Merged:Miami Dolphins' Williams avoids temptation during bye week

I highly doubt the Ricky gives a **** if anyone feels sorry for him and I doubt it even more that he brought up any of that conversation.

I would guess that whichever reporters interviewed him figured they would ask a question like "Have you had any urges to smoke on your time off?" knowing that Ricky is very honest and open. They know a candid response like that is enough to make a story (even if its a crappy one).

Guess their idea worked. Ricky makes a comment about weed and we have 10 pages about it.

 

DJ i hear you, this is a perspective topic and thread. Some believe its a sign of ricky handling his addiction or in a good place with it. Which is fine.

Others think that is not a big deal or something he needs to talk about to the media, something personal like the topic of addiction holds no football interview value, or relevance to the person or the team, and the reporters just jumped all over it on a bye week. And this point of view, is also fine.

It did get derailed by some of us reading into ricky's addiction history, while others don't believe its a good platform for discussion.

End of the day its our ability to speak freely on matters that we so choose, and none of us will really know what it means or know ricky's life closely. Fact is he chose to discuss it and it doesn't matter what we think it means or if it should mean anything, ricky was excersising his freedom of speech for a topic many others would not discuss to the general public.

End of the day ricky did decide to talk about his temptation, that was his freedom of speech, which some disagree with or find not the right place or time to discuss a matter of sensitive nature and little football relevance, while others found it to be courageous from their own relating personal experiences.

I don't think we all need to get into tangents about various very subjective topic matters such as addiction or whether pot is an addicitve drug based on what one phin decided to talk to a reporter about.

Its Ricky, he'll always suprise us with his openess and honesty, and none of us will truely know what his meanings or intentions are. But we will all form our own opinions and judgments on him and what he does, and i'm sure many of those opinions will always differ, but thats okay too. I don't have to sell anyone on my opinions, and i won't be buying others opions either.


Hopefully this thread will be over, now that the bye week is over and we can save the deep subjective matter for the offseason.

Just my overall thoughts on this topic discussion.

 

a player does'nt have to answer every question a stupid reporter asks no matter how honest they are, tell the reporter its none of their business,it was too much of a personal question to begin with and ricky responded with too long of an answer. for the last time and for the record, keep your mouth shut when it comes to this matter and the media.

 

I'm going to post something, and it's something quite personal and private. It's a matter I don't discuss much but feel it's prudent at this juncture to provide some perspective to those without. Let me begin by saying I do not sympathize with Ricky Williams. He is a grown man in his 30's that gets paid hundred of thousands of dollars to do a job anyone of us on this forum would do for free. He has made his mistakes in life, as we all have, and must live with them. However I do empathize with his situation. I suffer from social anxiety disorder myself and have spent many years trying to control it. I'm not going to debate whether SAD is a real "disease" or not. That can be done in another topic. However, I do know what I live with on a daily basis. I know what it's like to feel unexplainable and sudden feelings of fear, panic and helplessness consume you. I know what it's like to hide in your own head and be grossly uncomfortable around other people. I know what it's like to deal with paralyzing depression. And anyone who has never dealt with an anxiety disorder can not say they understand or accurately judge Ricky Williams' actions, just as I can not say I understand what someone else is going through that I've never been through or accurately judge them for the actions they take.

Yes, I self medicate with marijuana. I've tried several other medications and most did more harm than good. While I was on prozac I suffered several physical side effects including losing 45lbs in 5 months due to an inability to eat. While I was on prozac I was always tired, lethargic and indeed emotionally dead inside. I honestly believe I liked the anxiety better than feeling nothing at all. I also have been prescribed Paxil which is just a terrible terrible drug. No one I've ever spoken to would recommend Paxil and for good reason. Aside from the physical effects of terrible headaches and stomach aches, perhaps the most troubling, and make light if you must, was the sexual dysfunction. And that was just cause for more anxiety. Withdraws from Paxil are a ***** too. the shakes, grinding teeth, irritabillity, violent mood swings, headaches, it sucks. Again a pill doing me more harm than good. The most recent medication I was prescribed to was Zoloft. As with many people who took that medication my mental state begain to deteriorate until I was overwhelmed with a crippling depression that lasted nearly 3 months, cost me my job, my girlfriend, a school semester and landed me in the emergency room and on 24 hour suicide watch for a period of time and left me seeing a therapist. Which led to me being put on thorazine, an anti-psychotic which led to more problems I don't feel like brining up.

The point is that anxiety medicines are flawed, and in most cases, not very good. Medications such as the ones I've listed above are designed to be taken daily to control the disorder. They do also prescribe short acting medications to be used during an anxiety attack to calm you down such as Xanex and Clonozepam. These are the two I'm most familiar with and both are highly addictive and have documented long term physical and mental side effects much worse than anything caused by marijuana. For me, and several others like me, marijuana isn't the thing to do because it's cool, or because we like being stoners, or because we like getting high, but because it's the only thing we have to even us out.

