WEBVTT - Ricky Williams 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:03.200 Hello, Welcome to another edition of Club Shasha. I am 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:06.320 your host, also the proprietor of Club Shasha, and the 0:00:06.360 --> 0:00:10.159 guy that's stopping by for a drinking conversation today is 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:14.160 the nineteen ninety eight Hisman Trophy winner. He also led 0:00:14.200 --> 0:00:17.240 the NFL and rushing. He was once the MC double 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:20.560 a rushing leader. He broke Tony door set record since 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:24.279 been broken. He's a holistic healer, yoga instructor, and a 0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:29.440 trained astrologer none other than Ricky Williams. All my life, 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:34.960 grinding all my life, sacrifice, hustle back price, one slice 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:38.120 got the dice swathing all my life. I've been grinding 0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:42.760 all my life, all my life, and running all my life, sacrifice, 0:00:43.080 --> 0:00:46.880 hustle back prices, one slice got the bron dice to 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:52.080 swathing all my life. I've been rinding all my life. Ricky, 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:54.920 how are you doing today? Bro? I'm doing great. Thank you. 0:00:55.640 --> 0:00:58.560 So when when people says, okay, you want a Higsman 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:02.400 Trophy winner, you with the first round draft pick, you 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:05.400 led the NFL and Russian and then they get to 0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:10.319 astrologer yoga, we go through your mind when you hear 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:13.640 all that, well, I get it. I mean I get it. 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:16.880 It's hard for people to understand and to be like, 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:19.880 how do you go from doing something that's you know, 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:24.960 so exactly just something that's so you know, woo woo, 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:29.120 and uh. It was weird. I kind of had to 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:31.520 wake up to it myself. And it was soon after 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:34.920 I led the NFL and Rushie I started to read 0:01:35.040 --> 0:01:37.839 more and look at certain things and realize this stuff 0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:40.440 kind of interests me, and it interested me so much 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:42.480 I ended up retiring from the NFL and spending a 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:45.640 year really studying and learning about these things. And then 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:48.000 when I came back to the NFL, it was really 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:51.120 strange because I then had these two parts of myself 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:53.200 and I was trying to find a way to make 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:55.880 them come together. And it took a long time. You know. 0:01:56.080 --> 0:01:58.160 At first it was just me sitting in my locker 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:00.800 reading books. And then slowly I I'm more comfortable, and 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:03.000 I started talking to some of my closest teammates, asking 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:05.840 them for their birth information, to start looking at their charts, 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:09.040 and then I just slowly became more comfortable allowing these 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:12.600 two parts of myself to come together. And it's been weird, 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:15.440 and it's been strange, and I finally feel like I've 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:17.519 come to the place where I'm coming out of this 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:21.480 is this is who I am. You talk you talk 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:25.160 about that. You have a podcast Quick Curious Questions with 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:28.560 Ricky Williams. Will you talk about astrology? And your guests 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:31.640 they tell you their birthday. You delve into the astrology. 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:35.720 So clearly you believe in that, the signs aligning and 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:40.519 the astrological you you you believe in that. Well, you know, 0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:44.480 it's you can say it's a belief, but but most 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:48.320 people don't really understand what astrology gets to me. It's 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:50.359 just it's just a legs. It's just a way that 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:53.079 it's just a way another way to look at you know, 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:56.519 and let me ask let me ask you a question. 0:02:56.760 --> 0:02:58.760 So let me so let's just say, for the sake 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:01.880 of argument, I askt the logical sign, I'm a cancer, 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:04.359 and people say, well, you're a water a sign. So 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:08.600 that's a crap. So you're hard exterior, you're solf inside, 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:12.040 your tender, you're caring, you're loving, and then people starting 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:15.120 to believe that, can you start to believe something that 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:19.280 maybe you're not. Of course, of course it's called it's 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:21.600 called the placebo effense but let me let me give 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:23.840 you let me give you an example. Okay, great example 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:28.600 you give being a cancer. So I'm guessing some of 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:32.320 those things probably might be true. But astrologically, like if 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:34.440 I was talking to a cancer, you know, if I 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:35.960 was talking to