Watch Run Ricky Run with Ricky

Published April 30, 2010 at 11:50 a.m.

WikipediaFormer Texas running back Ricky Williams will be in attendance tonight for a special screening of Run Ricky Run, part of ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary series.

The benefit screening begins at 8 pm at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. General admission tickets are $40, while $100 VIP tickets will get you into a 7 pm reception with Williams before the show. Money raised will go to the Ricky Williams Foundation.

The film focuses on Williams' life after UT, when he walked away from professional football after testing positive for marijuana. Both Longhorns coach Mack Brown and sports information director John Bianco make appearances in the movie, providing a look back at Williams' college career and insight into his future.

It was Williams' Heisman Trophy season in 1998, when he rushed for more career yards than any college running back had before, that pulled UT football out of a slump and guaranteed him a set of loyal fans in Austin. But directors Sean Pamphilon and Royce Toni focus on a rougher period of Williams' life: a five-year stretch from 2004 to 2009 that saw him:

• retire from the Miami Dolphins rather than face suspension for failing a drug test,
• spend time in a $7 a night tent in Australia,
• study holistic medicine,
• return to pro football,
• get suspended again for violating the NFL's drug policy,
• play a year in Canada,
• become a qualified yoga instructor,
• and finally return to the Dolphins again and rush for 1,000 yards in a season

Those contradictions define the likable yet enigmatic Williams, who tries to reconcile his main physical talent - running over defenders on the way to the end zone - with his more spiritual side. When he finally finds peace, you find peace with him.

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