Ricky Williams details future plans in marijuana industry

Former NFL running back Ricky Williams told SI’s Greg Bishop about his plans in the marijuana business in a longform piece published in this week’s issue of Sports Illustrated.

Your teams on the go or at home. Personalize SI with our new App. Install on iOS or Android.

Former NFL running back Ricky Williams detailed his future plans in the marijuana industry in a longform piece published in this week’s issue of Sports Illustrated.

The story, written by SI’s Greg Bishop, is a joint production with SI Films, which has produced an exclusive film on Ricky Williams in which he discusses his experience with marijuana use and his support for legalization. The film, “Ricky Williams Takes the High Road,” is the first in-depth look at Williams’s life five years after the end of his NFL career.

After losing what he estimates was between $5 million and $10 million in salary endorsements when his NFL career stalled due to failed drug tests, Williams is looking to make money in the cannabis industry.

Williams is partnering with Jim McAlpine, the creator of the 420 Games, to cofound a cannabis-friendly gym in San Francisco called Power Plant Fitness and Wellness. Patrons at the gym “will be able to smoke marijuana or ingest edibles, then work out, take yoga and meditation classes, undergo acupuncture, or get massages,” Bishop writes.

• Ricky Williams says he took at least 500 drug tests in his career

In addition to the gym, Williams wants to open a chain of sports-themed cannabis social clubs named 34’s, which is a nod to his jersey number when he played in the NFL. Williams’s other future plans include making marijuana infused nutritional supplements and healing products, and giving speeches as marijuana activist.

Williams has also worked with Weedmaps, a tech company that created an app to help uses locate medical marijuana dispensaries.

Williams was selected in the first round of the 1999 NFL draft by the New Orleans Saints. He went on to play for the Miami Dolphins and the Baltimore Ravens. Williams was suspended multiple times over the course of his career for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, including for the entire 2006 season.