you and you decided with me and 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:37.520 he gave me money, need to look at your chary, 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:40.640 I would say, cancer is really about what you're here 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:44.440 to do, what you're here to learn. And so it's 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:46.680 the kind of way I look at astrology. It's it's 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:49.240 spiritual in this way. And if someone talks to you 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:51.880 and they say, you know you're you're here to learn, 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:55.080 you know, cancer is about learning how to keep your 0:03:55.120 --> 0:03:57.520 heart open, right to go through stuff, right to go 0:03:57.720 --> 0:04:00.240 through stuff, to get beat up, but still learn keep 0:04:00.240 --> 0:04:03.520 your heart open. And so part of this process means 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:05.600 you got to learn to know your own heart, okay. 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:07.960 And so part of that is if Emily comes in 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:10.200 when I think about cancer, because the only way you 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:12.120 can truly know your own heart is if you have 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:15.120 people around you where you feel comfortable, is safe enough 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:18.040 that you can share your heart right and by sharing 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:20.120 with these people, you get a better sense of who 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:22.000 you are. And it's easier to keep your heart open. 0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:25.520 Right to me, that's the core basis of cancer. And 0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:27.680 if I'm talking to with cancer and they're like, that 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:30.760 makes sense to me, right, then it's useful. If they say, 0:04:30.839 --> 0:04:32.440 you know, that doesn't make sense for me, then it's 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:35.080 not useful to them. And that's the way. That's the way. 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:37.320 It's just the lens to look at them through. So 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:41.200 you're trying to get them to look within themselves, find 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:43.920 something that you're saying that's going to be useful, that's 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:46.560 going to be beneficial, that they can go back out 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:49.760 and use it to the best of their ability. That's 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:52.120 exactly That's exactly what I'm doing. And so what I'm 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:56.240 doing with with the podcast is is I'm bringing people 0:04:56.320 --> 0:04:58.120 on and I look at their child. I look because 0:04:58.240 --> 0:05:01.000 and everyone's chart there's something you're singer, you meet that 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:03.120 kind of jumps out at and so I try to 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:06.800 ask them questions, not necessarily telling them what I'm looking at, 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:09.039 but just asking questions to see if I can get 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:12.799 to that thing that I see. And very often sometimes 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:14.360 it's a question. I don't even think we're going to 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:16.680 get there, but I ask the question, and the words 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:19.320 that come out of their mouth are almost verbatim as 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:21.600 the words you would read in an astrology book about 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:24.520 this person's side. And so I call it people speak 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:28.719 their chart, you know. And so astrologiess helps us tune 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:32.520 into into it's not mythology, but it is kind of 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:36.200 like mythology, right, like for us, Right, there's a there's 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:40.080 a mythology about a warrior. Right, how to warriors? How 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:43.880 we how we right? Challenges come, We don't back down, 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:45.920 we come up and we meet the challenges. Right. Also 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:48.080 part of the warriors, especially if you can get military 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:50.240 and football, is we got to come together as a 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:52.840 team to accomplish this one goal. And we have to 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:56.480 be tough and trust each other. Right. And so this 0:05:56.720 --> 0:05:59.400 is a myth. Right as we put on the football, 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:00.840 I'm going to read this side of these kids that 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:03.919 we're going to be athletes. We entered into that myth, okay. 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:07.120 And so astrology can give you a sense of how 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:09.920 to interact with the myths that you've entered into and 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:12.120 how to be more conscious in them. So an example 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:14.480 is like the warrior myth, the old warrior myth is 0:06:14.560 --> 0:06:16.920 that we can't be sensitive, right, we have to hide 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:19.440 our feelings we have to be tough, right, but as 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:23.400 warriors as embodied this, if we realize it actually doesn't work, 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:26.120 that we can be a sensitive warrior, right, that's a 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:28.920 new that's a new myth. And astrology can help tune 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:32.360 you into the myths that you're unconsciously living out, so 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:34.640 you can be more conscious and living mind and more 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:39.840 and more empowering ways. So in order to for a 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:43.040 person to get the true meaning, the true understanding of 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:47.320 the heads or her astrological reading, they have to come 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:51.120 in with an open mind. They can't because they can't. 