Highsman<\/a> (killer name), Williams\u2019 cannabis brand, that\u2019s been in the works for more than a year. Cleverly offering up \u201cPregame\u201d sativas for an energized boost; \u201cHalftime\u201d hybrids for focused awareness; and \u201cPostgame\u201d Indicas for a more relaxed mood, Highsman also sells strain-specific pre-packaged eighths and plans to introduce pre-rolls in 2022.<\/p>\nWilliams says the brand simultaneously launched an apparel and functional accessories collection that sells varsity jackets, baseball Ts and other sports-inspired streetwear alongside rolling trays, pelican cases, water bottles and more all the while maintaining the Highsman ethos of excellence.<\/p>\n
As the brand evolves, Williams says he hopes athletes from all sports will be able to share their positive cannabis experiences or journeys through Highsman\u2019s platform, though it\u2019s currently unclear how that may take shape. Sports and cannabis have been incompatible and taboo for so long and Williams\u2019 clear aim is to use his high-profile megaphone as a way to help break boundaries between the two.<\/p>\n
\u201cI launched Highsman to create a platform to tell positive, uplifting stories about cannabis use, to counter the false narrative and destroy the stigma,\u201d says the two-time college All-American. \u201cThis negative vibe surrounding cannabis is all bullshit; it\u2019s all invented. Besides all the BS around being suspended in football, cannabis has been such a positive experience in my life that has put me in touch with a higher purpose. What separates Highsman from other brands\u2014including celebrity brands in the space\u2014is definitely the positivity behind the brand.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the past several weeks, whenever I told anyone I was going to speak with Williams, something always happened: They smiled. Now, as a magazine editor, I\u2019ve been talking to famous people my entire adult life, but I very rarely get the reaction Williams evoked. People who follow the ever-changing pop cultural zeitgeist are genuinely curious about the football player they remember from that iconic ESPN The Magazine cover where he posed as the bride to New Orleans Saints Coach Mike Ditka\u2019s groom in full wedding gown regalia. That cover was a moment for the ages and Williams signaled the universe with the subtlety of a sledgehammer that no, he wasn\u2019t your average star athlete. There are layers to this man, and you better deal with it. I\u2014and tens of millions of others\u2014were here for all of it. As I saw it, the world (and certainly the NFL) needed Ricky Williams\u2019 brand of irreverent defiance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s really what my life, my career has been about: making a splash,\u201d Williams says when I bring up the magazine cover. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t been about football; football was just a means to make a splash. Cannabis has helped me with the idea of not hiding who I am. Besides being a guy who smokes, I\u2019m a philosophical guy who has big, crazy ideas. And I think that\u2019s also a part of myself that I hid as a football player\u2014the thing that\u2019s the part I\u2019m most proud of about myself. So, after going through all of what I went through, I decided that my goal in life was to be paid to be myself.\u201d<\/p>\nRicky Williams on the January\/February 2022 cover of Cannabis Now. Photo Danny Liao for Cannabis Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAnd that\u2019s exactly the seeming contradiction from the unquestionable toughness of this football playing beast who also announces his true love for wellness and holistic healing. Can those two apparently conflicting sides coexist within a star professional athlete?<\/p>\n
\u201cI was raised mainly by women and just to survive, I had to find that balance between the masculine and the feminine inside myself,\u201d Williams says, softly. \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate if it seems like a contradiction because the reality is all of us have a masculine and a feminine side. I think we\u2019re all meant to be balanced. When it\u2019s time to fight, we should be able to draw on those resources; and when it\u2019s time to love, nurture and heal, we should be able to draw on those resources as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015, there are few football experts or fans who wouldn\u2019t acknowledge Williams\u2019 extraordinary gifts as a running back. Williams views it, predictably, slightly differently.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, I had God-given ability, but if I didn\u2019t work my ass off\u2014I wasn\u2019t very good naturally\u2014I wouldn\u2019t have reached that pinnacle of being a pro football player. So, it was more being grateful for my work ethic. The thing is, when I got to where I was going as a football player, it was just another box people put me in.\u201d<\/p>\n
