Former NFL star Ricky Williams, now known as Errick Miron*, has long advocated for cannabis. Suspended several times by the league after failing drug tests, he quit in 2004 and went to India where he studied yoga, returned in 2005 and was suspended again for the 2006 season. He finally ended his professional football career in 2011.
Asked by USA Today's MacKenzie Salmon on the Sports Seriously podcast, "How prevelant was weed use in the NFL when you were playing?" Miron tells the following stories:
1. The Vicodin Blunt
"My rookie year, a Hall of Fame player on the team, he's in the Hall of Fame now, invited me over to his house and he gave me the speech about how to take care of yourself in the NFL. And he pulled out some cannabis, crushed it up, split a blunt, opened it up, put the cannabis in there, took a Vicodin, crushed it up, sprinkled the Vico in there, rolled up the blunt and passed it to me. That was a vet, teaching me as a rookie, how to take care of myself in the NFL."
Miron was drafted by the New Orleans Saints out of the University of Texas in 1999 in the first round. The Saints had one player on the roster then who would eventually be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: offensive lineman Willie Roaf. He most likely rolled up that blunt and passed it to the 22-year-old rookie, who then smoked it.
2. The Pot Brownies
"My last year in the NFL, I was playing for the Ravens. And one point we were in the playoffs and I was leaving the facility and there were guys coming in with a plate full of brownies. They [were] going to go watch film, so yeah."
3. The Prediction
"I think in the future, teams are going to be supplying cannabis for the players because they've realized it's a healthy alternative [to] pharmaceuticals."
* Williams took his wife Linnea's surname. His first name is Errick.
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