Errick Miron (born Errick Lynne Williams Jr.; May 21, 1977), known professionally as Ricky Williams, is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. He played college football for the Texas Longhorns, winning the Heisman Trophy in 1998 after setting the NCAA Division I-A records for career rushing yards and all-purpose yards. Williams was selected in the first round of the 1999 NFL draft by the New Orleans Saints, who traded all their remaining picks to take him fifth overall. He spent three years in New Orleans before being traded to the Miami Dolphins.
During his first season with the Dolphins, Williams led the league in rushing yards, earning him Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors. Williams retired in 2004 amid multiple failed drug tests, but returned to the Dolphins the following season. After being suspended from the NFL in 2006 for another failed drug test, Williams spent the year with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Williams rejoined Miami a year later when his suspension ended. Following seven nonconsecutive seasons with the Dolphins, he played his last season in 2011 with the Baltimore Ravens. He was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
Williams was born (with his twin sister Cassie) to Sandy and Errick Williams. Growing up middle class, his parents were divorced by 1983 and Williams, at the age of three, began taking care of his younger sister Nisey by putting her to bed. His father later had three children through another marriage. Williams is the second cousin of Major League Baseball player Cecil Fielder. Williams was sent by his mother to counseling for anger problems as a youth. He took a test as a six-year-old that revealed he had the intelligence of someone twice his age, and earned honor roll recognition in high school. Williams once said, "I was always very bright, but not necessarily a hard worker. I think I was in eighth grade when I became really focused as a student and started getting good grades." He was named to the San Diego Union-Tribune All-Academic team. He had a brown belt in Taekwondo by age 12, and he started growing dreadlocks when he was 15.
At San Diego's Patrick Henry High School, Williams primarily played baseball and football, in addition to running track and wrestling. He notably lost a wrestling match to future NCAA wrestling champion and three-time Super Bowl champion Stephen Neal. During his junior year, he was named all-league in baseball as an outfielder and third baseman, and as a senior, he was named all-state.
Entering high school at 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) and 155 pounds (70 kg), Williams added an additional 25 pounds (11 kg) of weight before his junior season. He played outside linebacker and strong safety in addition to his primary position of running back. During his high school career, he rushed for a total of 4,129 yards and 55 touchdowns, and in his senior season he had 2,099 yards and 25 touchdowns, totals which earned him the San Diego Union-Tribune's 1994 Player of the Year award. Among his senior year performances were a 200-yard effort in a loss, a 248-yard (on 24 carries) and three-touchdown game, a 215-yard (21 carries) and two-touchdown showing, and a 143-yard (18 carries) and two-touchdown game. Against a top-ranked school, he had 129 yards on 24 carries and one touchdown, and Williams totaled 47 of the 69 yards Patrick Henry accumulated during the game-winning drive. Williams helped Patrick Henry to its first Eastern League title in 11 years with a win against San Diego High School; Williams had 115 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter of the game but suffered an Achilles tendon rupture early in the second quarter. Following two weeks of rest, Williams suited up for the first round of the CIF-San Diego Section Division 1 playoffs and, playing through pain from the injury, posted 94 yards on 25 carries in a 15–14 win. In the second round, Williams ran for 110 yards in a 21–17 victory, propelling Patrick Henry into the championship game. However, in the title game Patrick Henry lost 13–0 and Williams was held to a season-low 46 yards, with his team amassing just 62 yards of total offense.
The Scouting Evaluation Association rated Williams as the best high school running back in the state of California as a senior, while Super Prep labeled him as the second-best running back in California behind Sirr Parker and 14th-best in the country overall.
Williams attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he played for the Longhorns football team from 1995 to 1998. The Philadelphia Phillies, as part of his minor league baseball contract, paid for his scholarship to college.
Entering his freshman season, Williams was slated to begin as the starting fullback on the team. With Priest Holmes out for the 1995 season with an injury, Williams and Shon Mitchell started the season opener on the field together. Williams set a school record for rushing yards by a true freshman in the first game of the season against Hawaii with 95 yards. During the regular season, he rushed for a total of 990 yards on 166 attempts and eight touchdowns, breaking Earl Campbell's school record for rushing yards by a freshman. He had 62 yards in the 1995 Sugar Bowl against Virginia Tech. He was named Southwest Conference Freshman of the Year after the season.
Before his sophomore year in 1996, The Sporting News ranked Williams, who was sometimes known as the "Texas Tornado," as the best fullback in college football. He led Texas in rushing with 1,272 yards and had over 100 yards rushing in seven games during the season. Against Penn State in the 1997 Fiesta Bowl, he rushed for 48 yards and tied a bowl record for catches in a game with nine receptions.
Williams moved to running back for his junior year in 1997, and Bob Griese's Football Magazine considered him as the second-best candidate for the Heisman Trophy going into the season. He scored five touchdowns in a game against Rice, setting school and Big 12 Conference records. During a game against Kansas, he broke the school record for career touchdowns with 43. Williams finished the season with 1,893 rushing yards on 279 attempts and 25 rushing touchdowns, leading the nation in rushing yards and co-leading in rushing touchdowns. He set single-season school records for rushing yards, carries, and rushing touchdowns in a season, as well as all-purpose yards with 2,043. He had the highest rushing yards per game in Division I-A with 172.0, and he earned fifth place for Heisman balloting with 135 points. He won the Doak Walker Award in December 1997, and was a unanimous All-American selection.
Williams returned to Texas for his senior season, opting to forgo the 1998 NFL draft, in which he was projected to be drafted between the fourth and seventh picks. Texas provided him with a $2.8 million insurance policy for returning, in the event that he became injured and was picked lower in the draft as a result. In the first game of the season, against New Mexico State, he broke his own school record for rushing touchdowns in a game with six. In the next game against UCLA, he broke Earl Campbell's career school rushing record with 4,530 total yards. He scored six touchdowns again in a game against Rice, in addition to gaining 318 yards. He also became Texas's all-time leading scorer during the game, with 344 career points, and set a school record for all-purpose yards in a game with 350. Against Iowa State, he rushed for 350 yards and five touchdowns, breaking the single-game school record for rushing yards. In the game, Williams broke the record for career total touchdowns with 67. He helped beat longtime rival Oklahoma by rushing for 166 yards and two scores. In a game against Baylor, in which he rushed for 259 yards, Williams broke the NCAA Division I-A record for career points scored with 428.
Williams broke the NCAA Division I-A career rushing record held by Tony Dorsett on November 27, 1998, in a game against Texas A&M, on a 60-yard touchdown run. The game was briefly paused while Williams received the game ball and was honored by a group of dignitaries, including Dorsett. He finished the game racking up 259 yards on a career-high 44 carries, and also broke the Division I-A career all-purpose yards record with 7,206 yards. The record-breaking touchdown was later named the Compaq College Football Play of the Year, and the football used during the play was sent to the College Football Hall of Fame. Williams led Division I-A in rushing for the 1998 season with 2,124 yards and 27 touchdowns. Williams won his second straight Doak Walker Award, the Walter Camp Award, the Maxwell Award, the Associated Press College Football Player of the Year, the Sporting News College Football Player of the Year, the Best College Football Player ESPY Award, and the Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Year awards after the 1998 season. He was a unanimous All-America selection for the second straight season. He received the 64th Heisman Trophy, becoming the second Texas Longhorn to win this honor, joining Earl Campbell. Williams received 2,355 points in the Heisman ballot. In the 1999 Cotton Bowl Classic, he set a bowl record with 248 all-purpose yards and was named MVP. After the season, he played in the Hula Bowl all-star game.