Ricky Williams: Bill Parcells convinced me to retire

By: Stephen Smith
Topics: Football

Ricky Williams says a text from Bill Parcells, his mentor from his years with the Dolphins, persuaded him to retire.

(Credit: Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

On Tuesday, Ricky Williams announced that he was retiring for the second time in his career. The news was a surprise considering that he told the Ravens website just last week that he was "excited" about playing next year.

So what changed his mind? Apparently a guy named Bill Parcells.

Williams told Sid Rosenberg on WQAM in Miami that a text message from his former mentor with the Miami Dolphins made him reconsider his career.

"I was really excited to express to him how excited I was about football and about the way the season ended and how much I was looking forward to coming back, and his reply kind of shook me a little bit," Williams said of Parcells' text message. "He said, 'well, that's good to hear,' he said, 'you know, don't chase this thing too long. You can contribute in other ways.'"

Williams spent the bulk of his career in Miami, where Parcells was exec VP of football operations for three years. The two have stayed in close contact since Williams left for Baltimore last year and apparently the gruff coach still has his ear.

"I allowed myself to think if I could be doing anything in the world, what would I be doing?" Williams told WQAM. "And what came to mind is I'd be travelling a little bit, I'd be going to classes and I'd be going back to school... So I weighed what is it going to feel like to be on a football field next year and what is it going to feel like doing the things I want to do , and it just felt lighter, more expansive to be doing the things I want to do."

Interestingly, when Williams spoke to 60 Minutes' Mike Wallace seven years ago, he used the same "if I could be doing anything in the world" line to justify why he coming out of retirement to return to the NFL. (Watch the interview here). Willaims retired before the 2004 season when facing a four-game suspension for violating the league's drug policy and returned in 2005).

Playing as a backup to Ray Rice this year, Williams ran for 444 yards and scored two touchdowns. He also became the 26th player in NFL history to reach 10,000 yards rushing, reaching the plateau in the season finale at Cincinnati.