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:52.840 But I've met its bud. Yeah, I'm just doing it 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:55.360 just because. But you have to be open minding. You 0:06:55.480 --> 0:07:00.200 have to be will having a willingness well to a 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:02.800 certain extent, I think, to get the most out of it. Yes, 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:04.720 to get the most out of anything, you have to 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:07.160 have an open mind. Right. I'm telling you people that 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:09.440 come in that are skeptical and the way that I 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:13.480 explained it to them and approach it, every single person 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:16.440 they walk, they walk and their minds are expanding. They 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:18.400 have a different way to look at it. And so 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:21.680 to me, whether someone's a skeptic or not, it doesn't 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:24.360 matter to me. It's an interesting conversation that provides a 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:27.200 different way to look at that can be useful, very 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:30.200 useful at least it has been in my life, Okay. 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:36.200 And and also the yoga side. So how do they merge, 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:39.920 because because obviously yoga is very peaceful, you're trying to 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:43.400 get you're trying to get in tune and instep with yourself, 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:49.040 your body. You're one. Yeah, so they're they're very much related. 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:53.120 And the thing about astrology is is when people say astrology, 0:07:53.200 --> 0:07:56.200 most people are saying something completely They're different. They might 0:07:56.280 --> 0:07:58.840 be related because they're related to the stars, but truly 0:07:58.880 --> 0:08:01.880 astrology is like agag and so depending on who the 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:04.120 person is and how they're looking at it, they're going 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:07.520 to use astrology different. I'm a spiritual person, so I'm 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:09.760 always looking for how to connect the dots in life. 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:12.720 Right to me, where I find peace and yoga is 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:16.160 to how to understand the big picture. And so growing up, 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:18.440 I grew up Christian, and I'm telling you, as a kid, 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:21.080 my favorite thing to do in the world was Sunday school. 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:24.480 I love to hear the stories about Jesus because again, 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:26.520 religion gives us the way to try to understand the world. 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:28.640 But you know, I got sixteen and then they said 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:31.600 you gotta wait Mayor to have sex, and I was like, 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:33.480 I need to find me a different religion, and so 0:08:38.040 --> 0:08:40.079 so I let it go. But but you know, when 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:42.199 I found yoga, it was like coming home, you know, 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:45.480 a more expansive way to understand how everything works. And 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:48.439 then I found astrology from my yoga teacher and I 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.040 was like, wow, this is something I can actually work with. 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:52.920 This gives me a way to look at the world 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:55.560 where I can see how things are connected, how things 0:08:55.640 --> 0:09:01.680 make sense. You are a big cannabis advocate, So which 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:05.600 came first. Was it cannabis helping you get to where 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:08.360 you are now? Or was it that you started doing 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:11.319 this and like to reach that interfel to where you 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:15.040 found calm, where you found a peace. Yeah. Well, I 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:17.079 think the ultimate goal for me was to find some 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:19.680 kind of peace, and I've found the peace and cannabis, 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:22.520 and in that piece, my mind started to expand and 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:25.040 I started to look at the at the bigger picture. 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:28.360 And so my relationship with cannas over the years is 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:31.880 definitely involved the same way the relationship with our country's 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:35.079 relationship with cannabis has evolved, and I just think I 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:37.040 just was fortunate enough to be kind of on the 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:40.760 leading edge of that. And so as as an advocate, 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:43.400 it's from my own personal experience, as I've used cannabis 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:46.319 in ways that have enhanced my life, and I've also 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:48.000 used in ways that have gotten me in trouble. And 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:50.520 so I've learned from those experiences and I think I 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:53.000 have something meaningful to say about it. I think the 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:55.719 thing is, Ricky, is that you have a very unique perspective. 