Posted on 11/22/2004 9:11:06 PM PST by The South Texan
Grass Valley , Nevada County -- He's no longer Ricky Williams the football player. He plans to become Ricky Williams the holistic healer. It's been more than 10 months since Williams, one of the premier running backs in the National Football League, last ran off tackle for the Miami Dolphins and four months since he suddenly announced his retirement at age 27. Then he dropped from sight. But now Williams has turned up about as far away from professional football as you can get, as a student of the ancient Indian medical system known as Ayurveda. In the Sierra foothills, no less. "I realized a while back that I have an innate ability to be compassionate,'' he said, "and I saw that the strength of compassion is something that healers have and healers use.''
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
As a lifelong fan of the New Orleans Saints -- yes I love the pain -- I am so happy we managed to trade this guy before he imploded.
What an IDIOT!
ah come on, I was just jokin around...
Smoke two of these an call me in the morning.
This longhorn is disappointed, but not surprised.
Is he smoking crack?
I see Ricky is still smokin' the weed....
This dude's been smoking waayyyyyyyyyyyyy too much weed.
And to think some boneheads in Philly booed McNabb when he was chosen by Reid instead of Williams.
Okay, maybe Ricky has gotten a little indulgent with the weed, but...
Sports Illustrated had an article a couple of years ago about the physical condition of ex-NFL players. Earl Campbell, to take one example, is living with all kinds of chronic problems.
The running back probably takes more abuse to his body than any other position. I definitely can't blame people like Williams and Robert Smith and Barry Sanders for quitting while they could still walk.
The NFL needs to do something about the number of injuries in the game. The problem seems to get worse every year as the players get bigger and faster. Things that they could do include doing a better job of enforcing steroid rules, mandating that playing surfaces meet a higher standard, making chop blocks illegal in all cases,enforcing rules against "piling on", and ejecting players who lead with the helmet when they tackle. People will still get hurt, but these things should help somewhat.
A college career in Austin will do that to you.
Oh, I don't know about that. Most of us could probably put up with a knee surgery or two if we got paid $10 million plus a year. Right?
This is a sorry attempt at humor, of course.
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