We take it back to the first time Williams says he tried cannabis, and a smile as big as Hollywood itself comes across his face with the seemingly happy memory.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn high school, I became a huge Bob Marley fan, so everyone assumed that I smoked, but I didn\u2019t,\u201d Williams says, sitting up a little straighter in his chair, talking slightly faster, smiling. \u201cThe first time I tried cannabis was in the 11th grade when the smartest kid in school, Ben Kotnik, invited me to his house to smoke. I thought since he was the smartest kid in school and everyone already thought I smoked, I just played along. And, of course, like most people, I coughed a couple of times, and I went back to class. I remember I had physics right after lunch and I was sitting in class thinking \u2018I don\u2019t understand why people do this\u2014I don\u2019t get it.\u2019 [Laughs] It wasn\u2019t until I was a senior in college, and I was having a rough couple of days, my roommate suggested that I smoke. I didn\u2019t even think there was a connection, but suddenly I wasn\u2019t obsessing, I wasn\u2019t depressed\u2014the mood lifted. That was the first time I experienced when cannabis had value. I had just lost a girlfriend and I had a bad game, so I was in that space thinking \u2018my life is over,\u2019 and I took a couple of hits and realized \u2018OK, it\u2019s fine. Life is good. Get over yourself.\u2019 So, I did.\u201d [Laughs] <\/p>\n
As powerful as that epiphany may have been, it exposed Williams to his career-long conflict: football or cannabis\u2014not both. Williams was suspended a total of five times by the NFL, including the entire 2006 season, after countless failed drug tests over the years and he knew better than anyone that the time had come for him to either devote fully to his career and quit cannabis, or choose the unexpected road less traveled of life over job.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a sense that cannabis was my path and when you have a sense you have to pursue it,\u201d Williams says. \u201cBut I was just as confused as everyone else was because on the one hand, this is what I was told; but, on the other, this is my experience. So, what\u2019s the truth? At that time, you really couldn\u2019t Google \u2018cannabis\u2019 for any real information, you just saw how horrible it was made out to be. I did the road work, and my curiosity led me to study cannabis, and I started to ask a lot of people a lot of questions. I kept thinking that I just gave up everything I ever worked for my entire life for a drug. There\u2019s either something wrong with me or I\u2019m onto something. It was one or the other and I had to figure out which one it was.\u201d<\/p>\n
The man\u2019s on a roll.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, for me, cannabis has had a lot of shame, something I thought my life would be over if people found out about, and that has come full circle,\u201d Williams says. <\/p>\n
\n\u201cConsuming cannabis really opened my mind and set me on a powerful spiritual path. That\u2019s really the deeper message behind Highsman. Yes, cannabis will help you cool out and relax, but it can do so much more.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Launching his own cannabis brand and getting a slice of the industry\u2019s massive growth may seem like a pretty obvious decision but launching Highsman wasn\u2019t a lane free from its share of pitfalls for Williams along the way. As a celebrity, Williams faced some obstacles, but not all of them. So, I wondered, was launching Highsman difficult in general? And how has the fact that he\u2019s a person of color and a celebrity factored into it?<\/p>\n
\u201cRelative to launching Highsman\u2014and this is a great question\u2014we haven\u2019t had any trouble,\u201d Williams says. \u201cCannabis has been so hot, and people know my story, so it\u2019s been easy for us. In this instance, my fame did transcend color when I launched Highsman, but that means I\u2014and all celebrities in the cannabis industry\u2014have a responsibility to be spokespeople for all people of color trying to break in. It\u2019s definitely our responsibility. Education is key. For those of us who have the experience, it\u2019s our responsibility to help. Opportunity is great, but if you don\u2019t have experience to take advantage of the opportunity, it actually becomes worse. For me it\u2019s important to take the lead and help and educate people of color on what the point of business is and help them find their spot and help them thrive in this industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the cannabis industry remains a business venture, and one, he warns, not for the faint of heart.<\/p>\nThe former Heisman Trophy winner studies his brand\u2019s top-shelf offerings at Natura, a facility in Sacramento, CA. Photo courtesy Highsman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cMy big thing as I stepped into the cannabis industry as an entrepreneur was that I had an extremely steep learning curve,\u201d Williams says. \u201cAnd this is true of all businesses, including cannabis, that I underestimated the importance of team. It\u2019s silly coming from a football environment, but I found putting together the right team is often like dating. You\u2019re seeing everyone\u2019s best assets and you don\u2019t know who they really are until things hit the fan. So, as new entrepreneurs, we learn the hard way; for example, what a vesting schedule is and why that\u2019s so important.\u201d<\/p>\n
His hope with his new venture, he says, is to bridge the historic divide between sports and cannabis. \u201cWe have a road map for products and merch and we\u2019re about to launch in Nevada,\u201d Williams says. \u201cAs far as direction, a big part of the brand is about creating experiences so we\u2019re working on what we\u2019re calling the first annual Highsman Golf Challenge. And the whole thing about Highsman bringing sports and cannabis together is really about bringing greatness and cannabis together.\u201d<\/p>\n
