Longhorns Legend Ricky Williams Latest Focus Of SI's 'Where Are They Now' Series

Over a decade ago, Ricky Williams left the NFL on his own terms. Labeled an “outcast and a stoner”, Williams continued down a path that was seemingly ahead of his times.

Matt Galatzan | Jul 6, 2021

Longhorns Legend Ricky Williams Latest Focus Of SI's 'Where Are They Now' Series /

More than two decades ago, Ricky Williams took the college football world by storm, breaking Tony Dorsett's all-time record for rushing yards in a career, and winning a Heisman Trophy.

In truth, Williams's final season with the Longhorns -- the first in the Mack Brown era -- can be credited as the match that lit the flame in the revival of Texas Football as a program.

His professional career was a bit of a different story, with Williams struggling with social anxiety early in his NFL career, leading to an abrupt exit in June of 2004.

But as Williams disclosed in his recent interview with Sports Illustrated, in which he was the latest focus of their "Where Are They Now" Series, his early retirement was the best decision he could have made for himself.

In his time away from the game, Williams found himself as a person, learning to embrace his mental differences and turn them into a strength.

As a result, Williams was able to return to the NFL as a new man and set his life on a path that was best for him, and not what was expected of him by others.

You can watch the full interview with Williams in the video above, or read the entire story from Sports Illustrated's Greg Bishop, here.

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Published Jul 6, 2021

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.