Former NFL running back Ricky Williams is one of the best to ever suit up at his position and racked up over 10,000 yards as a pro. Still, he doesn’t believe football was his true calling.
Williams’ 11-year career was marred by multiple drug-related suspensions, which is part of the reason he abruptly retired in 2004, just two years after he rushed for 1,853 yards and was named a first-team All-Pro.
The 46-year-old recently claimed that it wasn’t until he retired that he realized his true calling was to be a “messenger.”
“What was going on was I wasn’t supposed to be a football player, but because I had so much talent early … I was being pushed in that direction,” the former Dolphins star said to OutKick’s Dan Dakich on ‘Dont @ Me’. “And I just went along with it because there’s so much success. And then, when I got to the NFL, there was so much money. But I realized since then that I have a much different calling.”
“I was born to be a messenger, a teacher. So, when I retired in 2004, I naturally had an urge to travel around the world and see things, and the more I’d see, the more curious I got and the more I learned,” he continued.
Williams claims that, after traveling to various places and learning things out of curiosity, people were fascinated by his knowledge and wanted him to keep talking.
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“When I came back to the states, I realized that when I started talking about the things that I saw and the things that I learned, people were fascinated,” he explained. “And they wanted me to keep telling them more. So, I realized I’m a teacher.”