0:09:55.920 --> 0:09:58.800 Is that it seems to me. I mean, there are 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:01.120 some people that smoke it, they just smoked, just a smoke. 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:03.559 But if you strike me as a guy that not 0:10:03.720 --> 0:10:06.640 only did you smoke, but you try to learn the 0:10:06.880 --> 0:10:10.800 origin and the different strands and and and what effect 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:13.400 that it has on nobody. Okay, which one is gonna 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:15.679 give me to that place that while I'm calm and 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:18.719 that I can do something meaningful in society that can 0:10:18.800 --> 0:10:21.120 help my brethren and that can help my fellow man. 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:25.280 And then so what was that process? Like, Yeah, that's 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:28.720 a great question. So it really started with this big question. 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:32.840 You know, I found myself, you know, I felt another 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:35.400 drug test and instead of like going through all this stuff. 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:37.280 I called up doctor Brown caught up that it fell 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:44.040 and said, don't worry about me, don't worry about me. 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:48.079 I'm good, you know. And so I started traveling around 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:50.160 the world a little bit, and and I have this 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:53.600 question of Okay, I kind of just gave up everything 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:56.400 that I've ever worked for, you know, and it's connected 0:10:56.440 --> 0:10:59.680 to this plant. So is it true with everyone's saying 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:01.240 that I'm just to pot it and a loser and 0:11:01.240 --> 0:11:03.839 I'm throwing everything away or is there something else going 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:06.760 on here? And you know, me being a losing like 0:11:06.840 --> 0:11:09.000 that didn't feel good. And so I went the other direction, 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:10.760 and I said, I'm going to learn as much as 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:13.760 I can about what's gonna be going on here. So 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:18.080 you travel around the world, so obviously you probably tried 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:21.120 cannabis in eat different country, a local. You know what 0:11:21.200 --> 0:11:23.960 I'm telling you, you are in true cancer the sensitivity 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:26.160 because the things that I'm about to say, you're already 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:29.040 You're already asking the question. So I said, that's that 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:31.440 was the crazy part of it. Is I started traveling 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:34.360 around the world and going places where nobody had any 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:37.400 idea who I was, right, and everywhere I'd go, I'd 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:40.120 end up and somebody, some nice time person would come 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:42.559 up to me and offer me to smoke something like. 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:45.280 I called it the wheat Fair because I mean i'd 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:47.000 be in this. I was on a bus in Fiji 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:49.800 and this dude, the Indian dude, walked to the back 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:51.520 and he sit down and he offers me some rice 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:53.120 and then we start talking and he's like, hey, do 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:54.920 you wanna you know, my uncle has some plans you 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:57.880 wanna go smoking and like, you know, break bread together. 0:11:58.040 --> 0:12:00.640 And I was like sure, I was inside. The same 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:02.800 thing happened. I was in Australia, the same thing happened. 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:07.840 So I started to be like, there's something I am. 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:11.880 I can't help it. There's something going on here. And 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:17.240 and so I just followed that. Since so when you 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:20.680 how old were you when you first started smoking marijuana? 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:23.360 So the first time I smoked it was I was 0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:25.400 a junior in a high school. I grew up in 0:12:25.440 --> 0:12:27.679 San Diego, so it was a round. Yeah. Yeah. I 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:29.760 was a jock though, so it was like a one 0:12:29.800 --> 0:12:31.839 time experience and I didn't like it, and so I 0:12:31.920 --> 0:12:34.080 didn't really I didn't really mess with me. And then 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:37.720 I got to college and my college roommate he spoke, 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:40.440 and so sometimes on Fridays, the guys would come around 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:41.880 and they would pass it around and I would just 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:45.320 do it to social but you know, I wasn't really 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:48.720 into it. And then it was my senior year. It's funny. 0:12:48.800 --> 0:12:50.440 One thing about my senior year. We played a lot 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:53.000 of Madden and I played with the Bronco. You were 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:55.640 you were an inspiration. You were an inspiration to be 0:12:55.800 --> 0:13:01.040 that year. So I was running for the Heisman and 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:05.600 my girlfriend my girl for two years. Okay, we broke up, 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:08.600 and it's like, right after we broke up, I went 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:10.120 to her, I went to a house to bring her 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:13.120 stuff back, and your quarterback on the football team's car 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:20.000 was parked. Oh for real, for really, you didn't even 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:22.400 head up back door you. He was heading the ball 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:26.160 to the foot and then stealing you. You're from the back. 0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:29.360 Oh my done the rouse. That's that's how it started. 