Miami Dolphins: Would Williams be in ROH if NFL changes pot policy?

The Miami Dolphins have not enshrined anyone new in their Ring of Honor since before COVID and Ricky Williams is noticeably absent but would that change if the NFL changed?

The NBA announced that it will be suspending marijuana testing as part of its drug testing policies and that has led many to wonder why and when the NFL will change its policy to testing, pot.

Marijuana is no longer the voodoo drug that it was made out to be for decades and many states have already moved away from considering it a banned substance. Much like alcohol, it is now, in many states, considered a controlled substance. Legal to consume, legal to buy, illegal to distribute.

In the NFL, very few players immediately come to mind when the discussion of THC comes up, but Ricky Williams is typically at the top. Williams, in essence, chose the substance to his NFL career. Walking away from the game to get high. When he returned to finish out his NFL career, there was never a question of whether he would return to using but instead when.

His on and off again time with the Dolphins is the only black mark on his NFL career. Williams missed the 2004 season when he “retired” after failing a drug test. In 2006, after returning in 2005, he failed another. In 2007, he missed all but one game.

Still, Williams is one of the Dolphins top running backs in franchise history. Williams, despite his problems, finished his career 301 yards shy of overtaking Larry Csonka for most rushing yards in team history.

Williams, had he not had the off-field problems, could have been a Hall of Fame running back. Williams had he not had those off-field problems, should be in the Dolphins Ring of Honor.

If the NFL changed their tune, would the Dolphins change their stance on the runner? It is hard to imagine him not being there. I have always maintained that he shouldn’t be because he quit on the team and that still stands true but as far as the use of Marijuana, that is easy to overlook.

I don’t see a path to Williams being in the Ring of Honor. It makes no sense for Stephen Ross and the other executives who make that decision. It’s a black eye for the organization. A part of history, that Miami doesn’t want to be reminded of.

Still, maybe after an ownership change, that could change. I think that is the only path to Ricky finding his name on the Ring but if we are being honest, even that would be a huge longshot at best.

The NFL will and should eventually forget testing for marijuana but it won’t change the chances for Williams to be recognized in Miami for what he did outside of those that remember first-hand, what he brought to the team.

Williams was incredibly fun to watch. He was the last great running back that the Miami Dolphins had on the roster but even all these years later, the bitter taste of him walking away from the team and his teammates because of pot, legal or not, isn’t going to go away enough for him to ever be enshrined in the Ring of Honor

The best he can hope for, and for the fans to hope for, is maybe an addition to the Walk of Fame and that might be where he should be.