Run Ricky Run (1 Viewer)

[the hairy scotsman]

ESPN 30 for 30

New Ricky Williams Documentary Explores Childhood Sexual Abuse/url]

Texas Heisman winner Ricky Williams will head to Austin for an exclusive screening of "Run Ricky Run."

Tomorrow night...setting my DVR now.

Looks very interesting.

Didn't see this posted...sorry if Honda.

 

[Sweet Love]

Quoted from the article: "The documentary doesn't go into all the details about how many children Williams has with how many women..."

Honestly then, what is the point? You spend a bunch of time (at least as alluded to by the article) describing his father's relationship with him and then don't delve into his relationship in turn with his kids...I love Ricky and was very interested in this particular installment of 30 in 30, but sounds like it will leave me wanting. The guy is an "under the radar" Travis Henry, yet we are not going to learn anything about that???

I am sure Ricky signed off on X and Z, but chose to leave Y out of it. Documentaries are special because they allow us behind the scenes glimpse into something, but also because they are no holds barred. First one I really watched (i.e. multiple times) was Hoop Dreams back when I was in college in 1995 (I believe). It was special because it didn't hold anything back. Sounds like this one does which is disappointing.

 

[switz]

Quoted from the article: "The documentary doesn't go into all the details about how many children Williams has with how many women..."

Honestly then, what is the point? You spend a bunch of time (at least as alluded to by the article) describing his father's relationship with him and then don't delve into his relationship in turn with his kids...I love Ricky and was very interested in this particular installment of 30 in 30, but sounds like it will leave me wanting. The guy is an "under the radar" Travis Henry, yet we are not going to learn anything about that???

I am sure Ricky signed off on X and Z, but chose to leave Y out of it. Documentaries are special because they allow us behind the scenes glimpse into something, but also because they are no holds barred. First one I really watched (i.e. multiple times) was Hoop Dreams back when I was in college in 1995 (I believe). It was special because it didn't hold anything back. Sounds like this one does which is disappointing.

So the documentary doesn't say how many, whether it's one, two, or even NONE! And yet you jump to the conclusion that he's Travis Henry part deux?Did he pee in your cornflakes this morning?

 

[Matt Waldman]

Quoted from the article: "The documentary doesn't go into all the details about how many children Williams has with how many women..."Honestly then, what is the point? You spend a bunch of time (at least as alluded to by the article) describing his father's relationship with him and then don't delve into his relationship in turn with his kids...I love Ricky and was very interested in this particular installment of 30 in 30, but sounds like it will leave me wanting. The guy is an "under the radar" Travis Henry, yet we are not going to learn anything about that???I am sure Ricky signed off on X and Z, but chose to leave Y out of it. Documentaries are special because they allow us behind the scenes glimpse into something, but also because they are no holds barred. First one I really watched (i.e. multiple times) was Hoop Dreams back when I was in college in 1995 (I believe). It was special because it didn't hold anything back. Sounds like this one does which is disappointing.

I heard an interview Kasilias did with Williams on ESPN about this upcoming show. Williams says he got an opportunity to screen it, but gave little feedback because he felt like it would take away from the objectivity that he didn't have . I loved Hoop Dreams, but that was an 8-year filming put into a movie of 3 hours or more, right? This is a one-hour segment. Plus, its tough to compare Williams to Henry if we don't know Henry's life. This obviously isn't going to be a puff piece, but there's only so much you can cover in 60 minutes.

 

[Adebisi]

So the documentary doesn't say how many, whether it's one, two, or even NONE! And yet you jump to the conclusion that he's Travis Henry part deux?

Is it possible that this information is readily available, even if it's not mentioned in the documentary?

 

[Masked Vigilante]

Most enigmatic player of our generation. I am intrigued.

 

[menobrown]

Most enigmatic player of our generation. I am intrigued.

Depends on if they focus on just the child abuse issue or Ricky's life as a whole. When I heard they were doing a segment on Allen Iverson I thought it would be outstanding but it was not really so much on Iverson as much as it was about Iversons trial/conviction. Instead of producing what I thought would have been the best 30 for 30 I found the Iverson piece to be by far the most dull.

 

[karmarooster]

This obviously isn't going to be a puff piece, but there's only so much you can cover in 60 minutes.

lolololololol

 

[firstseason1988]

Not sure what you guys know but it was awesome to watch him run in college. His freshman year he split time with Priest Holmes and Shon Mitchell in the backfield. I will never forget when he broke the rushing record vs A & M. I bartended the night before, Thanksgiving night, started tailgating at 3 AM after getting off work. The game was at 11 AM. I was hammered after being up all night. The record was close and Ricky busted one for about 60 yards for a TD. One of the coolest things I have seen.

