into the Hall of Fame,

especially Edgerton, you know. We came out the same year, you know, he was the first back, I was the second back and just watching what he was able to do, especially the first couple of years of his career playing in Indianapolis. And I often think, you know, what if the Colts would have drafted me instead and I got to play alongside Peyton Manning?

You think your career would have been different? I mean, my quarterback, my rookie year was two guys named Billy Joe. But hold on, Rick. Hold on, Rick. Hold on, Rick. There's a little thing. there's this plant that was that was that was starting to be involved in your life so how's that how's that gonna play out what do you mean the plant the plant what do you mean how's it gonna play out i'd have been good i'd have been good i'm saying i understand you would be good but how does that weigh in with the drug

test you know they tested like so we always always so about it i mean we can tell the story a lot of different ways but the way i'll tell it okay let's say i go to let's say let's say i go to indianapolis uh first of all i don't know like because it's the same time i'll know when the drug test come and if i was playing well behind paid men i'm not getting traded and being in that situation that's that's one way to tell the story but but i'm not even trying to say i'm not even trying to say i wish my career would have been different i'm just being hypothetical like you know like yeah it would be nice it'd be nice if i was remembered for the way i played football not for for the cannabis stuff but i feel good about my career i mean i know everyone that i played with has respect for the cannabis stuff, but I feel good about my career. I mean, I know everyone that I

played with has respect for me. I know that I enjoyed myself. I know that I was able to create a better life for my family and I was able to do all this other shit. So I feel, honestly, I feel good about where I left things. Explain to me the cover of ESPN

the magazine. You did the story, obviously Mike Dicker was the head coach. He trades an entire draft to move up, select you with the fifth pick in the draft. And you put a wedding dress on. Obviously, I mean, the first thing that comes to mind is Dennis Rodman. Was that one of your heroes?

Did he inspire you to do this? Not directly. I mean, it's interesting that right around the same time that I did that, I met Dennis for the first time. We actually hung out. We actually hung out. But I didn't make the connection until right now. So Dan Levitard, who at the time writing for the Miami Herald,

also writing for ESPN, the magazine came out uh and we became friends he did a story on me before I won the Heisman so we became friends and he said you know ESPN the magazine wants to do a story on you and Ditka and they and they want to put you on the cover so you know he said we're throwing around different ideas on you know what you can wear so this went on for like a month and a half and these different ideas and we don't know and then it was just kind of like let's just do this and he said well the newest idea is that since you guys were you know linked that we do you know you in a wedding dress and him in a tuxedo right when he said it i started laughing you know because i thought it was funny and so my response was like yeah let's do it that's funny and and then

when i got to the photo shoot i was was putting on this wedding dress, I started to think like, what's going on? What did I, what did I get myself into? And then after, after the photo shoot, I was in the limo with Coach Dick and we were driving back to the facility and he had a cigar to tan. He looked at me and he was like, I don't know what they had to tell you to get you to put that wedding dress on, but I never would have done that. And I looked at him and I said, why didn't you tell me that before? So he tell you after the fact, oh, I would have never done that.

Exactly. And for me, I just thought it was funny. You know, I didn't even think of how people would take it. But I still think, I mean, I still think it's funny. It just was interesting how, you know, people gave me a hard time about it. Right. Because the title, For Better or For Worse, because that's what kind of like a marriage is.

Richness and poor, sickness and health. So basically, you and Coach Ditka was joined, no matter what, for better or for worse, you and Coach Ditka was going to be linked forever. And again, I got hurt. Played well, he was fine. Right after the end of the season. So it was real.

So let me ask you a question. Your career in New Orleans, are you upset that it didn't go quite the way you anticipated? Or is there something you wish you could have done differently? Aside, obviously, you don't want to get hurt. But what could you have done differently? You know, I think i could have found uh mentors you know i think when i look back what i didn't have was was good mentorship you know someone that had been there and just it just kind of guided me a little bit so one thing i you know when i went to new orleans

i got a place way out in the suburbs you know until i kind of was isolated i think i would have i would have got like i would have, I would have just approached it differently. Right. I just would have approached it differently. You stay in New Orleans. You get traded to the Dolphins. You rush for over 1,800 yards, 16 touchdowns. Both are still Dolphins record.

