Errick Lynne "Ricky" Williams, Jr. (born May 21, 1977) is an American football running back for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Texas, where he was a two-time All-American and won the Heisman Trophy. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints fifth overall in the 1999 NFL Draft, and he has also played professionally for the Miami Dolphins and Toronto Argonauts. Contents 1 Early life 2 College career 2.1 College statistics 3 Professional career 3.1 New Orleans Saints 3.2 Miami Dolphins 3.2.1 First stint 3.2.2 Early retirement from football 3.2.3 Return to football 3.3 Toronto Argonauts 3.4 Return to Miami 3.5 Baltimore Ravens 4 Personal life 5 In the media 6 See also 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links Early life Williams was born (with his twin sister Cassandra) in San Diego, California, to 19-year old Sandy Williams and her husband, 18-year old Errick Will! iams.[1] Growing up middle-class, his parents divorced in 1983 and Williams, at the age of 5, was taking care of his sisters by putting them to bed and even cooking for them.[1] Perhaps due to his broken home and the fact that his father was gone at such an early age, Williams suffered from anger issues that eventually led his mother to send him to counseling.[1] He also struggled academically, despite a test he took as a six-year old which revealed that he had the intelligence of someone twice his age.[1] Williams himself once said, "I was always very bright, but not necessarily a hard worker . I think I was in eighth grade when I became really focused as a student and started getting good grades."[1] By high school Williams was an honor roll student and was named to the San Diego Union-Tribune All-Academic team.[1] At San Diego's Patrick Henry High School, Williams primarily played baseball and football in addition to running track. Williams also wrestled, not! ably losing a match to future NCAA champion and three-time Sup! er Bowl champion Stephen Neal.[2] Entering high school at 5'9" and 155 pounds, Williams added an additional 25 pounds of weight before his junior season.[1] Due to his love of physical contact, Williams played outside linebacker and strong safety in addition to his primary position of running back.[1] During his high school career he rushed for a total of 4,129 yards and 55 touchdowns, and in his senior season he ran for 2,099 yards and 25 touchdowns, totals which earned him the San Diego Union-Tribune's 1994 Player of the Year award.[1] Among his senior year performances were a 200-yard effort in a loss to Helix High School, a 248-yard (on 24 carries) and three-touchdown game in a 26-3 win at Chula Vista, a 215-yard (21 carries) and two-touchdown showing in a 13-3 win against Mira Mesa, a 143-yard (18 carries) and two-touchdown game in a 28-10 victory over Point Loma, and a 129-yard (24 carries) and one-touchdown game against top-ranked Morse which included Williams totali! ng 47 of the 69 yards Patrick Henry accumulated during the game-winning drive in a 20-17 upset.[1] Two weeks after the win over Morse, Patrick Henry clinched its first Eastern League title in 11 years with a 21-12 win against San Diego High School; Williams appeared to be on his way to a record-setting performance with 115 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter of the game but suffered a leg injury on the third play of the second quarter. After being helped off the field he re-entered the game and attempted one more carry but had to be carried off the field again, finished for the day.[1] Following two weeks of rest, Williams was able to suit up in the first round of the CIF-San Diego Section Division 1 playoffs against San Dieguito and, playing through pain from the leg injury, post 94 yards on 25 carries in a 15-14 win.[1] In the second round Williams ran for 110 yards in a 21-17 victory over Rancho Buena Vista, propelling Patrick Henry into the championship game a! t Jack Murphy Stadium for a rematch with Morse.[1] However, in the titl! e game Patrick Henry lost 13-0 and Williams would be held to a season-low 46 yards, with his team amassing just 62 yards of total offense.[1] College career Williams accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Texas, where he played for the Texas Longhorns football team from 1995 to 1998. Williams holds or shares 20 NCAA records, and became the NCAA Division I-A career rushing leader in 1998 with 6,279 yards (broken one year later by University of Wisconsin's Ron Dayne). Williams had a sensational senior season, highlighted by rushing for nine touchdowns and 385 yards in the season's first two games; rushing for 318 yards and six touchdowns against Rice; rushing for 350 yards and five touchdowns against Iowa State; and rushing for 150 yards against Nebraska's Black Shirt defense. He helped beat longtime rival Oklahoma rushing for 166 rushing yards and two scores. Williams broke the NCAA career rushing record during the annual rivalry game held the day after! Thanksgiving (this particular year fell on November 27, 1998) between Texas and Texas A&M. Needing only 11 yards to break Tony Dorsett's 22-year old NCAA Division 1-A all-time rushing record (6,082), Williams approached the line of scrimmage with 1:13 left in the first quarter; taking the handoff, Williams spun through massive clearing blocks by left tackle Leonard Davis and left guard Roger Roesler. After surging past Texas A&M linebacker Warrick Holdman, Williams took advantage of a lead block by fullback Ricky Brown. That pushed him into the secondary as he streaked down the left sideline. Williams