My point here is that it's not fair to call Ricky a burnout or a pothead or anything of that nature. Just as it's not fair to assume that every person who smokes marijuana is a bum or a failure or 30 years old living in their parents basement. Marijuana's medicinal effects have been studied and proven and more and more states in America are now legalizing it for medicinal usage.

If you want to chastise Ricky Williams for his actions prior to 2004 training camp retiring, turning his back on his friends, fans and teammates, then far be it from me to tell you that you're wrong for doing so. But until you've walked a mile in his shoes, or for that matter my shoes, or any of the others who suffer with SAD, you have no right to judge him for the actions he takes to combat the disease. Yes, another strike would most certainly end his NFL career. And if that happens I would be disappointed in him. Not because he smoked again, but because he tried so hard and failed himself.

If you want to flame me, tear apart my post, make fun of me, or whatever go for it. This post was not meant to insult, demean or belittle anyone on these boards or any problems/issues anyone faces in their every day life. We all have ****ed up **** happen to us. We all have to deal somehow. I'm not going to sit here and get into a who's problems are worse debate. I just wanted to shed some light on the disease and relate my experiences with it.

If anyone has any questions about SAD's in general or is coping with a problem and needs someone to talk to or advice on where to go/what to do feel free to pm me any time or find me on AIM, Trowa060. It's always good to talk to someone who has gone through the same things you're going through.

 

lol Man you talk like you are Parcells. Anyone can say whatever they want to the media. If they wana talk about something then they will. lol This is America.

 

like someone else said. if he said no comment, could you imagine the reaction...you would probably be like

"OMG HE IS SMOKING POT AGAIN. ONCE AN ADDICT ALWAYS AN ADDICT BLAH BLAH BLAH"

which is why you obviously ignored that(i forget who posted it) post

 

Freedom of bye week tempted Williams to use pot

MIAMI -- Ricky Williams says he was briefly tempted to smoke marijuana during the Miami Dolphins' bye weekend, an act that could have ended his roller-coaster NFL career.

Williams has been in the league's substance-abuse program since 2002 and has tested positive for marijuana.

full link here. ESPN - Report: Freedom of bye week tempted Williams to use pot - NFL


I guess this guy really has not learned until hes broke under a bridge I really like this guy and think he can be our best rb if he puts his mind into it.

 

Has nothing to do with it being an addiction. Simple Sugar is the most addictive substance on the planet and mostly everyone is addicte to it. Doesn't make it bad. Cigarettes are much worse than marijuana and is more addictive, but thats not an issue. People's perception is just skewed by what they see in the news. Trust me....addiction gets a lot worse than this.

"Trees" are a non-issue.

 

oh, you were talking about the negative connotation to the word addiction, i thought you guys were wondering how you can become addicted to something not physically addicting, my bad i misinterpreted what you were saying.

 

For somebody that has posted about his ability to speak freely especially on this matter because its important to him, you do a damn good job of telling Ricky what "he should and what he shouldn't" be speaking about. I'll tell you what, hypocritical much??

Again, maybe this is a topic Ricky like speaking about, maybe it's something that his therapist, or hey maybe this, just maybe, it was something that his doctor/therapist ordered by the NFL has told him he should do more of, speak about what has happened?

You do a damn good job of painting a black and white picture, a picture that you don't know much of, and forgetting the gray.

I just find it odd that you feel you have the need to voice your opinion and speak on topics you feel strongly about, yet Ricky isn't allowed to? Let me guess he shouldn't because he's a pro-athlete? Or because he's screwed up before?

 

Wow, where in that quote did you see ricky asking for sympathy? He was just being open and honest. Would you rather he lied about it? deflected the question? I think everyone would rather he did not have these temptations in the first place but everyone has their own vices and addictions that temp them, and this is Rickys.

 

GREAT post.

 

I think we can all be happy that the headline didn't read: " Ricky williams used pot during the bye week"

 

My post is more about the fact that addicts need to be open about the addiction in order to fight and control the addiction. If one does not speak of it and hides it, then they never realize they have a problem. I have had to sit in AA and drug meetings, and whats the first thing they all say? Hi I'm so and so and I'm a______. It gets it right out in the open.

One was drinking, one was drinking and drugs.

 

OK man, lets me and you start over, i will try to tell you what i have been saying in a different way, first of all, iam sorry that you have to deal with that illness and all that relates to it.

If you look at the beginning of this thread i said that i have been one of the few that understood ricky williams and why he left, i did'nt bash him when he could'nt deal, i did'nt because i knew that he had some issues with anxiety and his passion for the game.

I welcomed him back with open arms and have defended him many times on this very site and others for just the reasons that you mentioned..

What upset me was the fact that i have been supportive of him and for him to speak without thinking about what hes saying, and how what hes saying could affect his fans, the fans that have been there for him, bothered me, maybe its a protection mechanism i have about my team, but even after ricky failling to fight his demons for the third time, there are some of us that still supported him. What he said was like a jab in our face. i feel that if it was me i would be a little more consious as to what i say to reporters about this subject out of respect for the fans that have not judged me along the way. He was givin a just a little too much info for me to respect.

