Skip to content

Ricky Williams: I'd be a Hall of Famer if weed was legal in NFL

Joe Robbins / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Ricky Williams is a prime example of a supremely talented football player who missed out on a chance to make history due to a career cut short.

The longtime Miami Dolphins running back shocked the football world with his decision to retire in 2004 after just five seasons. He'd return the following season, but missed 29 games over the next three years due to drug-related suspensions and was only able to regain his All-Pro form in flashes thereafter.

During an appearance on "Any Given Wednesday" with Bill Simmons this week, Williams gave an emphatic affirmative when asked whether he would've been a Hall of Famer if marijuana was legal in the NFL.

"For sure, no doubt about it," Williams said. "I think one, I look at the amount of stress and things that distracted me from playing football, surrounding cannabis.

"I look at the first half of my career when it was pretty much a secret, know one knew that I used and I could do it as I wished. And then last part of my career, I think I would have started, I would have had more touches. As it is right now, 11 seasons and over 10,000 yards. Also, the negative media coverage I got really tarnished my image."

Williams, who initially opted to walk away upon learning he was facing his first suspension, recently admitted "it's kind of true" that weed played a factor in the retirement.

Though there's no way to tell how his career would've turned out had he not missed considerable time in his prime years, there's no denying he was on a Hall of Fame pace from the jump.

A first-round pick in 1999, the former Texas star racked up 3,129 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns across three seasons with the New Orleans Saints before being traded to the Dolphins. The two-year stretch prior to his retirement was easily the most dominant of his career, as Williams would run for an incredible total of 3,225 yards and 25 scores in 32 starts.

The parts of six seasons he played from 2005-2011, five with Miami before a final year with the Baltimore Ravens, saw him add another 3,655 yards, good for a total of 10,009 and the 29th spot among the NFL's career rushing leaders.

As strong a career as that may be, football fans will always be left wondering what could have been for the former Heisman Trophy winner.

For what it's worth, another five seasons in line with the level of production that preceded his initial retirement would have given him 12,708 and a place in the top 10 all-time.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox