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An interesting interview, even if it's coming from a non-Bills player:
DAN PATRICK RADIO SHOW LINK
RADIO SHOW TRANSCRIPT
here's my favorite quote from the interview:
Love him or hate him, Ricky Williams has always been a very intriguing person, quite a odd duck, not your average football player and not your average person. I really hope he's able to come back and join the team, the past is the past.
DAN PATRICK RADIO SHOW LINK
RADIO SHOW TRANSCRIPT
.....there’s a clinically evaluation and then the medical part of the program. You know they’ll sit and they’ll talk and they’ll make a decision and I’m sure they’ll give a recommendation to the commissioner, but basically part of the drug program; half of it is testing and the other half you have to talk to someone on a weekly basis. And I think for the most part as long as you follow the rules then you have a pretty good shot to be reinstated
DP – last time you were tested
RW: the last time I was tested was two minutes ago.
DP – Did you pass?
RW: I’m sure
DP: Last time you were high?
RW: It’s been maybe three years, almost.
DP – last time you were tested
RW: the last time I was tested was two minutes ago.
DP – Did you pass?
RW: I’m sure
DP: Last time you were high?
RW: It’s been maybe three years, almost.
KO: Has the feel of a parole board…what sort of impact does that have on you?
RW: Well I’m ok with it; I mean I’ve been in the program for… 4 years. So I’m okay with it, I understand it is just a process and the decisions that I’ve made put me in here and so it was tough at first and I’ve learned to deal with it and its good practice for me following the rules.
RW: Well I’m ok with it; I mean I’ve been in the program for… 4 years. So I’m okay with it, I understand it is just a process and the decisions that I’ve made put me in here and so it was tough at first and I’ve learned to deal with it and its good practice for me following the rules.
DP: If you weren’t playing football would you be getting high?
RW: No, no. Again it comes back to asking why are you doing this. I have had a lot of time to ask myself why and I was very fortunate when I retired a couple of years ago I left the country I went to travel, you could say to find myself, I was on a soul searching journey. And what I found was yoga, and I don’t mean the exercise part of yoga I mean the spiritual practice part of it. And through these practices you know meditation and etc. I found a way to relax without having to use anything and even more so to nip in the bud the things that cause stress to me. Because I have a spiritual practice now I don’t have as much stress one and two when the stress comes I have better ways to deal with it
RW: No, no. Again it comes back to asking why are you doing this. I have had a lot of time to ask myself why and I was very fortunate when I retired a couple of years ago I left the country I went to travel, you could say to find myself, I was on a soul searching journey. And what I found was yoga, and I don’t mean the exercise part of yoga I mean the spiritual practice part of it. And through these practices you know meditation and etc. I found a way to relax without having to use anything and even more so to nip in the bud the things that cause stress to me. Because I have a spiritual practice now I don’t have as much stress one and two when the stress comes I have better ways to deal with it
KO: When you talk to people who don’t have any experiential reference to playing pro-sports or being in the public limelight… that they can’t understand what why there would be stress involved in playing football and making a lot of money?
RW: I think that with people that value the things that I gave up, it’s difficult. Because we all experience stress and what happens is when we value what we want more than we value the stress, then we deal with the stress, it’s ok. But when we value something more, we value that relaxation we value that peace of mind then you know we do things alcohol, drugs, sex, other things we do to get that relaxation other places.
RW: I think that with people that value the things that I gave up, it’s difficult. Because we all experience stress and what happens is when we value what we want more than we value the stress, then we deal with the stress, it’s ok. But when we value something more, we value that relaxation we value that peace of mind then you know we do things alcohol, drugs, sex, other things we do to get that relaxation other places.
KO: Give us an example of one thing that was stressful in the NFL that you couldn’t handle without marijuana
RW: I think the physical pain and having to play through the physical pain is probably the most stressful, And the second is, in the situation I was in, we had a decent offense, we had a great defense but our coach was predominantly a defensive coach and so every time we threw the ball it seemed that it was an interception or something really bad happened and so what our offense just turned into was give the ball to Ricky and play defense. And to me that wasn’t really football. But at the same time I had a lot of respect for this coach and so I didn’t say anything, I didn’t do anything and also our line wasn’t doing a very good job blocking. So I was kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.
RW: I think the physical pain and having to play through the physical pain is probably the most stressful, And the second is, in the situation I was in, we had a decent offense, we had a great defense but our coach was predominantly a defensive coach and so every time we threw the ball it seemed that it was an interception or something really bad happened and so what our offense just turned into was give the ball to Ricky and play defense. And to me that wasn’t really football. But at the same time I had a lot of respect for this coach and so I didn’t say anything, I didn’t do anything and also our line wasn’t doing a very good job blocking. So I was kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.
here's my favorite quote from the interview:
DP: I get the feeling that you’ll run over a line backer and then say “I’m really sorry about that,” and then help him up.
RW: That’s ok, he still got ran over (everyone laughs)
RW: That’s ok, he still got ran over (everyone laughs)
Love him or hate him, Ricky Williams has always been a very intriguing person, quite a odd duck, not your average football player and not your average person. I really hope he's able to come back and join the team, the past is the past.
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