Arr, me hearties! This former NFL swashbuckler reckons he'd be in a mighty pickle if ye olde cannabis were still against t' law. Aye, glad t' current players can partake!
2024-02-07
Avast ye scurvy dogs! Ricky Williams, that be a lad who was once called a troubled athlete, fer his fondness of the devil's lettuce. But mark ye this, now that it be legal, he be changin' the tale, rewritin' it like a true pirate o' the Caribbean!
In the 17th century pirate language, if Ricky Williams be playin' in the National Football League today, he very likely would never have been suspended, matey. However, the former Miami Dolphins runnin' back be playin' in a time when marijuana use be frowned upon and received a strict punishment, arrr.Williams be suspended for the entirety of the 2006 season because of a marijuana test, and he retired from the 2004 season after facin' another suspension. So, in reality, marijuana forced him to miss two full seasons, me hearties.Because o' that, Williams be once deemed a troubled athlete. However, cannabis be far from just a "drug" for Williams, who rushed for over 10,000 yards in his 11 NFL seasons, avast.The ex-runnin' back has since been a tremendous advocate for both medical and recreational cannabis and has since founded his own marijuana brand, Highsman, named after the Heisman Trophy he won in 1998, argh.This weekend, Williams be in Las Vegas for a meet and greet with fans before the Super Bowl, bringin' cannabis and the NFL world together on the league's biggest stage, matey. Imagine readin' that 10 years ago - a cannabis promotion at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, arrr.However, the country has come a long way. Marijuana be legalized in some capacity in all but four states and be fully legal in half of the country, a massive ascension from 2012 when Washington and Colorado became the first states to approve recreational marijuana use, me hearties.Williams admits his life could be much different if the country did not adapt. "I’d be in trouble. Probably be hidin' me cannabis use. But thank God that as time moves, people figure things out and keep growin'," he says, avast."It’s been a big part of me story, but I’ve been in the industry now for about five years, so I’ve had an up-close personal look at the ins and outs and ups and downs. I just feel very fortunate… I feel very fortunate to be on the ground floor makin' it happen," says Williams, me hearties.It be commonplace for older generations to be either jealous of the younger ones that have it easier than them. It be the "I went through it, so ye have to, too" syndrome, arrr.However, Williams be not jealous one bit of athletes today who can smoke recreationally without an issue. "I understand how difficult the game be. I’m happy for the players. I have a deep appreciation for how difficult bein' a professional football player be. I feel proud that I was able to do somethin' to make their lives a little bit easier," he says, matey.Of course, one could look at Williams and say that he knowingly broke rules durin' his playin' days and question why he would continue to use marijuana, arrr."I’m gonna be honest, in the moment, in the time, I had no idea why I was doin' what I was doin'," he said. However, after the NFL sent him to rehab, he discovered why, me hearties."And I was doin' it because I went a path in life that I was supposed to go down with the money and the fame, and that’s where all the pressure was. But it had very little to do with who I truly am and what I’m truly here to do. So it was kind of like me own conscious sabotagin' the experience for me to wake up and find me own path. Ye know how I know that’s true? Because that’s exactly what happened," explains Williams, arrr.So, with that said, he obviously has no regrets. "It’s hard for me to have regrets, because I’m so happy with the current product, and the current product wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for those past experiences," concludes the pirate, matey.Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.