The process of Ricky Williams "finding" Ricky Williams remains incomplete, because Williams continues exploring every ounce of his innermost self.
The ninth-leading rusher in New Orleans Saints history – 3,129 yards in 38 games, from 1999-2001 – is evolution personified and at 46 years old, the No. 5 overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft is pleased with what he sees.
"I think that's what's supposed to happen when you get older," Williams said earlier this month. "You take your shots when you're young and some of them you hit and some of them you don't, but you learn from both. I kept taking my shot at what I think is going to make me happy and finally I'm starting to hit it.
"It was an extremely difficult process. Now, if we think about being successful in life, we think of our foundation is our childhood. And someone has what we might call a difficult childhood, for that child to be a happy adult it's going to require effort. And so, thank God, I have the time and the resources and the support to be able to put the effort in, because I do feel fulfilled. I wake up every morning feeling excited about what I'm doing."
What is he doing, as the calendar hits April 17, which marks the 25-year anniversary of him being drafted by the Saints?
"I'm doing a lot. I'm becoming an entrepreneur, started a couple of companies and I have a consulting business," the former Heisman Trophy winner at Texas said. "And I just started teaching. I'm staying busy, that's for sure.
"I'm teaching people astrology, something I learned during the year I retired (2004). I traveled around the world and found this really interesting lady who was talking to me about the stars.
"And I thought it was weird, but she said a lot of things that made sense to me at a very receptive time in my life, and it just caught on and I've been studying ever since. I've gotten to a point where I understand it very well, and I can help other people understand it."
Williams always was an independent thinker, even while powering his way to 10,009 rushing yards and 66 rushing touchdowns for three NFL teams over 11 seasons. That, and the lessons learned playing football, undergird his aspirations nowadays.
"Entrepreneurship is all about, you have a good idea, can you make it work?" he said. "Football was great. It taught me toughness and how to work together as a team, but it's not a place where independent thinkers are really appreciated. Football gave me a lot of training, but now I'm able to spread my wings and do the things that I'm really passionate about.
"A lot of times when you say someone thinks outside the box, that's another way of saying that they're ahead of their time. Because they see things, they just see things that are outside of the box and the people inside the box can't see them until a much later date."
And the box for Williams, who lives in northern California, is sizable.
"I launched an astrology app from the app store, called Lila" he said. "I mentioned my teaching and then there's consulting. I consult businesses and individuals who have questions about their life and finding purpose. I look at their astrology and we have a conversation."
At the root, Williams helps them search much the same as he was helped while searching.
"The reality is, I'm a digger," he said. "And so, I've had to dig very deep, and I've enjoyed the process. I have so much gratitude for my experiences as a football player because to be a good football player, you've got to dig deep. I just applied all the things that I was taught to do on the football field and started applying them to my personal life. And they worked. So, here we are."
"Here" being a place of peace and satisfaction for Williams, one that he hopes everyone can recognize and appreciate.
"I think it's the duality of me," he said. "I think it's something that has confused people, but I would love for it to be something that – and it's starting to happen – that's embraced by people. Because I think we all have different parts of ourselves. And those two different parts of ourselves seem conflicting, it's difficult.
"I am a renaissance man, but also, if you put on the film, I was a really – I was talking to my wife and I had a head coach in college and he said, 'Ricky, you don't have to run everyone over.' The contrast is I can be a kind and intelligent person, but also if I'm running at you, most peoples' first impulse is to get out of the way."
Over the years, Williams learned to run into himself. There, rather than evasiveness, he found an embrace.
