Ricky Williams Football Quotations

I think if I were a college professor, no one would say I was uncomfortable about being shy because that might be expected. But I think because of people's stereotypes, they think of a football player as someone who is very outgoing and I'm not.

If you want to surf, move to Hawaii. If you like to shop, move to New York. If you like acting and Hollywood, move to California. But if you like college football, move to Texas.

I am an honest, God-fearing man who is intensely dedicated to being the best person I can be on and off the football field.

The NFL has been an amazing page in this chapter of my life. I pray that all successive adventures offer me the same potential for growth, success and most importantly fun.

I'm closer to being happy. I'm doing things that make me happy. In football I loved to practice and I loved to play, but I hated to be in meetings, hated to talk to the media, hated to have cameras in my face, hated to sign autographs. I hated to do all those things.

The people that I see on the street, they treat me more as a human being and not just an icon or a football player.

I've let a lot of things go, and obviously football is one of them. I think the hardest thing to let go is your self-image. That's what I'm working on now.

I stepped away to find out more about myself, which I was having difficulty doing as a football player. I got a chance to travel the world. I studied Eastern philosophy, and I've grown as a person so much.

Maybe I'm stupid or whatever, but to me if I got a concussion, if I could see straight and I could carry a football then I'm not telling anybody.

If you identify yourself as a great football player, anytime anyone challenges that, you're going to have some kind of problem.

Nine in the box... that's a football term.

Well, I don't think I've necessarily ever been a passionate football player or a passionate person.

Playing in the National Football League, you're told, you know, where to be, when to be there, what to wear, how to be there. Being able to step away from that, I have an opportunity to look deeper into myself and look for what's real.

You can look inside and there are certain forces that push you. I'm kind of hoping they push me to play football again.

Why do you think I'll play football again?

I loved playing football, but the reasons I loved football were just to feed my ego. And any time you feed your ego, it's a one-way street. There were so many things I had to deal with that erased the positives I got from playing the game that it wasn't worth it. It's like eating a Big Mac and drinking a Diet Coke.

I've had a lot of clouds in my life since I got into pro football -- too many -- but now I feel like I can see really clearly for the first time. And I can see the Super Bowl from here.

I'm disappointed with the decision but I respect it. I'm proud of my association with the National Football League and look forward to returning to the Dolphins in 2007.

I didn't quit football because I failed a drug test, I failed a drug test because I was ready to quit football,

I've had a lot of clouds in my life since I got into pro football -- too many -- but now I feel like I can see really clearly for the first time. And I can see the Super Bowl from here.

I am more mature. I'm a better football player. I just feel like this is my time.

Football is my job, not my life, but it's a job I'm going to give my all for as long as I'm in it.

I really do love football.

I led the NFL in attempts the past two years and they really didn’t go out and get a quarterback to help me so I knew it’s going to be all on me again. I could see my mortality as a football player, that I’m not going to be able to do this much longer. It just became obvious to me that playing football for me is not going to be fun, not something I’m going to enjoy and it’s time for me to do something different.