Being a celebrity comes with a great cost. Sometimes they are living the world of luxury and success, but other times their lives are full of hardship and difficulties.
No matter which celebrity is your favorite celebrity, all of them have interesting backgrounds and we can definitely learn a lot from them.
In today’s text, we will learn more about an American famous football player called Ricky Williams. He was one of the more successful football players of our time and his career is definitely worth mentioning.
We will dig deeper into his personal life, his career and his net worth, so all the information you wanted to know about Ricky Williams will be available here.
Early Years
Ricky Williams was born on May 21st 1977 in San Diego in California. His parents’ names were Erick and Sandy Williams. He was born to very young parents. His mother was only 19 years old and his father 19. When he was still young, his parents divorced in 1983 and with only 5 years, he was forced to take care of his younger brothers and sisters.
At an early age he was taught responsibility and his mother highly appreciated him for that. Even though he gave his best to be a good son, he developed problems with anger. He was probably under the influence that their father left them alone to take care of themselves, which caused him to end up in counseling.
His mother saw no other alternative and had to take this step. He also had problems with school, even though he took an intelligence test which proved he was as smart as someone twice as older as him. When he came to eight grade, he really started studying better and ended up being the honor roll student.
He also got into the San Diego Union Tribune All-Academic team. In Patrick Henry High School he was a football and baseball player. From an early age he was very athletic and he knew sports was the way for him. Besides being into baseball and football, he also liked wrestling. This helped him get rid of frustration and anger he had due to his family problems.
When he got to high school, he was only 1.75m and 70kgs. In order to be better on the field, he gained 11kgs. Even though he had several sports he liked playing, he ended up choosing football and dedicating most of his time to football.
His high school career secured him a scholarship and the opportunity to play football for the University of Texas. He had several records in NCAA and was NCAA Sivision I-A leader. He was known under the nickname Texas Tornado, which only tells us how fast and destructive he was on the playfield.
Career Path
Texas University made a statue of him, Darell K. Royal in the Texas Memorial Stadium in honor of their Heisman Trophy. In 1995, Ricky decided to play baseball for a change, and was drafted in the fifth round by the Philadelphia Philies. He stayed with them 4 seasons and played only for the Class A.
He played a total of 170 games and ended his career there with 4 home runs, 46 stolen bases and 211 batting average. He was named by many the fastest player they have ever seen. In 1997 Ricky was drafted by the New Orleans Saints. Coach, Mike Ditka traded almost all of his players to Washington Redskins, just to get Ricky in his team.
The coach and Ricky even posed for the cover of the ESPN Magazine and everyone knew that something good is about to happen. Ricky signed a contract for 11$ million with the team. Williams had a great season with the team, but in 2002 he was traded with the Miami Dolphins. He stayed with the Miami Dolphins until 2004, when he decided it was his time to retire.
To many people’s surprise, he made this decision after being tested positive for marijuana in 2003, and had to pay a 600 thousand dollars fine for violating NFL rules. He had to go back to Dolphins to finish off his obligations from the contract, and also pay the fine for breaking the rules.
In 2006 he ended up singing a one year contract with the Argonauts. In 2007, rumors started appearing that Ricky failed his drug test again but the rumors weren’t denied or confirmed. In 2011, he signed a contract for 2.5$ million with Baltimore Ravens. He has a very successful season with them and in 2012, he confirmed that his football days are officially over.
Ricky Williams has an estimated net worth of around 4$ million. Most of his net worth comes from his sports engagements and his professional football contracts, but some of it comes from other projects he has been working on.
Ricky Williams definitely ended his career and his professional days are behind him. Whether he will be continuing his route in football and similar careers, we have to wait and see, but Ricky Williams definitely already made his mark on the football sky.
Personal life
Ricky Williams grew up in a home where parents weren’t getting along too well. The two of them split up in 1983 when Ricky was very young, so he had to take care of his younger brothers and sisters, since his mother had to go to work.
All of this left a strong impact on Ricky, so eventually he developed problems with his health. He started having anger management issues and was always on the verge of breaking apart. The problems began growing, so his mother was forced to sign him into therapy so he can resolve his issues in time.
Luckily this ended up being successful, and Ricky completely recovered from his issues. Another thing that really benefited him was sports. Ricky was good in every sports, but the ones that stood out were football and baseball. He ended up practicing both sports and choosing football first.
He tried both sports and played them professionally but football was his first love. He was much better at football as well, so ended up playing professionally until 2011. In 2012 he announced his retirement and said goodbye to his football jersey.
Ricky’s personal life is mostly hidden from the media, but we do know some interesting facts about him. He is a vegan and a strong promoter of animal rights. Ricky is of African-American descent and as a young child, he often suffered from anxiety disorders and social anxiety. He often admitted that these problems followed him all through his professional career, and that his only salvation was marijuana.
He often got in trouble because of it and was even forced to pay a 600 thousand dollar fine to NFL for failing a drug test. Nevertheless, he is a strong supporter of medical marijuana and a supporter of PETA as well. He said that marijuana helped him during his crises with his anxiety and he is a strong promoter of its beneficial elements.
Even though this drug helped him overcome some of his anxiety issues, he still lost a lot of money due to its usage. He was forced to pay fines for breaking the NFL rules, which set him back a big time. Ricky has 5 children and he has to pay child support for the two children who are from his previous relationship. His current wife’s name is Kristin Barnes and the couple got married in September 2009.
Another interesting thing about Ricky is that he is a yoga instructor. One of the reasons he accepted the contract with the Canadian Football league was because he was allowed to hold yoga lessons in Toronto. He often stated that yoga is one of his biggest loves, and that it gives him calmness he desperately searched his whole life.
According to some sources, Ricky often uses the Pranic healing. This method of healing without touch is something he has been using for his injuries and it seemed to have helped him. In 2009 he got involved in the Acupuncture and Massage College in Florida, where he wanted to study massage and Japanese Shiatsu.
Ricky is also the co-founder of the herbal wellness company together with his wife, where he often goes. Many people don’t know that Ricky’s father was a Christian minster and that he was raised I Southern Baptist manner. He went to church two times per week as a young boy, ad these memories are something that he holds dearly.
Even though he enjoyed going to church with his family, Ricky also started exploring other religions especially through yoga. He has a strong belief that religion is a cultural thing and that people shouldn’t label it. He is currently in his first year on the Emperor’s College for oriental medicine.
Ricky was signed in 2015 with a global talent agency William Morris Endeavor and also inducted into the Football Hall of Fame. His life drastically changed after he has left football and many say for the better.
He even admitted himself that he is a changed man and that leaving football was the best decision he has ever made.
He is often active on his social media accounts and often shares events from his life. He shares news with his followers about his future projects and ideas.
Even though his football career is definitely over, Ricky Williams found another way to fulfill his life’s goal and to enjoy life to the fullest.
He is currently very active in his spa center and continues to educate himself on the alternative ways of healing and meditation. Certainly these methods have helped him to find his peace and gain confidence he once lost.
His life is definitely full of memorable moments and winnings, so he will go in history as one of the fastest and best players in NFL history. Even though his career didn’t last as long as with others, he is going to be remembered for his amazing skills and dedication on the court.
Quick summary
Full name: Ricky Williams
Date of birth: May 21st 1977
Birthplace: San Diego, California
Age: 42
Profession: professional football and baseball player
Height: 1.78 m
Weight: 104 kg
Net Worth: 4$ million