then powered through a tackle attempt by Texas A&M safety Rich Coady at the A&M 12. He then took advantage of a devastating downfield block by wide receiver Wane McGarrity, barging past cornerback Jason Webster's desperate tackle at the end zone. The game was briefly stopped while Williams received the game ball and was honored by a group of dignitaries includ! ing Dorsett. Williams' record-breaking run gave Texas a 10-0 lead in it! s eventual 26-24 upset of sixth-ranked Texas A&M. He finished the game racking up 259 yards on a career-high 44 carries. He broke the NCAA Division I-A career rushing touchdowns and career scoring records in 1998 with 73 and 452 respectively (topped one year later by Miami University's Travis Prentice), and rushed for 200 or more yards in twelve different games (an NCAA record he shares with Dayne and USC's Marcus Allen). Williams won the 64th Heisman Trophy, becoming the second Texas Longhorn to win this honor, joining Earl Campbell. Williams was sometimes known as the "Texas Tornado."[3] College statistics Source: [1] Note that table includes Williams' performances in bowl games, which prior to 2002 were not included in official NCAA career statistics. Rushing Receiving Season Team GP Att Yds Avg Yds/G Long TD Rec Yds Long TD 1995 TEX 13 178 1,052 5.9 80.9 65 8 16 224 49 0 1996 TEX 13 216 1,320 6.1 101.5 75 13 33 307 46 2 1997 TEX 11 279 1,893 6.8 172.1 87 25 2! 0 150 27 0 1998 TEX 12 391 2,327 6.0 193.9 68 29 29 307 48 1 Total 49 1,064 6,592 6.2 134.5 87 75 98 988 49 3 Professional career New Orleans Saints Williams was selected as the fifth pick of the 1999 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints. Head coach Mike Ditka traded all of the Saints' 1999 draft picks to get Williams, as well as a 1st and 3rd pick the following year. This was the first time one player was the only draft pick of an NFL team. Williams and Ditka posed for the cover of ESPN The Magazine as a bride and a groom with the heading "For Better or for Worse." Master P's (a.k.a. Percy Miller's) organization "No Limit Sports" negotiated his contract, which was largely incentive-laden; he received an $8M-plus signing bonus with salary incentives potentially worth from $11 million to $68 million should he hit all of his incentives, with most of them requiring higher than top-level production to attain.[4] The contract was criticized by legions of people, both sports agent! s and writers, who realized that Williams' position entitled him to muc! h more in guaranteed money.[5] Williams later fired "No Limit Sports" and made Leigh Steinberg his agent. Ditka was later fired for the team's poor performance. Williams spent three seasons (1999–2001) with the Saints. He was moderately successful there, with two 1000 yard seasons in 2000 and 2001. In 2000 he rushed for exactly 1000 yards and scored 9 total touchdowns in 10 games. He missed the team's last 6 games and the playoffs due to injury. The Saints finished the 2000 regular season with a 10-6 record and won the franchise's first ever playoff game against the St. Louis Rams. Williams' most successful statistical season with the team came the next year in 2001, when he rushed for 1245 yards, 8th in the NFL. He also caught 60 passes for 511 yards. It would be his last season with the Saints. Miami Dolphins First stint Williams during his first stint with the Dolphins. Williams was traded to the Miami Dolphins on March 8, 2002 for four draft picks, including two first! -round picks. In 2002, his first season with the Dolphins, he was the NFL's leading rusher with 1,853 yards, a First-team All-Pro and a Pro Bowler. Williams was noted for his dreadlocks hair style, but he shaved them off during a trip to Australia. His shyness made Williams appear somewhat of an odd ball. "Ricky's just a different guy," former Saints receiver Joe Horn explained. "People he wanted to deal with, he did. And people he wanted to have nothing to do with, he didn't. No one could understand that. I don't think guys in the locker room could grasp that he wanted to be to himself - you know, quiet. If you didn't understand him and didn't know what he was about, it always kept people in suspense." Besides keeping to himself, Williams was known for conducting post-game interviews with his helmet on (complete wit
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OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore Ravens running back Ricky William! s says he's retiring from football. Read the rest
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OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP)—Ricky Williams is retiring from the NFL. Again. This time, however, it appears to be for good. The 34-year-old Williams told the Baltimore Read the rest
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Baltimore Ravens running back Ricky Williams has decided to retire from the NFL after 11 seasons, he announced Tuesday. "The NFL has been an amazing page Read the rest
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Former All-Pro running back Ricky Williams has decided to retire after 11 NFL seasons. The 34-year-old Williams was a star at the University of Texas and a Read the rest
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Ricky Wi! lliams #34 RB. Baltimore Ravens | Official Team Site. Height: 5-10 Weight: 230 Age: 34 Born: 5/21/1977 Read the rest
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Errick Lynne "Ricky" Williams, Jr. (born May 21, 1977) is an American football running back for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. He played Read the rest