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Ricky Williams Facing Suspension If He Returns
If Ricky Williams has a change of heart and rejoins the Miami Dolphins this year, he won't return until he serves a four-game NFL suspension after having failed a drug test for a third time.
On Thursday, Williams told Dan Le Batard, a reporter for the Miami Herald and for ESPN The Magazine, that he learned of his failed drug test and subsequent suspension just days before making his decision to retire.
The star running back said the developments played a part in his sudden retirement, but that it wasn't the only issue involved in his decision. Williams insisted there were "a hundred reasons" for leaving the NFL.
"I didn't quit football because I failed a drug test," he said. "I failed a drug test because I was ready to quit football."
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.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello declined comment Thursday when reached by The Associated Press. Williams also told Le Batard that he had wanted to quit playing football even before testing positive a second time for marijuana use in May and getting fined $650,000.
Though Williams appealed the fine, he learned last week the appeal had been denied.
In the interim, Williams told the paper he'd been smoking marijuana while traveling with Lenny Kravitz, who was on tour in Europe at the time. Once Williams returned, he was tested again -- and again failed. Williams said he'd stopped taking a masking agent, called "Extra Clean," that he has said he'd used to avoid testing positive during his two seasons in Miami.
After failing his first drug test in 2002, not long after his trade to Miami, Williams was enrolled in the league's substance abuse program. He had weekly appointments with a therapist, he said, and faced eight-to-ten random urine tests every month -- tests he'd beaten by downing 32 ounces of "Extra Clean" followed by the same amount of water.
In emphasizing that his lifestyle choices, rather than the failed tests, had driven his decision to retire from football, Williams told the Herald that he sees nothing wrong with smoking marijuana -- that in fact, it's "just a plant." He also said he admired reggae singer Bob Marley, who was reputed to smoke it every day before his death.
Also, Williams, who has been diagnosed with a social-anxiety disorder and was taking the anti-depressant Paxil, told the paper that he'd stopped taking the medication he'd once been a spokesman for. He said it interfered with his diet.
''Marijuana is 10 times better for me than Paxil,'' he said.
Source: ESPN
On Thursday, Williams told Dan Le Batard, a reporter for the Miami Herald and for ESPN The Magazine, that he learned of his failed drug test and subsequent suspension just days before making his decision to retire.
The star running back said the developments played a part in his sudden retirement, but that it wasn't the only issue involved in his decision. Williams insisted there were "a hundred reasons" for leaving the NFL.
"I didn't quit football because I failed a drug test," he said. "I failed a drug test because I was ready to quit football."
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.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello declined comment Thursday when reached by The Associated Press. Williams also told Le Batard that he had wanted to quit playing football even before testing positive a second time for marijuana use in May and getting fined $650,000.
Though Williams appealed the fine, he learned last week the appeal had been denied.
In the interim, Williams told the paper he'd been smoking marijuana while traveling with Lenny Kravitz, who was on tour in Europe at the time. Once Williams returned, he was tested again -- and again failed. Williams said he'd stopped taking a masking agent, called "Extra Clean," that he has said he'd used to avoid testing positive during his two seasons in Miami.
After failing his first drug test in 2002, not long after his trade to Miami, Williams was enrolled in the league's substance abuse program. He had weekly appointments with a therapist, he said, and faced eight-to-ten random urine tests every month -- tests he'd beaten by downing 32 ounces of "Extra Clean" followed by the same amount of water.
In emphasizing that his lifestyle choices, rather than the failed tests, had driven his decision to retire from football, Williams told the Herald that he sees nothing wrong with smoking marijuana -- that in fact, it's "just a plant." He also said he admired reggae singer Bob Marley, who was reputed to smoke it every day before his death.
Also, Williams, who has been diagnosed with a social-anxiety disorder and was taking the anti-depressant Paxil, told the paper that he'd stopped taking the medication he'd once been a spokesman for. He said it interfered with his diet.
''Marijuana is 10 times better for me than Paxil,'' he said.
Source: ESPN
First Randy Moss wanna get caught wit Mari,but didn't say nothing bout it. Now Ricky Williams wanna get caught and stick up 4 his use of doing it. I love dat Pot-head *****. He basically said. "Fuck Paxil, bring on the WEED!!!!!" Haha. ~A tear rolls down one eye. As he is proud of Ricky~ Its so beautiful.
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