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Ricky Williams arrested in Texas - on traffic warrants

shalise manza young
Columnist

Former NFL running back Ricky Williams is a University of Texas legend, but that didn’t prevent him from spending a night in jail this week.

The now-40-year-old Williams was pulled over in Austin for a traffic offense Tuesday night, reportedly because his car did not have a rear license plate. During the stop, the police officer saw that Williams had two outstanding traffic warrants, so he was brought to jail.

Former NFL RB Ricky Williams, who played for the New Orleans Saints and the Miami Dolphins among other teams, addresses an audience during a conference on medical marijuana at Harvard Medical School, Tuesday, April 11, 2017, in Boston. (AP)
Former NFL RB Ricky Williams, who played for the New Orleans Saints and the Miami Dolphins among other teams, addresses an audience during a conference on medical marijuana at Harvard Medical School, Tuesday, April 11, 2017, in Boston. (AP)

Williams spent the night in jail (he was smiling in his mug shot), paid a fine and was released on Wednesday afternoon.

A Heisman Trophy winner at Texas and the No. 5 pick in 1999 who had one of the more headline-grabbing careers in recent NFL memory, Williams now works for ESPN’s Longhorn Network as an analyst.

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If Williams was bothered by the incident, you can’t tell from his Twitter feed. On Thursday, he posted “morning thoughts,” a quote that read, “Sometimes life is about risking everything for a dream no one can see but you.”

Earlier this year, Williams was stopped and searched by police in the parking lot of his hotel in Tyler, Texas, after going for a walk in the city to kill some time before an awards ceremony.

Upon arriving back to the hotel, he was approached by multiple police officers responding to a report of a “suspicious person.” Williams began his walk in a wooded area near the hotel, but changed course when he saw houses and heard a dog barking, walking the neighborhood around his hotel instead.

One of the homeowners called police, saying he saw a black man dressed in all black on the other side of his wire fence, though the homeowner told a local television station he hadn’t been threatened in any way.

After police detained Williams for several minutes, questioning him and patting him down, Williams said he was given an apology and sent on his way

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