Pro Bowler, first team All-Pro, 10 games of 100 yards. So your career gets off in Miami to a roaring start. And what happened after that? So in 2000, so 2002, lead the NFL in rushing. And I had a track record my whole entire life, you know, at every level. I constantly, like, improved and got better. And so in my mind, I'm thinking, you know at every level i i constantly like improved it got better and so in my mind i'm thinking you know after this year i'm thinking okay 2002 1800 yards to you know 2003 that means

2000 yards no i'm back i'm back i'm back in that mode and and you know i get in the best shape of my life i shape of my life and and we start the season and it just seemed like it was me against 11 other people. And so we played Buffalo on week two. I mean, I carried the ball 42 times. And it got to the point where, you know, and he admits it now. Coach Wanstead said, you know, I got to the point where I didn't believe in our passing game. I just believed in defense. And so we just are going to play defense and just hand you the ball.

And so, you know, that's what we did. And I just got beat up. I just believe in defense. And so we just are going to play defense and just hand you the ball. And so, you know, that's what we did. And I just got, I just got beat up and I just got beat up and I just got beat up and wasn't able to put up the same kind of numbers. After three years in Miami, you're the bell cow back. You walk away from it. Numerous failed drug tests at the age of 27, you say, forget, bump this. I'm out. What was your thought process behind that decision? Well, it was, I mean, part of it was a thought process. And I think it started with the thought process. But part of it was just noticing signs and signals in my life, you know? So after that, you know, 2003 season, you know, I had surgery on my shoulders in the off season.

And I started to think season and and I started to think okay I started to do the math here okay if we if this keeps on going I'm not going to be able actually to make it very much longer and I've been in talks with the Dolphins about renegotiating my contract and so we went to the Dolphins and I said you know I can tell if you guys don't do something and you just keep feeding me the ball like this is not gonna last you guys need to take care of me and you know and we started going back and forth and i think one thing i was really disrespected by you're gonna give me the ball all this time and then when i try to say take care of me you're gonna do this and so that was part of it the other part at the same time norb turner was offensive coordinator i love norb turner as

an offensive run schemer i mean he's he he can call the offensive run game he he got the head coaching job at oakland and my position coach joel collier became the offensive coordinator and so i was feeling good about this you know but still we didn't have a quarterback yet and so i was like okay we need to do something to make sure i'm not taking taking you know the beating and joel and and the offensive staff they kind of get into a fight and joel says fuck sure i'm not taking taking you know the beating and joel and and the offensive staff they kind of get into a fight and joel says fuck this i'm not being the office coordinator and then they promoted the tight ends coach who had never been an offensive coordinator to the offensive coordinator position and so i'm thinking um the contract negotiations i feel

disrespected i can tell this season is going to come down to me getting the ball in every play. And then, and all this drug test shit. I was like, it's just, it's just all the sides were saying, I need to be doing something else right now. And in the meantime, another thing in the meantime, between, between OTAs and, and, and training camp, one of my good friends was Lenny Kravitz's personal assistant. And they were, they were were on tour in Europe. And we had that time off, and she was like, why don't you come hang out with us before training camp? And I was like, I can work out in the hotels. I can stay in shape. So I got on a plane and went there.

And then just being in another country and just living like that, when I came back and started thinking about training camp, I just was like I don't got I don't got it in me I don't got it in me and so that was it that was so that was the thought process you got on a plane you flew to watch Lenny Kravitz tour through Europe it was time for you to get back on a plane you come did you did you come back you come back and started thinking man it's hot as hell it got worse so I came back. Actually, I came back, and then I became good friends with Bob Marley's brother, Richie. So I came back for a day, and Richie was like, hey, let's go to Jamaica since you have some time off. So I grew up a huge Bob Marley fan. And so we flew to Jamaica, and I went to Bob's hometown where he grew up. And it just was like a spiritual experience for me.

or Bob's hometown where he grew up. And it just was like a spiritual experience for me. And then from there, I flew to the Bahamas to meet one of my good friends in Texas, and we hung out. And I just started thinking, like, this kind of feels better than going back and going through training and getting broke up for no more money.

It just made sense to me. Like, okay, it's time for me to do something different. You heard, look, you heard what was said when people would call you crazy and say, my man, he crazy and he a pothead. He did yada, yada, yada. Did that affect you? You know, I think I was smart enough that when I,

again, when I retired, it was that feeling of what it felt like when I was traveling. So as soon as I was three, I started traveling again. I went back to that feeling. As I was free, I started traveling again. I went back to that feeling as I was traveling. I wasn't watching the news and this was before, you know, Twitter and all this stuff. So it didn't exist for me. You know, I mean, I would talk to my agent and I talked to my girls sometimes and they would be worried and stressed about things, but I was feeling so like alive and free. I'm telling you, I thought with that moment where I called Dr. Brown and I said,

I'm through, I felt like this huge weight lifted off my shoulders and I just felt free for the first time in a long time. So I didn't really care what anybody was thinking because I was feeling good. And, you know, as I kind of started to, to, to like get free, I started to realize, okay, you know, that I do have to finish living my life and so i started to make a plan okay how am i gonna how am i gonna get on with things so when you when you when you take that time off did you have a re-entry plan or did you just like okay i'm gonna stay here and like you said you uh you're an energy type of guy you're a field type of guy you said you left the nfl because it didn't feel right now you're an energy type of guy. You're a feel type of guy. You said you left the NFL because it didn't feel right.