Run Ricky Run.

 

[switz]

So the documentary doesn't say how many, whether it's one, two, or even NONE! And yet you jump to the conclusion that he's Travis Henry part deux?

Is it possible that this information is readily available, even if it's not mentioned in the documentary?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky_Williams

Williams has three children with three different women. He married his long-time girlfriend Kristen Barnes on September 4, 2009.

Hardly close to Travis Henry.

 

[the hairy scotsman]

Not sure what you guys know but it was awesome to watch him run in college. His freshman year he split time with Priest Holmes and Shon Mitchell in the backfield. I will never forget when he broke the rushing record vs A & M. I bartended the night before, Thanksgiving night, started tailgating at 3 AM after getting off work. The game was at 11 AM. I was hammered after being up all night. The record was close and Ricky busted one for about 60 yards for a TD. One of the coolest things I have seen.

Run Ricky Run.

I was there with the wifey. It was just nuts.Verrry cool. Even she still talks about it.

Love the trail of aggies he left in his wake.She loves Ricky, too & can't wait to see the show.

 

[Matt Waldman]

I'm not a big fan of going to games when I can watch them on TV. I've probably been to a dozen games in in 40 years, but I flew to New Orleans to watch Williams face the Panthers in his first game. It sucked that he sprained his ankle in that first game. He ran up and down the sideline to test it and then lobbied Ditka for the rest of the game to try to get back on the field. You know he felt like he was letting everyone down by not playing and I haven't seen a player lobby so hard until Matt Stafford.

People could say all they want about him, but to be a player with huge expectations (unlike any RB coming out in decades), fulfill them for a short period, and then go through all this stuff to come out the other side and be a top-10 back at 31 tells you how massively talented he is. Most athletes wouldn't be able to go through all that he did and make it back like he did.

 

[the hairy scotsman]

I'm not a big fan of going to games when I can watch them on TV. I've probably been to a dozen games in in 40 years, but I flew to New Orleans to watch Williams face the Panthers in his first game. It sucked that he sprained his ankle in that first game. He ran up and down the sideline to test it and then lobbied Ditka for the rest of the game to try to get back on the field. You know he felt like he was letting everyone down by not playing and I haven't seen a player lobby so hard until Matt Stafford. People could say all they want about him, but to be a player with huge expectations (unlike any RB coming out in decades), fulfill them for a short period, and then go through all this stuff to come out the other side and be a top-10 back at 31 tells you how massively talented he is. Most athletes wouldn't be able to go through all that he did and make it back like he did.

Ricky is a beast.You know, I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again...Ricky's best season ever running the ball was 1997 (his junior year). He led the nation with 1893 rush yards, went over 200 yards 5 times, averaged 6.8 ypc, and scored 25 TDs on a 4-7 team that was totally outmanned. Everyone in the stadium knew Ricky was getting the ball. Still, nobody could stop him. He was like a wrecking ball of pure destruction. It was beautiful.I am one of the people who to this day say that Mack Brown's best move and greatest recruiting victory was getting Ricky Williams to stay for his senior season. 1998 was the beginning of what we all see now at Texas.

 

[=Smackdown=]

Not sure what you guys know but it was awesome to watch him run in college. His freshman year he split time with Priest Holmes and Shon Mitchell in the backfield. I will never forget when he broke the rushing record vs A & M. I bartended the night before, Thanksgiving night, started tailgating at 3 AM after getting off work. The game was at 11 AM. I was hammered after being up all night. The record was close and Ricky busted one for about 60 yards for a TD. One of the coolest things I have seen.Run Ricky Run.

I'm a big fan and I'm really looking forward to watching this tonight.Have always really liked his style of running. Carried the Dolphins on his back in 2002."Marijuana is 10X better for me than Paxil"RUN RICKY RUN !!!

 

[flapgreen]

 

[Sweet Love]

Quoted from the article: "The documentary doesn't go into all the details about how many children Williams has with how many women..."

Honestly then, what is the point? You spend a bunch of time (at least as alluded to by the article) describing his father's relationship with him and then don't delve into his relationship in turn with his kids...I love Ricky and was very interested in this particular installment of 30 in 30, but sounds like it will leave me wanting. The guy is an "under the radar" Travis Henry, yet we are not going to learn anything about that???

I am sure Ricky signed off on X and Z, but chose to leave Y out of it. Documentaries are special because they allow us behind the scenes glimpse into something, but also because they are no holds barred. First one I really watched (i.e. multiple times) was Hoop Dreams back when I was in college in 1995 (I believe). It was special because it didn't hold anything back. Sounds like this one does which is disappointing.

So the documentary doesn't say how many, whether it's one, two, or even NONE! And yet you jump to the conclusion that he's Travis Henry part deux?Did he pee in your cornflakes this morning?

No, not at all...I love the guy. Love that he faced (as best as he could) the expextations in NO, loved that when the heat was off he rushed for 1834 yards, loved that he took the time when NO ONE else would to find himself, and love even more the fact that he does what he does at such an advanced age for RBs. Obviously, I think he is great. But for someone that wants to know more about him, I want to know everything...3 kids, 3 different women (I assume that was all before his hiatus, does not make him Henry, but he was trending that way...why did he stop? what made the light turn on? All those type of questions, which I doubt will be answered. Nothing against him personally, but if someone is going to put themselves out there like that (in a documentary), I want it 100% uncut.

 

[Matt Waldman]

Gotta say, it was really well done. If anything what I got from the piece is that Ricky's a very smart dude who took a difficult and unusual route to address his issues, but I think it was probably the best route for him despite what we has fans missed with him gone for effectively six years.

Sweet Love, I think you'll find out more than you expect. Ricky, his family, and his friends were pretty unflinching in their honesty. I think it very much showed him evolving over the span this was filmed. I 100 percent believe there isn't another person in the NFL I could imagine coming close to doing something like this (that we know of).

 

[firstseason1988]

Gotta say, it was really well done. If anything what I got from the piece is that Ricky's a very smart dude who took a difficult and unusual route to address his issues, but I think it was probably the best route for him despite what we has fans missed with him gone for effectively six years. Sweet Love, I think you'll find out more than you expect. Ricky, his family, and his friends were pretty unflinching in their honesty. I think it very much showed him evolving over the span this was filmed. I 100 percent believe there isn't another person in the NFL I could imagine coming close to doing something like this (that we know of).

No I love the dude, but a little too overanalytical.

 

[TheWheel]

I watched the last half and must say he needs a reality show. Stat.

 

[derek19]

Its on again on ESPN 2.

 

[karmarooster]

Gotta say, it was really well done. If anything what I got from the piece is that Ricky's a very smart dude who took a difficult and unusual route to address his issues, but I think it was probably the best route for him despite what we has fans missed with him gone for effectively six years. Sweet Love, I think you'll find out more than you expect. Ricky, his family, and his friends were pretty unflinching in their honesty. I think it very much showed him evolving over the span this was filmed. I 100 percent believe there isn't another person in the NFL I could imagine coming close to doing something like this (that we know of).

I'd agree that I thought this was well produced and thought provoking. I was shocked by the clips showing Skip Bayless and Jay Mariotti absolutely ripping the guy, calling him a disgrace to football and pathetic, etc. Let's just imagine that he had simply walked away from the game to smoke weed.... does that really make him worse than the criminals that are tolerated in the NFL (ie Ben, Marshall, Ray, etc)??? on the other side, if he was tormented by mental demons, how terrible is it that these talking heads would just rip a guy for having serious issues such as depression, anxiety, etc? After the show i looked up his stats and noticed he had a 4.7 ypc last year, his second best season besides his 4.8 ypc when he rushes for 1,800+ yards back in 2002. its funny that i had to do that because Ricky directly said in the movie its not about stats. some of his best stats where when he was the most messed in the head. but i have to believe that his ability to post a career year at his age (virtually ancient for a RB) in terms of ypc is due to his holistic medicine approach. i never like a movie with clearly defined good guys vs. bad guys. moral ambiguity always makes for a more compelling story, and there was certainly a lot of that in this, esp. with regard to his father-less children in various cities across the country. the film wasn't trying to say "hey, ricky is just misunderstood, he's really a great guy!" instead they looked at his faults without flinching (too much). on the other hand, the film was a little too "uplifting" at the end for my taste. its like the director spent so much time showing that ricky is a complex, intelligent individual who you can't just put into a box. but then he goes and puts him into the box of the "redeemed, demon conquered, perfect new father/husband." ie happily ever after.but on the whole a very enjoyable piece.

 

[got_nugs]

I walked away completely stunned that this man is EVER allowed near ANYTHING the NFL ever does.

Yes, I am referring to Joe Theismann. Break it again, LT. Break it again. Disgraced to be considered an Argonaut? C'mon man...stop talking already.

Otherwise fantastic piece.

 

[pollardsvision]

Fittingly, the film left me with very ambiguous feelings towards Ricky.

I don't have a problem with his decision to walk away or for his affinity towards pot. I understand the former and applaud the latter.

I think the guy's brilliant in alot of ways, but he's also a straight up scumbag. He's alot of things, but he's also a deadbeat dad. At times, he seemed more than proud of that (Do you ever miss your kids, Ricky? No, not really.) Sure, he's recently thought about being a part of his kids' lives. Let's give him a medal.

Listening to him speak, his lack of interest in being a father makes perfect sense. Everything out of his mouth is "I" or "me".

His story is fascinating. The film wasn't a puff piece. I liked him alot more before the film.

 

[Matt Waldman]

Fittingly, the film left me with very ambiguous feelings towards Ricky.I don't have a problem with his decision to walk away or for his affinity towards pot. I understand the former and applaud the latter.I think the guy's brilliant in alot of ways, but he's also a straight up scumbag. He's alot of things, but he's also a deadbeat dad. At times, he seemed more than proud of that (Do you ever miss your kids, Ricky? No, not really.) Sure, he's recently thought about being a part of his kids' lives. Let's give him a medal.Listening to him speak, his lack of interest in being a father makes perfect sense. Everything out of his mouth is "I" or "me". His story is fascinating. The film wasn't a puff piece. I liked him alot more before the film.

I don't think he was proud of being a deadbeat dad. I think the first 35 minutes of this film was devoted to a very dark, confusing period in his life and he was unflinchingly honest. His full response was "No, not really. (not verbatim) When I think about them, I do." A lot of fathers who live far from their kids actually cope with missing their children in a very similar way. Feelings people are uncomfortable facing every day are blocked or conveniently forgotten about or self-medicated (pot, booze, other drugs, etc.). Ricky was doing that. I would also argue that this movie was based on "I or me" at a very down part of his life and then at the end asking him to reflect on it years later. Not saying you should like the guy, but I think its worth reminding that the majority of the film was done during a period where Ricky was at his worst and he had no problem with people showing his flaws.Just another viewpoint of what I took from it. I think it's clear the mother of his child in Hawaii didn't want to be a part of this, so we'll never know what's going on there.

 

[Comer]

What I thought was interesting was Ricky said he wanted the piece to be honest but,he never would say what he received the year suspension for. Ricky just said it was not pot.

 

[Sweet Love]

Gotta say, it was really well done. If anything what I got from the piece is that Ricky's a very smart dude who took a difficult and unusual route to address his issues, but I think it was probably the best route for him despite what we has fans missed with him gone for effectively six years. Sweet Love, I think you'll find out more than you expect. Ricky, his family, and his friends were pretty unflinching in their honesty. I think it very much showed him evolving over the span this was filmed. I 100 percent believe there isn't another person in the NFL I could imagine coming close to doing something like this (that we know of).

No I love the dude, but a little too overanalytical. :(

LOL...I guess I overdid the "love" stuff (what do you expect from a guy with my handle and a pic of Andre). I missed it (of course), but hopefull it will be on again soon.

 

[KnowledgeReignsSupreme]

I think the guy's brilliant in alot of ways, but he's also a straight up scumbag. He's alot of things, but he's also a deadbeat dad. At times, he seemed more than proud of that (Do you ever miss your kids, Ricky? No, not really.) Sure, he's recently thought about being a part of his kids' lives. Let's give him a medal.

I think you watched a different show than I did.Overall pretty good 30 for 30. All the ones I've watched have been good. I swear if a team made him a starter, he could rush for 1800 this year.

 

[firstseason1988]

I think the guy's brilliant in alot of ways, but he's also a straight up scumbag. He's alot of things, but he's also a deadbeat dad. At times, he seemed more than proud of that (Do you ever miss your kids, Ricky? No, not really.) Sure, he's recently thought about being a part of his kids' lives. Let's give him a medal.

I think you watched a different show than I did.Overall pretty good 30 for 30. All the ones I've watched have been good. I swear if a team made him a starter, he could rush for 1800 this year.

