If your idea of a perfect Sunday involves bong rips and six hours of NFL RedZone channel, you’re in for a treat.
Ricky Williams is coming.
The weed-smoking former running back heads to Ontario, Oregon, Boise’s favorite neighborhood destination to buy the stuff legally.
Williams will appear Saturday and Sunday at Top Crop, a weed shop located at 297 Southeast 10th St. Williams, a longtime marijuana attorney promoting Highsman, his “cannabis lifestyle brand.” In addition to real weed, the Highsman line also includes clothing and accessories.
Top Crop’s event is the official “Highsman flower drop” in the cannabis shop. Williams will hold a meet and greet and sign autographs every day from 12 noon to 2 pm. There will also be a catered barbecue and giveaways at the pharmacy.
Williams, 45, is described as an “NFL legend” in a press release. A free spirit, he certainly has a storied past.
After a record career in Texas, Williams won the Heisman Trophy in 1998. (Heisman? Highsman? Got it?) As the fifth overall pick of the NFL Draft, the dreadlocked star became the NFL’s leading rusher in 2002. But after a positive marijuana test, he withdrew from the Miami Dolphins in 2004—stunning the sports world at the age of 27.
After a four-game suspension and the payment of a huge fine, Williams returned to the Dolphins in 2005. But he was banned again for violating the league’s substance abuse policy — this time for the entire 2006 season. Williams returned to the Dolphins in 2007, ending his career after the 2011 season as a Baltimore Raven.
Despite rushing more than 10,000 yards in the NFL, Williams is often remembered more for his marijuana drama — and for being the cross-hairs, yoga-and-vegetarian-loving “Ricky Weirdo.” Super bowls? No. But great scales? That’s what Highsman is all about. The motto of the brand? “Spark greatness.”
Williams explains his thinking on the company’s website.
“Highsman is an appreciation for greatness and an appreciation for cannabis,” he says. “When I started experimenting with it recreationally, I became very reflective and often the things I was thinking about didn’t feel right to me. But through that inner reflection I started to make changes in myself – I realized that I was more than just being a football player, and it created an urge to start developing those other sides of myself. It was, and still is, my appreciation for cannabis that helped me realize my potential for greatness outside of the football game.”
Earlier this year, Williams Highsman teamed up with pre-roll cannabis brand Jeeter to sell a “Sticky Ricky” strain. Proceeds will go to Athletes For Care, a nonprofit mental health organization.
“Mental health is a matter close to Ricky’s heart,” according to a press release, “and he sees cannabis as a way to deal with his crippling social anxiety.”