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:32.280 And I was like obsessing about this, and my my 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:34.480 friend was like, dude, you gotta chill, and so he 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:36.559 just brought it out. He said you got it, and 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:38.079 I did. And it was the first time where I 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:40.920 was like, Okay, I wasn't obsessing, I wasn't thinking about 0:13:40.960 --> 0:13:43.480 it I can sleep and relax. And from that moment, 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:45.400 I noticed, okay, this this can be helpful to me. 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:50.640 So when you failed your first so did they not 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:53.280 testing college or did you never felt a test in college? 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:55.559 Or did they keep that hush? So again this this 0:13:55.800 --> 0:13:57.839 was this was way in my senior year and it 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:01.599 was just that one experience where I realized, okay, like 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:03.600 this is nice. But I didn't become a smoker. Then. 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:06.160 It was just when I had that first experience and 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:09.079 you know, they weren't going to test me. I was 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:11.680 running there, you know, so they were but I wasn't 0:14:11.679 --> 0:14:14.880 smoking anyway. And then I got into the NFL and 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:17.439 and again I kind of smoked on and off, but 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:19.480 I wasn't a smoker, so it was easy to pass 0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:22.120 the drug test. What got me was when I was 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:26.000 in New Orleans, it always tested us during training camp. 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:29.000 And when I got traded to Miami, they tested in 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:32.040 OTAs and nobody, I guess, nobody knew I smoked, so 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:34.640 nobody told like passed the message to me. And so 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:37.560 you know, I went in that morning and they were 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:39.280 like a drug testing. I was like damn. And so 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:41.600 then I got into the program. But really I wasn't 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:44.760 even a smoker, you know, I just would smoke occasionally. 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:47.160 But then I got in the program and it became 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:51.360 like this big issue. And then I started to realize that, uh, 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:55.200 that cannabis actually helped me, you know, because it it 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:56.720 was like when I was there and I could use 0:14:56.800 --> 0:14:58.280 it and I didn't realize it, but when it was 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:00.800 taking away, I started to realize, Wow, this was really 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:03.360 doing something to help me deal with all the stress 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:05.920 and take care of my body. And so although I 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:08.280 was being tested, you know, I found a way that 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:10.520 I could take like two hits the day after I 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:13.320 got tested, and I would be cleaned for the next test. 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:15.280 And this worked for like a year and a half. 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:17.560 But then we were playing we were playing the Eagles 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:20.520 on Monday night and uh, and it was like the 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:23.160 game that I limited eliminated us from the playoffs, that 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:25.280 I separated my shoulder and I just was in a 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:27.120 bad spot. So I think I took a little bit 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:32.040 too many hits. I took too too many. Dude called 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:33.880 me in the dude call me in the morning, and 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:36.520 he an he pissed tests me and then it came back. 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:39.160 And then so that was number two and number two 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:41.600 failed tests. I was like, I was a month away 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:44.000 from being out of the program, but number two failed tests. 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:48.600 They they they find you for four seventeenths of your 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:51.480 salary and and so because of that they have to 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:53.040 tell the team to take it out of your check. 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:55.320 So then the team goes right, right, And so then 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:57.080 I went into the office and they were like whatever, 0:15:57.120 --> 0:16:00.280 and I was like fine, and so it was like okay, 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:03.000 and then I appealed the test because the A bottle 0:16:03.160 --> 0:16:06.160 was like point one five seven, the B bottle was underneath. 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:07.600 So I felt like I had a case that I 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:10.880 barely felt that one too many hits. I barely felt 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:14.680 the test. So and so they came back and they said, okay, 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:16.880 if you agreed to stay in the program for eight 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:20.760 weeks of the season, then well well you're you're free, right, 0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:24.080 And so I said, that's two months. You got two months, 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:28.200 No here, not too not one, just eight weeks, cold turkey. 