He is better as a tandem. He has to love Ronnie Brown, Ricky doesn't want to take a beating every play, he hates it, he doesn't want to do it, coaches finally figured it out or he told them. He will produce better with help, the way he is. People are alluding to how well he is doing at 32. He missed hard pounding years that wear on other RBs, sure age has a factor, but the NFL beating has more impact at that age. Plus he is a freak natural athlete, scary when he works at it.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

I think the guy's brilliant in alot of ways, but he's also a straight up scumbag. He's alot of things, but he's also a deadbeat dad. At times, he seemed more than proud of that (Do you ever miss your kids, Ricky? No, not really.) Sure, he's recently thought about being a part of his kids' lives. Let's give him a medal.

I think you watched a different show than I did.Overall pretty good 30 for 30. All the ones I've watched have been good. I swear if a team made him a starter, he could rush for 1800 this year.

He is better as a tandem. He has to love Ronnie Brown, Ricky doesn't want to take a beating every play, he hates it, he doesn't want to do it, coaches finally figured it out or he told them. He will produce better with help, the way he is. People are alluding to how well he is doing at 32. He missed hard pounding years that wear on other RBs, sure age has a factor, but the NFL beating has more impact at that age. Plus he is a freak natural athlete, scary when he works at it.

FYI...he;s 30th all time for touches at 2,474.I have for the most part over his career not posted muchg about Ricky Williams. I can't judge him on the cannibas use because well..I think you understand how hypocritical it would be if I did that.

Ricky ran the ball almost 800 times over 2 years in 2002 and 2003. Add in his receptions and it's almost 900 touches, Wannstache tried to run him into the ground, guy never got a breather. He was paid a lot of money but athletes can only take so much punishment. And Ricky is not shy about contact even if he doesn't really like it.

Miami went into such a sinkhole during the 00s, that I think many Dolphin fans felt like Ricky. We almost idenitfied with him when he wanted to leave Miami, many of the fans did too. We had a terrible of run of Wannstache, Btes, Saban, Cameron...that was all in a 4-5 year span and that is when Ricky was other places. How come noneo fthose coaches ever flat out cut him? Why did Miami never do so? It's almost like everyone felt sorry for him and just allowed him to do his thing.

If Miami was a Supr Bowl team during that run, he might have been thought of a lot worse than the 30:30 movie ran. I am happy for Ricky but I also agree that he doesn't seem like he should be getting dad of the year awards. He is very focused in pursueing homeopathic medicine when he leaves the NFL. I think that is fantastic and hope he narrows it a bit into professional athletes and gives them altenatives to all the unnatural crap they inject into their systems to top out at over 300 lbs and still run around in the 95 degree heat.

 

[qimqam]

Fittingly, the film left me with very ambiguous feelings towards Ricky.

I don't have a problem with his decision to walk away or for his affinity towards pot. I understand the former and applaud the latter.

I think the guy's brilliant in alot of ways, but he's also a straight up scumbag. He's alot of things, but he's also a deadbeat dad. At times, he seemed more than proud of that (Do you ever miss your kids, Ricky? No, not really.) Sure, he's recently thought about being a part of his kids' lives. Let's give him a medal.

Listening to him speak, his lack of interest in being a father makes perfect sense. Everything out of his mouth is "I" or "me".

His story is fascinating. The film wasn't a puff piece. I liked him alot more before the film.

I'm not getting this brilliant and smart dude comments. I saw the first half and at times he sounded like a rambling physcho ... almost Chales Manson like nonsense. I like that he acts as though money doesn't matter but at the same time what did he do with the $8.6 million signing bonus that he has to pay back?

Not hating just asking.

 

[Raider Nation]

So ummm, are we supposed to presume from the piece that his father sexually molested him?

 

[Abraham]

I remember very clearly when it occurred to me that Ricky was "done". sADDAM Hussein was captured and it was announced on a Sunday morning. That night, IIRC, the Dolphins played the Bills and Ricky had something like 35 carries for 150 yards. When he walked off the field, his face told the story of, "I am completely worn out....for good." And while the season continued and those of us who owned him in leagues kept thinking he was fine, the reality is that that night game, the Earl Campbell-ish performance that it was, began the slide down.

I've always liked Ricky Williams. I ran in to him at a restaurant in Austin once when he was still on the Saints and I was surprised at how small he was. Not that he wasn't well built and strong looking - he was built like a bowling ball and very muscular - but that he was about 80% of the size I anticipated.

