Ricky Williams Returns

Superstar Tells Mike Wallace About ReturningTo Football

(CBS) 
The exchange continued:

Wallace: "So you still smoke marijuana?"

Williams: "Uh-huh."

Wallace: "Anything worse than that?"

Williams: "Worse? What do you mean by worse?"

Wallace: "More addictive, more dangerous, conceivably?"

Williams: "Sometimes I have sweets. Sugar."

Wallace: "Oh, yeah, I see."

Williams: "Sometimes I'll have a glass of wine. But that's about it."

Well, he needed a big glass of it last January because during his studies, he was shocked by some unexpected news: According to the fine print in his contract, it turned out he actually owed the Dolphins $8.6 million for leaving before his contract was up. So, suddenly, he found himself deep in debt with only one way out.

A pre-season touchdown marked Ricky’s return to the Dolphins. 60 Minutes flew down to Miami to see how he was doing. He didn’t want to sit down one on one. Instead, 60 Minutes went to his weekly press conference, where Wallace showed him the tape of a bet they made last year:

Wallace: "I'll make you a bet."

Williams: "What?"

Wallace: "You'll play football again."

Williams: "OK. What are we — what's the wager?"

Wallace: "You don't care about money."

Williams: "We can bet dinner, lunch. Why do you think I'll play football again?"

Wallace: "Because I think that you will want to have the freedom that you have now, but you're going to need more money to have the freedom that you now have."

Williams: "That is the reason why."

Wallace: "You came back for money."

Williams: "No, not for money, for FREEDOM. For freedom."

But freedom can be complicated. To get free from his debt to the Dolphins meant he was no longer free from football.

Has he enjoyed giving up his freedom to work under the regulations of the very structured NFL?

Says Williams, "Well, I realized that my concept of freedom at the time was a little bit off, and my concept of freedom now — like, I was sitting at home last night, and I was thinking if there was anywhere in the world that I’d rather be or anything I’d rather be doing, and … there was nothing.

"I’ve gotten to a point, where I realize that happiness doesn’t come from the outside."

Williams says what he discovered in his year away from football was that true freedom comes from within.

"Everything that there is to gain I have inside of myself, and it’s nothing that I can get from going anywhere or doing anything," he says. "And the process of coming to work every day and working through whatever — football, whatever life brings me, it just gives me more and more freedom and it strengthens my desire to be free."

Wallace: "You've said that making a new commitment to the Dolphins means that you've surrendered. Surrendered what?"

Williams: "Surrendered my will."

Wallace: "Surrendered your what?"

Williams: "My will. In the team meeting room, there's in big letters in the back. It says… 'Get out of yourself and get into the team.' "

Wallace: "And you said that you love football but that you're not having fun here. What does that mean?"

Williams: "When you look at fun, you know, you look across from fun and you see work. And I think the fun is a result of hard work. So it's not fun by itself. But if you work hard, then you get to the fun."

Wallace: "You look like a happy fellow."

Williams: "Yeah, I do my best … There's nothing not to be happy about."

Wallace: "What about money?"

Williams: "What about money?"

Wallace: "How broke are you?"

Williams: "I have no idea."

Wallace: "What do you mean, you have no idea?"

Williams: "Well, the way I live my life is if I have — if I have a place to stay and I have food on the table, then I’m not broke."

Wallace: "But I understand you're down to 230,000 bucks."

Williams: "I really could not tell you how much."

Wallace: "Doesn't Lee Steinberg, your agent, tell you about that?"

Williams: "No, I don't talk to Lee about money."

Wallace: "You don't talk to your agent about money? What do you talk to your agent about?"

Williams: "Talk about, like, talk a little philosophy. He always sends me books. It's a different kind of relationship."

Sure. His agent is trying to get him a new contract, hoping to erase the $8 million debt. But you can bet that Williams would owe millions more if he walked off again — or failed another drug test. He says he gets tested twice a week, and that he doesn't smoke marijuana any more.

Does he miss it?

"No, no," says Williams.

His teammates (and his fans, for the most part) have welcomed him back. Last year, Williams had told 60 Minutes he saw no need to apologize to them for ruining their season. But when he returned, he was quick to change his mind.

"I was being more understanding of their point of view," he explains. "Not being so selfish … My concept of the truth expands on a daily basis. And my loyalty is to the truth and not to consistency."

And as for paying off the bet he made with Wallace that he would play football again?

"Lunch or dinner," says the athlete. "Well, I have to work, so it'll have to be dinner. I have a job now, so …"