Baltimore Ravens Running Back Ricky Williams Retiring From NFL
Running back Ricky Williams of the Baltimore Ravens has decided to hang up his cleats and retire from the NFL after 11 seasons.
“The NFL has been an amazing page in this chapter of my life,” Williams said in a released statement. “I pray that all successive adventures offer me the same potential for growth, success and most importantly fun. I want to thank all my fans, teammates, coaches and supporters for the strength they’ve given me to overcome so much.”
This technically marks the second time in Williams’ career that he is leaving the game. He first retired in 2004 when he was facing a four-game suspension and a $650,000 fine for testing positive for marijuana. Williams officially returned to football in July of 2005 with the Miami Dolphins.
In February of 2006 Williams violated the NFL’s drug policy for a fourth time and was suspended for the entire 2006 season. He spent that year with the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League before returning to the Dolphins in 2007. Williams was only able to record 15 yards on six attempts before tearing his pectoral muscle which ended his season.
In 1999 Williams won the Heisman trophy while playing at the University of Texas and declared for the draft shortly afterwards. New Orleans Saints head coach Mike Ditka traded all of his 1999 draft picks plus a first- and third-round pick in the 2000 draft to select Williams fifth overall.
Williams spent this past season playing as a backup for Ray Rice in Baltimore. He played in all 16 games for the Ravens while recording 108 attempts for 444 yards and two touchdowns.
“I have to thank Coach (John) Harbaugh and the Ravens organization for the opportunity they gave me this year,” Williams said. “I had so much fun and really appreciated the chance to finish on such a great note.”
Williams also posted a tweet to all of his fans on Twitter which said: “Thank you all, but this ain’t it, I’m gonna do something really special.’Be you and change the world,’”
In 147 games played, he carried the ball 2,431 times for 10,009 yards and scored 66 touchdowns. He also had 342 receptions for 2,606 yards and eight touchdowns.
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