 

[menobrown]

Ricky ran the ball almost 800 times over 2 years in 2002 and 2003. Add in his receptions and it's almost 900 touches, Wannstache tried to run him into the ground, guy never got a breather. He was paid a lot of money but athletes can only take so much punishment. And Ricky is not shy about contact even if he doesn't really like it.

Ricky Williams was sexually abused by his dad and physically abused by Wannstedt.Not that I was ever really fond of Wanny but how he handled the Ricky situation when he first retired made me lose complete respect for him. Ricky retired a week before training camp and got vilified for it in large part because Wanny made several public comments about how Ricky wronged them with the timing. Barry Sanders retired the eve of training camp and never got murdered by his HC the way Wanny did Ricky. Jim Brown retired during training camp when he wanted to make a movie and while I was not alive than I don't think he got hammered to death by his HC. The problem was Wanny had no other plan for that tired offense but to just ram away with Ricky and when Ricky quit it exposed him further so he had to blame someone.I was real happy to see Ricky perform so well last year and win back a lot of fan support. What Ricky never seemed to understand and hopefully does now is that money can buy you freedom. With money you can get stoned all day, take natural healing classes, sleep in tents, and do whatever the hell you want were ever you want. He's been woefully underpaid all these years and hopefully the next time he walks away from the game he'll be financially sound so he can experience the freedom he enjoys.

 

[Touchdown Syndrome]

Dude clearly has issues.

He definitely doesn't seem like a bad person, though.

Just kind of messed up, which is a shame.

He had insane potential to be one of the 3 or 4 best backs ever, if he stayed on the damn field.

 

[Dexter Manley]

Dude clearly has issues.

He definitely doesn't seem like a bad person, though.

Just kind of messed up, which is a shame.

He had insane potential to be one of the 3 or 4 best backs ever, if he stayed on the damn field.

I don't think so, after the way Wannstedt used him up. As they said last night, he also needed extended time away from the game to let his body heal, in addition to healing his mind.

 

[SmoovySmoov]

So ummm, are we supposed to presume from the piece that his father sexually molested him?

What I got out of it (having to pause twice during the program as my phone rang and the wife came home), was that his father was posing for nude pictures, and he made Ricky take them. Of course, there may have been more or less to it, but that's what I got out of the program.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Fittingly, the film left me with very ambiguous feelings towards Ricky.

I don't have a problem with his decision to walk away or for his affinity towards pot. I understand the former and applaud the latter.

I think the guy's brilliant in alot of ways, but he's also a straight up scumbag. He's alot of things, but he's also a deadbeat dad. At times, he seemed more than proud of that (Do you ever miss your kids, Ricky? No, not really.) Sure, he's recently thought about being a part of his kids' lives. Let's give him a medal.

Listening to him speak, his lack of interest in being a father makes perfect sense. Everything out of his mouth is "I" or "me".

His story is fascinating. The film wasn't a puff piece. I liked him alot more before the film.

I'm not getting this brilliant and smart dude comments. I saw the first half and at times he sounded like a rambling physcho ... almost Chales Manson like nonsense. I like that he acts as though money doesn't matter but at the same time what did he do with the $8.6 million signing bonus that he has to pay back?

Not hating just asking.

I believe the movie shows what happened with his bonus but I believe Miami erased his debt to the team when new ownership took over. I know his paycheck last year and this coming season is in the $6-7 million range over the past 2 years and that has gone to him, not payback to Miami. He would have retired or been gone a long time ago if that were the case.Also he signed under a rapper group or osmething when he came into the league and it was a goofy contract that had levels in it that no one would ever reach.

I promise you RIcky will not end up broke when he leaves the NFL. He is armed with quite a bit of knowledge in the Holistic Medicine including acupuncture, massage, herbs(beyond grass), the guy has set himself up to have an amzing rest of life, just hope he includes all his children in this.

 

[massraider]

Fittingly, the film left me with very ambiguous feelings towards Ricky.

I don't have a problem with his decision to walk away or for his affinity towards pot. I understand the former and applaud the latter.

I think the guy's brilliant in alot of ways, but he's also a straight up scumbag. He's alot of things, but he's also a deadbeat dad. At times, he seemed more than proud of that (Do you ever miss your kids, Ricky? No, not really.) Sure, he's recently thought about being a part of his kids' lives. Let's give him a medal.

Listening to him speak, his lack of interest in being a father makes perfect sense. Everything out of his mouth is "I" or "me".