Peace.

 

I have said it before, who says he didn't know what he was saying? He is keeping it in the open which I'm sure he has been told to do by his counslers. Why should he care what a fan thinks? How does this affect a fan? he didn't do anything. In fact he may have helped someone by being so open about it, maybe just one person said, hey, if Ricky can talk about it, maybe I can.

If we all remember right, when Ricky left one of the reasons was he could not face his team knowing he failed a drug test. Now its out in the open, and he talks about it, again, its a good thing.

I'm not a big Ricky fan, but the guy is playing it right as of now, in the future??

 

He didn't do it. That's enough for me.

Even if he did do it that obviously means that he tried hard and failed. The only thing that sucks about that is he wouldn't be our RB. As the previous poster said walk a mile in his shoes. It's his choice. It's entirely his choice.

So far I feel like he's working hard and I'm sure everyone else does at the moment.

Also I agree that we should all be happy the headline wasn't "Ricky smokes pot on the bye week"

 

People are dying in war, the US economy is turning into a pile of horse****, children are dying of starvation, There's disease and poverty all throughout the world, but some of us are still concerned with keeping other humans from using a relatively benign plant to relieve stress and pain in the privacy of their own homes... Where is the perspective? Shouldnt we be out there trying to fix the things that REALLY ARE major issues?

Legalize marijuana, let Marlboro or Budweiser start profitting off yet another stress-relieving (yet addictive, and unhealhty) organic substance, and tax the hell out of it... And watch, as prison space opens up and marijuana sales no longer support criminal operations... It still baffles me why marijuana remains illegal. Making it legal would solve so many problems, and it really wouldnt have much of a negative effect as all the potheads out there continue to smoke whether it is legal or not..

 

What the heck are u talking about...your 2nd paragraph is mind boggling to me. i dont think so.

I think Trowa's post was genuine and i felt for him, there are levels of the disease, your talkin sh## to me like you know whate type of acute anxiety ricky has, i don't think its the level of trowa's, maybe iam wrong.

MAYBE HE'S JUST SCARED OF A MICROPHONE and does'nt like crowds, and is playin all of us. Going to india and studying yoga with the dali lama and backpacking thru australia does'nt sound he was dealing with the same type of trauma and anxiety of Trowa's.

Were both making assumptions based on our knowledge of this team.You may be wrong and i may be wrong.

 

I'm not quite sure what's going on but please don't let my words become a point of contention. They were not meant to upset anyone.

 

they did'nt, i was comparing your level of the disease to ricky's, from what i know of ricky, its not as severe as yours.

 

why must we travel down the same path over and over? we're moving forward, and going nowhere.

 

Gish, i don't mind disagreement, but when someone questions my integrity, i dont sit back and let it happen.

 

It's almost 420

 

People fail to realize that marijuana's illegality leans more towards the finacial than it does to the moral. The same arguments being made about pot were made about liquor in the prohibition days. Now let somebody come and take your six pack of budweiser and see how it feels. It sounds good to ban it because it is hurting our kids, but the fact is. No one cares about your kids but you. Our kids don't even care about our kids because illegal or not, its easier to find weed than it is camping supplies. And they will find it if they want it. Trust me. I just planned a camping trip. But, many get on their soap boxes and ra ra sis boom ba about it and those that don't know better fight the good fight while the guy who just fed them the glory speech is getting high in his office. Now, I'm not saying everyone is like this, but the perception of Marijuana is way more negative than the effects and results of the drug itself. I mean honestly.....people are begining to blame marijuana for Americans being lazy. News flash folks....Americans are lazy just because the sun rises in the morning. It didn't take a magical plant to accomplish it either. I feel as citizens we are so quick to point the finger at products, and cancer, and people, and this and that to cover up our own personal shortcomings. A person who smokes pot isn't lazy because he smokes pot....he's lazy because he doesn't have anything else more productive to do BUT smoke pot. This ain't chess ladies and gentleman....its checkers. Just because uncle sam says its bad, doesn't mean its bad. If we go by the Marijuana playbook, cheesburgers, beer, cigarettes, the NFL, porn, and yes even occasional trips to Amsterdam should all be banned.

 

Overlooked by many people is the fact that he didn't simply volunteer the information, but was asked point-blank about it by Salguero (who blogged the rest of the interview two days later). At that point, he had only three available options that I can see:

1. Admit the truth, as he did,
2. Lie, in which case most people would be questioning his honesty, and
3. Ignore the question and possibly be accused of dodging the question by his critics.

It was a lose-lose-lose situation for him no matter what he did.

I fail to see how admitting the truth, especially an obvious one, makes anyone a loser.

And a better option once Salguero had asked him the question would have been?

 

Exactly. It's not like Ricky was seeking a platform to discuss his urges.

 

So, you would rather he flat out lied is what you're saying? in which case everyone would be calling him a liar right now. Its a lose lose situation here, he wasn't the one who brought the subject up asking for sympathy, he was asked about it point blank.