Ricky Williams

Errick Miron (born Errick Lynne Williams Jr.; May 21, 1977) is an American former football running back who played for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and one season in the Canadian Football League (CFL).

Growing up middle class, his parents were divorced by 1983 and Williams, at the age of three, began taking care of his younger sister Nisey by putting her to bed.

His father later had three children through another marriage.

Williams is the second cousin of Major League Baseball player Cecil Fielder.

Williams was sent by his mother to counseling for anger problems as a youth.

He took a test as a six-year-old that revealed he had the intelligence of someone twice his age, and earned honor roll recognition in high school.

Williams once said, "I was always very bright, but not necessarily a hard worker. I think I was in eighth grade when I became really focused as a student and started getting good grades."

He was named to the San Diego Union-Tribune All-Academic team.

He had a brown belt in Taekwondo by age 12, and he started growing dreadlocks when he was 15.

At San Diego's Patrick Henry High School, Williams primarily played baseball and football, in addition to running track and wrestling.

He notably lost a wrestling match to future NCAA wrestling champion and three-time Super Bowl champion Stephen Neal.

During his junior year, he was named all-league in baseball as an outfielder and third baseman, and as a senior, he was named all-state.

Entering high school at 5 ft and 155 lb, Williams added an additional 25 lb of weight before his junior season.

He played outside linebacker and strong safety in addition to his primary position of running back.

During his high school career, he rushed for a total of 4,129 yards and 55 touchdowns, and in his senior season he had 2,099 yards and 25 touchdowns, totals which earned him the San Diego Union-Tribune's 1994 Player of the Year award.

Among his senior year performances were a 200-yard effort in a loss, a 248-yard (on 24 carries) and three-touchdown game, a 215-yard (21 carries) and two-touchdown showing, and a 143-yard (18 carries) and two-touchdown game.

Against a top-ranked school, he had 129 yards on 24 carries and one touchdown, and Williams totaled 47 of the 69 yards Patrick Henry accumulated during the game-winning drive.

Williams helped Patrick Henry to its first Eastern League title in 11 years with a win against San Diego High School; Williams had 115 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter of the game but suffered an Achilles tendon rupture early in the second quarter.

Following two weeks of rest, Williams suited up for the first round of the CIF-San Diego Section Division 1 playoffs and, playing through pain from the injury, posted 94 yards on 25 carries in a 15–14 win.

In the second round, Williams ran for 110 yards in a 21–17 victory, propelling Patrick Henry into the championship game.

However, in the title game Patrick Henry lost 13–0 and Williams was held to a season-low 46 yards, with his team amassing just 62 yards of total offense.

Williams attended the University of Texas, where he played for the Texas Longhorns football team from 1995 to 1998.

The Philadelphia Phillies, as part of his minor league baseball contract, paid for his scholarship to college.

Entering his freshman season, Williams was slated to begin as the starting fullback on the team.

With Priest Holmes out for the 1995 season with an injury, Williams and Shon Mitchell started the season opener on the field together.

Williams set a school record for rushing yards by a true freshman in the first game of the season against Hawaii with 95 yards.

During the regular season, he rushed for a total of 990 yards on 166 attempts and eight touchdowns, breaking Earl Campbell's school record for rushing yards by a freshman.

He had 62 yards in the 1995 Sugar Bowl against Virginia Tech.

He was named Southwest Conference Freshman of the Year after the season.

After playing baseball and football at Patrick Henry High School, he played college football for the Texas Longhorns, where he was a two-time unanimous All-American and won the 1998 Heisman Trophy.

He broke the NCAA Division I-A records for career rushing yards and all-purpose yards during his senior season.

He played minor league baseball in the Philadelphia Phillies farm system for four seasons during college.

He was selected by the New Orleans Saints fifth overall in the 1999 NFL Draft after a blockbuster trade and spent three seasons with the team before he was traded to the Miami Dolphins in 2002.

He played for the Dolphins for two seasons, leading the league in rushing in 2002, and retired for the first time from football in 2004.

He earned first-team All-Pro honors and a Pro Bowl selection with the Dolphins in 2002.

Williams was born (with his twin sister Cassie) to Sandy and Errick Williams.

Due to a suspension from the NFL, he played for the Toronto Argonauts in 2006.

He re-joined the Dolphins in 2007 and played with them until 2010, and spent the 2011 season with the Baltimore Ravens.

The Scouting Evaluation Association rated Williams as the best high school running back in the state of California as a senior, while Super Prep labeled him as the second-best running back in California behind Sirr Parker and 14th-best in the country overall.

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.