His story is fascinating. The film wasn't a puff piece. I liked him alot more before the film.

I'm not getting this brilliant and smart dude comments. I saw the first half and at times he sounded like a rambling physcho ... almost Chales Manson like nonsense. I like that he acts as though money doesn't matter but at the same time what did he do with the $8.6 million signing bonus that he has to pay back?

Not hating just asking.

I believe the movie shows what happened with his bonus but I believe Miami erased his debt to the team when new ownership took over. I know his paycheck last year and this coming season is in the $6-7 million range over the past 2 years and that has gone to him, not payback to Miami. He would have retired or been gone a long time ago if that were the case.Also he signed under a rapper group or osmething when he came into the league and it was a goofy contract that had levels in it that no one would ever reach.

I promise you RIcky will not end up broke when he leaves the NFL. He is armed with quite a bit of knowledge in the Holistic Medicine including acupuncture, massage, herbs(beyond grass), the guy has set himself up to have an amzing rest of life, just hope he includes all his children in this.

Master P was the rapper/producer that dipped into sports management just long enough to screw Ricky over, then slunk back to the music industry.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Dude clearly has issues.

He definitely doesn't seem like a bad person, though.

Just kind of messed up, which is a shame.

He had insane potential to be one of the 3 or 4 best backs ever, if he stayed on the damn field.

I don't think so, after the way Wannstedt used him up. As they said last night, he also needed extended time away from the game to let his body heal, in addition to healing his mind.

Hi DM,I agree with some of your POV but it should be noted that he has 8,800+ rushing yds and he missed at least 3 full seasons along the way. Last year he scraped 1,100 and he wasn't the starter till mid season. He easily would have hit 12,000+ rushing. He also catches a lot of balls...his numbers should have looked something like this...

12,000+ rushing, 3,000+ receiving, 100 Tds...

He is 31st all time on the NFL rushing list so let's not poo poo him too much as a guy that never did anything in the NFL and just wasted all his talent. He likely would have been top10 rushing all time, and we probably would be discussing whether he should go into the HoF or not.

That didn't happen but Ricky is a unique story. As I posted before, I think most Miami Dolphins fans sort of got over what he did to the team because we as fans kinda felt similar. We could see Wannstache slowly driving this team into the ground. It was already bad before Saban and then Cameron got here. Not to mention Wayne H, clearly one of the worst professional franchise owners in the NFL ever. He ran Don Shula out of here to make a deal with the devil in Jimmy Johnson. JJ never got this team anywhere close to what he did in Dallas, then he inserted Wannstache to take over for him, so if you really want to blame the Miami Misery this past 15 seasons, look no further than JJ and Wayne H.

 

[Native]

Hope hes on the path to redemption - and that whatever he chooses to do after football, he remains true to his family and children.

Also I want to point out that at this point in his NFL career, Ricky's had five 1000 yard seasons and almost 9000 rushing yards despite missing most of SIX seasons in the prime of his career.

 

[Native]

Also interesting that Ricky held a screening of the documentary in Miami where his teammates and there wives attended.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/36790914/ns/sports-nfl/

In addition to a number of Williams’ teammates, including newly acquired wide receiver Brandon Marshall, Sparano and general manager Jeff Ireland were among those in attendance along with their wives. Williams acknowledged there will be a few surprises in the film, the latest in ESPN’s “30 for 30” series, for his teammates and he expects to take some ribbing Tuesday in the weight room.

Brown and Williams have become very close friends since Brown joined the Dolphins in 2005 as first-round draft pick, so there wasn’t much in the documentary that he didn’t already know. He thinks the general public will view his teammate in a different light from now on after the show airs Tuesday night on ESPN.

“It was good and I think it will enlighten people and let them know a little bit more about Ricky besides what they’ve seen in the media and all of the negative stuff that was out there,” Brown said. “It kind of gives you some insight into why he did some of the stuff he did.”

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Hope hes on the path to redemption - and that whatever he chooses to do after football, he remains true to his family and children.Also I want to point out that at this point in his NFL career, Ricky's had five 1000 yard seasons and almost 9000 rushing yards despite missing most of SIX seasons in the prime of his career.

See post #39

 

[Tanner9919]

great film of Ricky! was sad/nice to see the rise-fall-rise of person...

he sure looked skinny in that black long sleeve shirt sipping tea on a stone wall..w-o-w..must've lost 40 lbs at one point..even his knees/thighs looked boney and skinny..

interesting that the producer thought Ricky was on amphetamines when he failed a test...I would have thought HGH

or some performance enhancer..