Now you're in this situation because it feels right. So what was your re-entry? Are you just going to travel Australia, live in a $7 a day tent, you know, smoke a little bit, have a good time? But I mean, like, it's smoke. It's not smoke. I mean, it is a good time.

But what I consider a good time is sitting in my tent reading a book okay and that's that that's what i do when i smoke damn you can read right here in the states too you know you can read an apartment too with life it was different it was different reading with people when people don't know who i am but i i got to be more myself you know again for me i needed that and so and so i did i mean you're right on it i really was trusting the way i felt and the way I felt. And the way I felt at one time was I don't ever need to come back, you know? And so it's a funny story.

I was, I was, met this dude in the swamp in Australia and we decided we were going to go to the Himalayas. And so we were on our way, we were on our way to the Himalayas. So you just deferred a moment. You just about fly by the seat of your pants type of guy. Oh, let's go there. Okay, fine. Sure.

Let's do that. I'm thinking about going over here. Yeah, let's do that too. I mean, if I had the buddies, I mean, yeah, that's exactly how I was living. And so we were on our way to the Himalayas. We stopped over in Thailand for a couple of days. And on the day we were supposed to go to the Himalayas I was sitting in this little hostel hotel thing and in this little town in Thailand okay Randall and this little dude walks in front of me and he turns on the tv in the lobby and it's the the Raiders are playing the Buccaneers and I'm thinking how the hell how the hell is a football like I I try to get away I try to get away from this shit at the corner of the

globe and it comes right here and i took it as a sign i got on the phone and so that was my first re-entry back into america i got on the phone and i told my agent hey give me the next flight from bangkok back to la and then i flew back you so close i i came back later i made it a couple years later but this trip i was so i was so close i mean came back later. I made it a couple years later. I was so close. But I'm telling you, if I would have gone to the Himalayas, we would not be talking right now. I'd be going somewhere.

So during that time you're away from the NFL, give me a typical day for Ricky Williams. You would wake up at what time and do what? And then move forward. Yeah, so probably, so I was sleeping outside and I was in nature and I was finding even the sun was going down at six o'clock. I wanted to go to bed at six. So I was waking up at five o'clock in the morning

with the birds. And I usually get up and I would take a walk. I would take a walk down to meet Swamp Guide, to meet my friend Steven. And then we would walk into town and we would get the food for the day. And then we walked back to the hostel, the campground where I was staying, and we would talk and I would read. And that's really, that was my day.

It was really a lot of reading. Again, I was reading the Bible. I was just really getting into opening my mind. You returned in 2005. You played for Coach Saban. How was it playing for Coach Saban? What was he like? Because we know the success that he's had at the University of Alabama.

We know the success he had as a college coach. But for whatever reason, he wasn't able to parlay that success until NFL success. What was he like? So, you know, I played with him one year before before I got suspended and I loved playing for Coach Saban you know I I loved it because he was one of those coaches where you know you knew what the standard was and if you met the standard you were good if you didn't he was going to be on with it and he had this thing called the Tiger Board and at first you

know we thought this college is bullshit but it was a board right when you walk into the team meeting room and basically it was did you play college is bullshit. But it was a board right when you walk into the team meeting room. And basically, it was, did you play hard? That was basically what it was. So when you became this thing, or you walked in on Monday, and you just want to make sure that you're on the Tiger board.

And so it created where everyone was just playing hard. And we got off to a rough start, but we ended the season winning six games in a row. And we beat a playoff bound Charger team. We beat a playoff bound Patriots team. We beat a playoff bound Patriots team. So, and then that next year, you know, I wasn't on the team and so I don't really even know what happened.

But my experience with Nick Saban is I love him and I would play for him any day. Again, because he set the standard and it was all about show up, you know, get better, make plays. You mentioned the following year, 2006, you were suspended again, you failed a drug test. So at that point, did you think your career was over? I did.