But what\u2019s changed, really? Since the decade he left the NFL, not a single active player has announced a cannabis brand, while more than a dozen former players currently own brands (even Rob Gronkowski partnered with a CBD brand). Is the stigma surrounding cannabis still that prevalent among players today?<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Williams says. \u201cIt\u2019s the stigma, and it\u2019s unfortunate because it\u2019s not real. If pro athletes would step in the cannabis space, no one would do anything, they\u2019d just gain the respect of a whole lot of people. What I found in cannabis\u2014as in any industry\u2014when celebrities come in, there has to be authenticity. When I go anywhere, people are impressed not only because of how many yards I ran, but because I put my money where my mouth was. I actually walked away from the game so that I could consume cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lest one forget that before anyone in professional sports\u2014and certainly with his superstar status\u2014Ricky Williams was a cannabis advocate, a secretive, conflicted one at first, perhaps, but, no matter, Williams stuck to his guns. The false choice of cannabis vs. football wouldn\u2019t do. It\u2019s cannabis and football, or it\u2019s just cannabis, thank you very much. Still, I ask if he has any regrets.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, even the privilege of having a regret means you\u2019ve figured it out,\u201d he says. \u201cYou needed to go through the experience to figure it out. Here\u2019s the truth: People don\u2019t change when they\u2019re comfortable, we only change when we suffer.\u201d<\/p>\nRicky lights up a joint during his interview. Photo Danny Liao for Cannabis Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWith his suffering days apparently over\u2014given the buzz around Highsman\u2014Williams searches for deeper meaning in all of his ventures. \u201cWith Highsman, our message is something I\u2019m sure most Americans have experienced: That is, being told you shouldn\u2019t do something, but you listened to your heart and did it anyway,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd now everyone is starting to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n
When we turn to the future of cannabis as an increasingly popular remedy for myriad ailments, Williams offers another slightly surprising perspective. \u201cI for sure consider cannabis a psychedelic,\u201d he says, equating weed with psilocybin and MDMA. \u201cIn terms of the stigma around psychedelics, people may not see it that way. But I\u2019m an herbalist, so I\u2019m a big fan of all plant medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nearing the end of our conversation, I asked the celebrated athlete-cum-cannabis mogul in the making, what\u2019s next? He offered yet another stunner: He\u2019s the co-founder of LILA, an astrology app, and he\u2019s all in.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my love; this is the love of my life,\u201d Williams says. \u201cThough Highsman is a big part, astrology is the clearest reflection of my story.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, I asked, since he says he used football as a platform to launch his cannabis brand, is he using cannabis to launch his astrology brand? \u201cOh, yes! Absolutely!\u201d he says, smiling like a Cheshire cat. \u201cIt\u2019s that important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unexpected endings are something of a Ricky Williams hallmark in his life. The kid who claims not to have had a lot of natural skill ends up as the most formidable college football player in the country, goes on to chart the single-most irreverent NFL career in modern history and is now using his star power for the betterment of his life and others. Did I miss anything?<\/p>\n
\u201cHere\u2019s how I see it,\u201d Williams says, gearing up for the big finish. \u201cMy early cannabis advocacy was inadvertent. My whole life I\u2019ve been searching for ways I can make a difference and it happened that I consumed cannabis and thought, \u2018Wow, this is great.\u2019 Yet there was this epic conflict from what I was told I was allowed to do and what was good for me, and what my own experience was. Once I started my relationship with cannabis, I knew that cannabis was going to be a part of my life. And here I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d ever get the chance to say once again, \u201cRun, Ricky! Run!\u201d<\/em> But here I am.<\/p>\nThis story was originally published in the print edition<\/a> of Cannabis Now.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Ricky Williams officially retired from professional football a decade ago, I sat up and took notice. As an avid fan of the sport\u2014and a lifelong Miami Dolphins diehard\u2014this particular exit from the NFL hit hard as the former Heisman Trophy winner had a lot of life left in those massive legs and, at his best, few running backs were ever as fun to watch as Ricky Williams. Period. \u201cRun, Ricky! Run!\u201d became the unofficial rallying cry for all Dolphins fans for the seven seasons Williams played in South Florida. To witness him running with a head of steam behind… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marijuana_information"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4204\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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