How will you remember Ricky Williams

[dbackdiehard17]

Hey guys!

Long-time member. Absolutely love this site.

In lieu of Ricky Williams' recent retirement I put together my thoughts on the former All Pro RB. I should preface this by saying that I was born in South Florida and that he came into the NFL shortly after I began intensely following sports and the Dolphins.

So with that in mind, here's the video:

I'm curious how you'll remember the unique Ricky Williams.

[DeFrank]

I'll always remember him as the only football player my best friend ever cared about. My friend, a sports deficient soul, cared and still cares extremely little about sports. But I one time left a Ricky Williams card at his house back when we were like seven years old. He actually became a sort of Dolphins fan because of it. He bought a sweatshirt, blanket... To this day, if I had him name any player in the league, he'd say Ricky Williams. So that's how he's always stuck in my mind.

[DDR]

This is how I will always remember Ricky Williams:

[AJM]

[sparkychewbarky]

With the Argos,

carrying 4 tacklers on his way to the endzone.

[NJTank]

I will remember Ricky Williams as a solid Running Back, that could have been great if he was not a pothead. The years he lost trying to get out of his contract to smoke dope were prime years he threw away that could have gotten him the Hall of Fmae numbers.

[pmoehrin]

Maybe the most free spirited guy to ever play in the NFL.

If there's one real knock I have on him its how he went out the first time. I can't blame a player if they decide they want to take a break especially if they play a sport like football where the physical toll is so high. But he could have definately handled it better then simply saying I'm out and I think if you press Williams hard enough even he will admit that, but I don't think he regrets leaving the sport the first time around one bit.

He certainly could have had a better career and I'm sure he knows that as well, but I'm not sure how much he cares. This isn't somebody who measures his success by what he did on the field.

[sportstar1212]

Being from TO, I remember Ricky's time with the Argos in 06. I also got to see him play again in 08 at the Bills-Dolphins game at Rogers Centre. Him, Reggie Bush and Laurence Maroney are my favorite RBs of all time.

[texfischer]

I'll remember him as a wasted talent, career dampened by his drug problems.

[CS85]

Worst draft trade ever.

[Chief.]

Best draft trade ever.

[CS85]

haha that's true I guess!

[BrySmalls]

Best special brownies ever.

[Vetsson]

Blunt(ed)ly. And the fact he was traded for a draft class plus illustrated to me just how much of a crap shoot drafts can be.

[speedy]

Being from TO, I remember Ricky's time with the Argos in 06. I also got to see him play again in 08 at the Bills-Dolphins game at Rogers Centre. Him, Reggie Bush and Laurence Maroney are my favorite RBs of all time.

You're free to like whomever you like but...really?

I'll always remember Ricky as a free spirit stoner who could've been so much better. But I think that's what is so compelling about his story. He just didn't care, it was refreshing.

[RedSox44]

Being from TO, I remember Ricky's time with the Argos in 06. I also got to see him play again in 08 at the Bills-Dolphins game at Rogers Centre. Him, Reggie Bush and Laurence Maroney are my favorite RBs of all time.

Those are your favorite running backs of all time?

*throws up hands*

To each his own, I guess.

Oh, how will I remember Ricky Williams:

First and foremost, this play.

Second and second-most, as a stoner with the Dolphins.

[Lights Out]

Ricky Williams has always been one of my favorite NFL players. People have tried to paint him as a deadbeat pothead thug, but if you look beyond the typical kneejerk reactions that people have when it comes to athletes, he's actually a pretty honorable guy.

Instead of just collecting a paycheck and going through the motions, he stepped away from the game for a while when he lost his desire to play, studied medicine, and came back to football with a renewed drive. You have to admire that. And of course, on the field, he had some productive years, being the 26th player in NFL history to pass the 10,000 career rushing yards mark.

[FiddySicks]

I'll remember him as a wasted talent, career dampened by his drug problems.

I'm not sure I necessarily agree with this. It's not like he was hooked on serious drugs and couldn't pull himself out of it like Josh Hamilton or anything. I think he just enjoyed other things more than playing football. Pot can be seen as his football downfall because it's against the rules, but you pretty much have to make the conscious decision that doing what you want is more important to you than football and all the things it can bring you if it's going to prevent you from having an NFL career. What some call a drug problem, I consider more of a desire issue. At least in this case.

[tBBP]

I'll always remember Ricky as a free spirit stoner who could've been so much better. But I think that's what is so compelling about his story. He just didn't care, it was refreshing.

Ricky Williams has always been one of my favorite NFL players. People have tried to paint him as a deadbeat pothead thug, but if you look beyond the typical kneejerk reactions that people have when it comes to athletes, he's actually a pretty honorable guy.

Instead of just collecting a paycheck and going through the motions, he stepped away from the game for a while when he lost his desire to play, studied medicine, and came back to football with a renewed drive. You have to admire that. And of course, on the field, he had some productive years, being the 26th player in NFL history to pass the 10,000 career rushing yards mark.

I share these sentiments.

It really dismays me, though it hardly surprises me, that some posters will (if they haven't already) come up in here with the sole intention to post the snarkiest or (in their mind) most sarcastic thing(s) they can think of about the guy...which probably says more about the posters themselves who choose to do that than anything in those posts says about Ricky Williams.

I say all that to say this: those of y'all who saw the 30-For-30 on Ricky Williams might remember the remark the narrator of that story closed that episode with...and it's something that's stuck with me since then, and to me, it also hits at the very essence of what Ricky Williams was all about as well as offer a bit of real-world advice: "if you stick a camera in front of him...he'll turn around and put a mirror in front of you."

Take some time to soak that one in and let it marinate.

[See Red]

I always thought of him as somebody who played football because it was something he was great at, and not necessarily something he had a passion for. Frankly, I don't see anything wrong with that. He also had social anxiety disorder and struggled with that while being in the spotlight as an elite professional football player -- he found marijuana helped him cope with it. Didn't he retire the first time to avoid being embarrassed by a failed drug test? It's not as cut and dry as "he pissed his career away over drugs" -- the guy had problems he was dealing with. Marijuana helped him deal with them. He was also a :censored:ing work horse with the Dolphins. He had 379+ carries on top of about 50 receptions in each of his first two seasons with the Dolphins -- that's insane. Most years don't see a RB break 340 carries. I don't know if that played into it at all, but if the guy wasn't as passionate about the game as most players, why would he want to take such a beating doing it?

I always liked Ricky. This all makes me want to watch "Run, Ricky, Run" again.