s04.e29 | Looking Back: The Ricky Williams Episode

The decorated football career of Ricky Williams is the stuff of legend, featuring an NCAA career rushing record, the 1998 Heisman Trophy, becoming the first player ever to represent a National Football League team’s entire draft class in 1999, and an NFL rushing title in 2002. It is Williams’s enigmatic personality, however, that has often stood out even more than his gridiron greatness. The combination of the two endeared Williams to Miami Dolphins fans around the world when the team brought him to South Florida through a 2002 trade with the New Orleans Saints, and resulted in confusion, hurt, and outrage upon his unexpected but temporary retirement from football just days before the 2004 season.

In May of 2020, Ricky took his first opportunity to Dive in The Tank and fondly recalled his years as a Dolphin, particularly his prolific first two seasons (9:13). He candidly detailed the decisions behind his retirement, including a surprising assist from an unlikely source (25:36), his conversations with then Dolphins Head Coach Dave Wannstedt (28:50), and how meaningful and self-healing his time away from football was (32:58). Ricky also covered his respect for Nick Saban (38:50), his special friendship with fellow Fins rusher Ronnie Brown, and of course talks the Wild Cat from his perspective (42:57).

​Contributors to this episode include Sean Todd aka DJ Prēc and Miami Dolphins Productions.
Theme song created and performed by The Honorable SoLo D.​