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:31.560 You out in the program completely. You can smoke much 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:33.640 as you want. Yes, yes, it was. I was righting 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:35.800 right in front of me. And at the same time, 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:38.240 I started thinking about is this really what I want 0:16:38.240 --> 0:16:40.560 to be doing with my life? No, as I started. 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:42.840 I started, I started reading, I started opening my mind 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:45.160 and realizing, you know, if I stayed doing this for 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:46.760 the rest of my life, am I gonna have the 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:48.920 time and the energy to be able to have the 0:16:49.000 --> 0:16:50.920 experiences that I want to have? And then I started 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:52.560 thinking about it. I got enough money that I could 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:54.920 be comfortably for the rest of my life. Then I 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:57.240 started thinking, why am I even doing this? And so 0:16:57.360 --> 0:17:00.320 then I had to make a decision. I had to 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:02.480 make a decision. And the decision I made is and again, 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:04.600 when I made this decision, I, in my in my 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:08.160 heart of hearts, I truly believe I was never coming back, 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:10.880 not coming back to the NFL, not even coming back 0:17:10.920 --> 0:17:15.000 to America. Okay, I was all one, all right, I'm 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:17.639 not gonna lie, but but I needed that, you know, 0:17:18.160 --> 0:17:21.399 I needed that. I needed that, and and thank goodness, right, 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:24.359 and it's so interesting, I all comes full circle, okay, 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:26.600 because you know I was out in Australia. You know, 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:29.359 everyone in my mind, everyone I thought I lost my mind, 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:32.600 but my my own personal path was I was reconnected 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:34.960 to my spiritual roots and I was happening. I felt 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:37.960 this deep connection to Jesus Christ, and I literally I 0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:40.080 wasn't really a huge reader, but at this point in 0:17:40.119 --> 0:17:42.040 my life, I was trying to read everything I could 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:45.800 about Jesus and I ended up, you know, reading the Gospels, 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:47.600 and I came across a verse in Matthew and it 0:17:48.320 --> 0:17:50.840 changed everything for me. Right. The verse was, if you 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:53.639 give up home, family, you know, if you give up everything, 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:56.320 and I'm looking for me, it will all be returned 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:58.600 to you. And I found solace in that. I found 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:01.280 solace in that, and it came true. I was able 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:03.440 after that year away to find myself. I was able 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:06.399 to come back, reintegrate into the Dolphins, have another thousand 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:09.080 yard season, finished my career with ten thousand yards rushing, 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:11.760 and I feel like I was able to make to 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:14.119 make it all work, you know, to turn something that 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:16.800 could have turned into a crash and burn story to 0:18:16.880 --> 0:18:20.359 turn it into an uplifting story. Ricky, do you believe 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:23.879 you said you started smoking? What really got you on 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:27.919 the path to smoking continuous was their situation with your girlfriend. 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:31.480 Do you believe she broke up because uh, she was 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:34.760 seeing the other guy or you guys wanted to separate 0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:37.440 and then it bothered you because it was a teammate, 0:18:37.840 --> 0:18:39.919 because I don't know, would you have started smoking if 0:18:39.920 --> 0:18:41.880 the guy was on the basketball team, with a baseball 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:46.040 team or just the regular Joe smo walking campus. It 0:18:46.240 --> 0:18:47.760 was you know, it was it was a lot. It 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:50.399 was a lot. So when I was in when I 0:18:50.440 --> 0:18:52.320 was in college, I used to play I played mynor 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:55.639 League baseball and so and so at the end of 0:18:55.760 --> 0:18:57.680 at the end of finals in May, I take my 0:18:57.760 --> 0:18:59.399 last final, I get in my car, I drive this 0:18:59.440 --> 0:19:01.600 Florida to start playing baseball. And then I come back 0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:04.680 in August. So like the day before, the day before 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:09.400 I left crazy college story day before I left, Like then, 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:11.080 my girl we got into an art you know, and 0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:13.080 it was just it just we were like, okay, let's 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:15.200 let's break up. You got into an argument before she 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:19.840 started it Ricky. Then this actually it was mostly my 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:22.280 fam at this time. It actually was it was her, 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:24.720 but anyway, so we got we got into an argument, 0:19:25.080 --> 0:19:26.600 and then I was like all right. And then and 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:28.359