 

[pollardsvision]

Fittingly, the film left me with very ambiguous feelings towards Ricky.I don't have a problem with his decision to walk away or for his affinity towards pot. I understand the former and applaud the latter.I think the guy's brilliant in alot of ways, but he's also a straight up scumbag. He's alot of things, but he's also a deadbeat dad. At times, he seemed more than proud of that (Do you ever miss your kids, Ricky? No, not really.) Sure, he's recently thought about being a part of his kids' lives. Let's give him a medal.Listening to him speak, his lack of interest in being a father makes perfect sense. Everything out of his mouth is "I" or "me". His story is fascinating. The film wasn't a puff piece. I liked him alot more before the film.

I don't think he was proud of being a deadbeat dad. I think the first 35 minutes of this film was devoted to a very dark, confusing period in his life and he was unflinchingly honest. His full response was "No, not really. (not verbatim) When I think about them, I do." A lot of fathers who live far from their kids actually cope with missing their children in a very similar way. Feelings people are uncomfortable facing every day are blocked or conveniently forgotten about or self-medicated (pot, booze, other drugs, etc.). Ricky was doing that. I would also argue that this movie was based on "I or me" at a very down part of his life and then at the end asking him to reflect on it years later. Not saying you should like the guy, but I think its worth reminding that the majority of the film was done during a period where Ricky was at his worst and he had no problem with people showing his flaws.Just another viewpoint of what I took from it. I think it's clear the mother of his child in Hawaii didn't want to be a part of this, so we'll never know what's going on there.

Like I said, the film left me feeling very ambiguous towards Ricky.For football fans, there might never have been a more selfless player. Seeing an NFL RB sign a horrible, totally incentive based contract was really refreshing. Crazy, but it was great to see a guy want so badly to truly earn the money he received. Then the pounding he took in MIA without ever complaining, though that obviously manifested in a way that football fans weren't excited about. As a football player, he was the opposite of the total narcissist that appears to be in his private life. I realize most of the film was during Ricky's darkest times, when he wasn't mentally well. I realize that we'd all look like horrible human beings if we opened up during out the bad times. Like most of people, he seems to mean well in what he's always done. Maybe he's changed. I see he married the chick he walked all over on his path to self-enlightenment. He seems to have taken an interest in being a father. I got no idea what to make of the guy, but I did like him more before the film, when I thought he was just a warrior that got abused by the game of football and needed to get away. A guy struggling with physical and mental ramifications of carrying 2 NFL franchises on his back.Hell, I'm probably a hypocrite to love the NFL the way I do and then complain about someone being a neglectful father. It's got to be really hard to be an attentive father and an NFL player. For coaches, I bet it's virtually impossible.

 

[griff321]

Fittingly, the film left me with very ambiguous feelings towards Ricky.

I don't have a problem with his decision to walk away or for his affinity towards pot. I understand the former and applaud the latter.

I think the guy's brilliant in alot of ways, but he's also a straight up scumbag. He's alot of things, but he's also a deadbeat dad. At times, he seemed more than proud of that (Do you ever miss your kids, Ricky? No, not really.) Sure, he's recently thought about being a part of his kids' lives. Let's give him a medal.

Listening to him speak, his lack of interest in being a father makes perfect sense. Everything out of his mouth is "I" or "me".

His story is fascinating. The film wasn't a puff piece. I liked him alot more before the film.

I'm not getting this brilliant and smart dude comments. I saw the first half and at times he sounded like a rambling physcho ... almost Chales Manson like nonsense. I like that he acts as though money doesn't matter but at the same time what did he do with the $8.6 million signing bonus that he has to pay back?

Not hating just asking.

It's a Colonel Kurtz like brilliance.

 

[identikit]

Just finished watching this....

About what I expected; I've met flaky dudes like him before...

Most disappointing is the absentee father aspect. The' narcissistic' diagnosis explains it, but doesn't excuse it in my book.

Generally speaking, these 30 for 30's have been

 

[Adebisi]

So the documentary doesn't say how many, whether it's one, two, or even NONE! And yet you jump to the conclusion that he's Travis Henry part deux?

Is it possible that this information is readily available, even if it's not mentioned in the documentary?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky_Williams

Williams has three children with three different women. He married his long-time girlfriend Kristen Barnes on September 4, 2009.

Hardly close to Travis Henry.

...but still closer than probably 99% of the country.