I don’t know about you, but if you saw last night’s 60 Minutes feature on Ricky Williams, you have a special treat in your ‘life skills’ goody bag…
Here’s a short recount of what happened during his interview from Harvey Slaklov of The Florida Sun Sentenial. I have to hand it to Ricky because he’s doing what he wants. He had a great response for Mike Wallace’s question and statement that he cost the Dolphins the Super Bowl and the success of the season by stating he doesn’t believe he owes anyone an apology for retiring “from that lifestyle.”
You have to admire his frankness about how views people’s judgments. “If I can find a reason to apologize then I would love to apologize,…What if I disagree? Do I still have to apologize that I cost them their season?…I played my butt off. I played as hard as I could whenever I put that uniform on…I moved on. So when is it OK for me to stop playing football? When my knees went out … my shoulders?”
The bottom line is that people including Wallace, who introduced the story as “weird”, are not trying to comprehend the obvious…That Williams is an enlightened individual, who is living in not only the present moment, but also living on the edge of life by seeking his personal quest. He is seeking to find out ‘who he is’…Is that wrong, and should we pummel him for that?
Think about it, it is his life…Shouldn’t he be the one who controls it, and is free to do what he chooses. Also, he put his choice where his heart is. Think about if he played half-ass, the Dolphins probably would have had the New Orleans Saints’ version of Ricky Williams that did interviews with his helmet on not the All-Pro Ricky Williams, who ran like Earl Campbell with speed.
Now, are their consequences for Ricky Williams’s choice?…Yes, he’s is going to be owing some serious cash, but to Williams the loot doesn’t mean anything to him anyway because he belives that the loot brings nothing but problems and limits to his life. So, why be upset about his quick decision.
This is a guy who is living a healthy lifestyle and is seeking to find out ‘who he is’…When asked if he does any thing harder than marajuana, he says “sugar”….That’s a man, who is learing what it’s all about.
What hit me the most is Ricky’s reply to Wallace about where he sees himself at 50….”Alive”.
That’s what I’m talking about….
34,
IronDog