Former Heisman Trophy Winner and 40 Acres Legend Ricky Williams has informed the Baltimore Ravens he will retire from football. The 34 year old running back recently became the 26th player in NFL history to rush for 10,000 yards and ends an 11 year career in the NFL that included stints with the New Orleans Saints, the Miami Dolphins and the Baltimore Ravens. Williams had one more year left on a 2-year deal he signed with Baltimore last season.
While at Texas, Ricky amassed an incredible 6,279 yards, including a senior year that was capped off with a 2,327 yard performance and a Heisman Trophy. Williams broke the all-time NCAA rushing record in 1998 which had previously been held by Tony Dorsett since 1976. Ron Dayne broke Williams’ record the following year. He was a consensus All-American in 1997 & 1998 and won the Doak Walker and Jim Brown Trophies in each of those years.  In 1998 he added the Walter Camp, Maxwell and AP College Player of the Year Awards to his already impressive college resume.
Ricky Williams is a special talent and a special Longhorn. He joined Earl Campbell as the only two Texas players to win the Heisman Trophy. Equally as important, Williams brought a bit of swagger back to a Texas program that lay somewhat dormant for many years. His performance in a Longhorn uniform undoubtedly helped the future recruiting efforts by Mack Brown, who replaced John Mackovic as head coach in 1998.
Everyone knows Ricky had his share of off-the-field challenges in the NFL and that’s part of his story. The more noteworthy piece is that Ricky Williams is happy with himself as a person and as an athlete. He retires from football as a world-class athlete and one of the greatest players to ever wear a burnt orange jersey. We look forward to great things from Ricky post-retirement. Thanks for the memories Mr. Williams and run Ricky, run.