I did think my career was over. And for me, the question I had was, you know, what next? They sent me to Boston and I met this doctor, Dr. Gunderson, and it was for part of my psyche vow. And we just had a really deep connection. And as I was talking to him, I was realizing, you know, maybe there's some stuff about myself that I'm not aware of that keeps getting me in these kinds of situations. And so I decided to move to Boston for six months. And I spoke to Dr. Gunderson five days a week six months and I also did groups and so I really did this deep immersion uh really attending to to my mental

health and uh what I got out of it was clarity and what I realized is you know football had got me to this point but what I really want to be doing with my life is closer to what Dr. Gunderson was doing and really helping people find themselves. And that really got my mind, like, straight about, you know, my purpose in life and what I'm here to do. And that really set me on the road that I'm on to now. I know you got to go, Ricky. You finished with the Ravens. You have a great season.

When did you know you were going to walk away and that this was it? I'm walking away this time, but I'm not coming back. So, you know, that year with the Ravens, it was nice. You know, we were this close from going to the Super Bowl. And I really love that organization. I love playing with Ed Reed and Ray Lewis. But I didn't get it.

I didn't, we got along on the outside, but I had some issues like with Ray Rice a little bit, you know, it's kind of like you know like it just felt like it was like this i was used to splitting time with ronnie brown and me and ronnie were like tight and we we competed with each other we wanted to see each other succeed but with ray it felt like this weird kind of competition and so it was this game plan you know and and it just didn't it just didn't feel good. It was kind of one of those things, you know,

if something doesn't feel good to me, I'm not going to keep coming back and doing it. And so I started thinking about... It didn't feel like a partnership. It felt like, you know... It didn't feel like... Yeah, it was like, you know, he was, like, staying, and then at the end of the game, he'd be like,

go take this class. And I'm like, what? Like, no, no. You know? And so at the end of that year, he'd be like, go take these glasses. And I'm like, what? Like, no, no. You know, and so at the end of that year, I had a choice to make. And really, after being that close to the Super Bowl, I was like, I was fired up. And, you know, I'm thinking I'm going to get in the best shape of my life again. I'm going to finish my career. I could probably play another two or three years in the system.

You know, I had my mind right. And then I had a text message from Bill Parcells. And, you know, i kind of was like i thought he would be like yeah go for it and his response when i when i shared my excitement was don't chase this thing too long you know you can you can contribute in other ways and that kind of hit me like a like a brick and it got me starting starting to think about things that's not what you wanted to hear was it that's not that's not what i wanted to hear it's not what i expected to hear but it it woke me up it definitely woke me up and within a week i called coach harbon and said um you know thank you for this opportunity but uh i think i'm i'm done i'm ready to move on and

do something different ricky you seem you seem now um at peace with your life with how your life turned out you did what you wanted to do. You played in the NFL. You rushed for over 10,000 yards. You've had success, but you seem at peace. You seem more at peace with your life now than I'm not so sure that you were ever at peace with the NFL like you are with your life now. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Well, I think towards my second stint in Miami, I really found a sweet spot where I've been through the ups and downs with the fans and the team. And they had accepted me and I was being more myself. I felt like I found a sweet spot at the end of my career in Miami. But definitely, I think the fact that I started building my life after football while I was still playing. I think of that first retirement was like my dry run where I got to find out what I was truly passionate about. And I started doing those things in the off season and in my off time. And so when I retired that second time, I was ready. You know, I had built a container of a new life for myself and I just continued to stay on that track. And I do feel, I do feel great for

where I am in my life right now. And I feel very fortunate for my experiences. And then I get opportunities to have conversations. I mean, again, one of my heroes. And I didn't ever, I don't mean this in the wrong, I didn't appreciate it, but this was an amazing conversation, you know? And I feel very fortunate to be able to share this, to be able to share this time with you. I appreciate it.

Let me ask you a question before we go. Did you ever play an NFL game high? No. Because Marshawn Lynch said, you know, he had to take him a shot of yak before he hit the field. And then he knew everything was going to be okay. But you never played a game high? I never even practiced high.

I was more just after work. Just let go of it all. Keep your press. Yes. Yes. Let it go. Get up and do it again. That was my thing.

So as one of the best, have you spoken to the NFL? Because you see now they've relaxed some of the standards. The amount of nanograms that's in your system now is not the same. You might have been able to be able to smoke and keep it clean. I would have been clean. I would have been clean. If they had those same standards, we would not be talking about cannabis right now i would simply be pretending i never

spoke so and guess what you would not you would not be the yogi you would not be the the astrologer that you are right now so as you said a lot of things happen for a lot of reasons and it puts you on a path to where you are now that had the the the testing been what it is now there's no way i wouldn't be me exactly i'd be a different ricky wood yes ricky i appreciate it bro i appreciate you coming on all the best in your life your podcast continue success bro i really appreciate it yeah thank you, Shannon. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news

and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.