For those of you who don’t follow football, let me summarize what’s going on with Ricky Williams. He was the star running back for the Miami Dolphins who just quit the team days before training camp. His abrupt retirement means that the Dolphins never had a chance to get a replacement for him, and he was the future of the franchise that has always struggled to find a running game.
The timing of his departure is certainly regrettable. But now comes some news as to the one of the reasons the dreadlocked NFL star quit — his use of medical marijuana.
Williams has always been known as being a bit of a head case. He suffers from a social anxiety disorder and was prescribed Paxil for treatment. He even went on to become a paid endorser for the mood-altering drug.
Later on, Williams found that the Paxil severely disagreed with his digestion — basically the drug made his head better and his stomach worse. So he has been smoking marijuana to treat his disorder.
Marijuana is on the NFL’s list of banned substances, presumably not as a performance-enhancing drug like steroids, but rather because of its illegal status and to “send a message” to all the young football-playing kids out there. The NFL doesn’t want their sports stars to be potheads.
Williams had failed an NFL drug test before and had to go through the mandatory counseling sessions. However, he continued to smoke marijuana and passed the NFL tests through the use of common drug-test masking agents. The NFL denies that one could use a masking agent to pass their tests, but considering that they are the same drug tests administered in the business world and thousands, perhaps millions of potheads pass these tests with masking agents every day, I’d have to believe Williams.
So at age 27, just five years into his pro career, a rising star who ran for 1,372 yards last season on an offesnively-challeneged team, a young man who led the NFL in rushing just a year ago has taken his millions and quit the game.
The sports pundits are beating him up over this, but these are the same people who champion the sports leagues’ anti-drug policies and always chastise the athletes who get caught with a dirty test. “There’s no room for drugs in the NFL,” they always claim. So here’s a guy who made the decision, for his own personal and health reasons, to abide by their wishes.
It’s yet another example of how ridiculous the prohibition against marijuana is in today’s society. If Williams just liked to go out on the town and drink martinis, there’d be no story here. The NFL would have never intervened in his personal decisions and perhaps the Dolphins would have a star running back reporting to training camp. If only he would have tolerated the Paxil stomach-aches, he’d be cleared to play.
But because he was forced to choose between a benign little weed that makes him feel better and a football career, the Dolphins are left high and dry.
“Radical” Russ — according to Mark Stepnoski, former Dallas Cowboy and spokesman for Texas NORML, many NFL athletes smoke marijuana and beat drug tests… according to Charles Oakley, former NBA star, up to 60% of the NBA smokes marijuana and beats their drug tests…
MIAMI – Retired Dolphins running back Ricky Williams said he failed a third drug test for marijuana use, which would cost him a four-game suspension if he decides to return to the NFL, The Miami Herald reported on its Web site Thursday.
Williams told the newspaper that marijuana played a larger role in his retirement than he indicated when he walked away after just five pro seasons. He said he learned of the failed test and possible suspension days before telling coach Dave Wannstedt last week that he was through playing.
Williams said, however, that there were “a hundred reasons” for his retirement and that his desire to continue smoking marijuana was only one of them.
“I didn’t quit football because I failed a drug test,” he told the Herald. “I failed a drug test because I was ready to quit football.”
Dolphins spokesman Neal Gulkis and NFL spokesman Greg Aiello declined comment Thursday when reached by The Associated Press.
Williams told the newspaper that he is not addicted to marijuana.
Coach Dave Wannstedt said the Dolphins have received no notification from the NFL regarding a third failed drug test, and Williams’ latest revelation caught them by surprise.
“We knew nothing about it,” Wannstedt said. “I’m totally surprised and shocked again.”
Wannstedt said he’s eager to move beyond the Williams situation and open training camp Saturday.
In May, three South Florida newspapers quoted unidentified sources saying Williams tested positive for marijuana and faced a fine of at least $650,000 for violating the substance-abuse policy for the second time since joining the Dolphins in 2002.
He told the Herald for Thursday’s story that he already decided to quit football before that second positive test. He appealed that fine, but received word last week that his appeal had been denied, the Herald reported.
While the appeal was pending, Williams said, he continued smoking marijuana during a trip to Europe and failed a third test upon his return.
He said he had been using a masking agent to cleanse his system while being randomly tested for two seasons but he didn’t do that before the last test.
Williams first failed a drug test soon after arriving in Miami in 2002, the Herald reported. He spent much of his two seasons with the Dolphins in the league’s drug program, seeing a therapist weekly and taking eight to 10 random urine tests a month, the story said.
Williams suffers from social-anxiety disorder and was a spokesman for the anti-depressant Paxil. He said marijuana helped him once he had to stop using Paxil because it didn’t agree with his diet.
Williams played three seasons for New Orleans but didn’t blossom until he was dealt to the Dolphins in 2002 for two first-round draft picks.
At times, Miami’s biggest trade since 1970 looked like a steal. Williams led the NFL in 2002 with 1,853 yards rushing and broke nine team records. Last season he ran for 1,372 yards despite little offensive support.
