The Associated Press reports that 1998 Heisman Trophy-winning Longhorn football running-back phenom Ricky Williams last month tested positive for pot, a setback likely to put on hold his anticipated reinstatement to the NFL.
Williams has said that pot eases his social anxiety disorder – without the side effects of prescription meds, like Paxil – and in 2004 retired his gig with the Miami Dolphins after failing his third drug test. He went back to his native California and studied Indian medicine before returning to the Dolphins in 2005. But Williams was ultimately suspended for the entire 2006 season, after racking up a fourth NFL drug- policy violation. Williams headed north to Toronto, to play ball in the Canadian Football League, then south to California to study and teach yoga.
This article appears in May 11 • 2007.