Ricky Williams has announced his retirement from professional football, but I’d imagine he’s only scratched the surface in terms of what he has the capability of accomplishing over the course of his lifetime.
Williams’ interests and strengths expand far beyond his football life. He treated his NFL career like a job, and he played to live, rather than living to play.
In his retirement press release, issued this afternoon by the Ravens, Williams wouldn’t even call his time as a pro football player a chapter in his life. Nope, it was just a single page.
“The NFL has been an amazing page in this chapter of my life,” Williams said. “I pray that all successive adventures offer me the same potential for growth, success and most importantly, fun. I want to thank all my fans, teammates, coaches and supporters for the strength they’ve given me to overcome so much.”
Other pages in this chapter: Ricky’s sudden 2004 retirement, only a year removed from winning the league’s rushing title. His random stint in Toronto, in the prime of his football career, as a member of the CFL’s Argonauts. And of course, his time spent studying holistic medicine in Grass Valley, Calif., also smack dab in the prime of his football life.
The first page would probably be his time in Texas, where Ricky ran for over 6,500 yards and won the Heisman Trophy as a junior.
The second page might document his experience at the 1999 draft, when Mike Ditka sold the entire farm to move up and take Williams with the fifth pick.
Williams outlasted Edgerrin James, who was selected one pick before him that year. He also outlasted Deuce McAllister, whom the Saints figured could replace Williams when they shocked the football world by trading him to Miami in 2002. McAllister had a few big years, but he wasn’t Ricky.
One more page would have to be dedicated to his penchant for smoking weed. The punishment for his reliance on marijuana was, after all, what spurred him to ditch the game eight years ago. It’s the only reason he was in Grass Valley, and the only reason he came to Canada.
Another page — or maybe more than a page — would probably cover Williams’ struggles with clinical depression and social anxiety disorder. He’s one of the oddest characters the NFL ever employed. Super shy, sneaky clever. Agree or disagree with his premises, the guy was brilliant. Interested in philosophy and fresh, outside-the-box thinking? Check out his Twitter feed.
I had the chance to talk to Williams when he was with the Argos in 2006. Despite being soft spoken, he’s very deliberate with his words, making each one count. He looks you in the eye and genuinely cares that all of those words reach the intended target with his design for them still intact. There’s no ego there.
The problem is that many of those who talk to Williams don’t get the message he’s sending. The problem is that he’s smarter than most of us. He knows that there’s a lot more in this world for him, which is why he’s walking away despite averaging a respectable 4.1 yards per carry with fresh-for-34 legs in 2011.
“As for what’s next,” Williams said. “I am excited about all the opportunities ahead – continuing my education, running The Ricky Williams Foundation and whatever other opportunities present themselves.”
I’m excited to find out what presents itself to Williams, and what road he takes. The only drawback is that some of those potential roads are unlikely to include Wi-Fi, reporters, cameras and microphones. There’s a good chance that, from the perspective of the mainstream media, Ricky Williams is about to disappear.
Surprised yet delighted by the lack of controversy caused by M.I.A.
Posted by Brad Gagnon under Commentary on Feb 08, 2012
Eight years and four days after that Mickey Mouse Club guy introduced the world to Michael Jackson’s sister’s right breast, we have a new controversy stemming from a Super Bowl halftime show. This time, a rapper who goes by the name M.I.A. flipped the cameras the bird.
To be clear, I was not offended by either act. Like the majority of the 100-odd million people who saw both incidents, I have been personally flipped off before, and have — believe it or not — seen a female boob. Thus I am not haunted by the sight of either, and I’d imagine that the rest of you are in the same boat.
That said, doesn’t it strike people as odd that the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake Nipplegate episode seemed to garner significantly more outrage than M.I.A.’s middle finger?
In the first case, we were exposed to something synonymous with love, sex and even motherhood. Oh, and the majority of the nipple was concealed by a pasty. You can see more skin in that exact same time slot on prime-time television any night of the week. Correct me if I’m wrong, but very few men and women strongly dislike boobs.
In the second case, we were told to f— off. Who the hell wants that?
When comparing the two events on the surface, I think the M.I.A. act was more malicious, more disrespectful and more inappropriate.
But for whatever reason, Jackson’s right headlight inspired mass anger, a record fine from the FCC, lawsuits and a 4,600-word Wikipedia page. Everyone involved apologized, but it was still called a travesty. “It’s truly pitiful that my children can’t watch the Super Bowl now,” wrote Maureen, a Dallas mother and Helen Lovejoy impersonator.
M.I.A.’s finger hasn’t caused close to the same stir. Instead, we’re defending her. We seem to grasp that this was, at the very worst, a publicity stunt, and for the most part, we’re refusing to buy in.
So why the separate reactions?
Maybe it has to do with the Western world’s discomfort with sex and the body, compared to its obsession with violence and intensity as seen everywhere you look in American pop culture. Then again, that would entail some serious hypocrisy — why cry foul over a partially exposed breast while laughing and clapping as M&Ms lose their innocence and GoDaddy does its best Brazzers impression?
Maybe it’s just progress. Maybe we were desensitized a bit by Janet and now are less susceptible to becoming shocked and offended by incidents that, frankly, aren’t supposed to shock or offend us.