Why Ricky Williams Chose Weed over Football

When Heisman Trophy-winning tailback Ricky Williams famously chose natural grass over professional football back in 2004,, the NFL, sportswriters and many fans reacted with horror and anger. How dare one of the greatest football players in history walk away from the game that made him rich and famous?

With the Super Bowl coming up this weekend, Abdullah and Bean decided to ask the man himself, and found out that from his first time getting high, to starting his own cannabis company (appropriately called Highsman), to studying Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine, Ricky Williams has always blazed his own path in life.

He also led the way for a generation of athletes who successfully pushed back against professional football's hypocritical and draconian ban on cannabis, leading to a new era where the NFL has now stopped drug testing players for weed, and has just donated $1 million to study how the plant's medicinal properties could actually help players deal with pain management and provide neuroprotection from concussion.

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