Hall of Fame
Position: Running Back
Years: 1995-1998
Place of Birth: San Diego
Date of Birth: May 21, 1977
Jersey Number: 34
Height: 6-0"
Weight: 225
High School: Patrick Henry (San Diego)
Ending his career as the NCAA’s all-time leading rusher with 6,279 yards, Ricky Williams took home the Heisman Trophy in 1998 following his All-America career at Texas. He becomes the 17th Longhorn to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
A unanimous First Team All-American his junior and senior seasons, Williams took home the 1998 Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, and he was the first-ever two-time recipient of the Doak Walker Award. The two-time Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year won back-to-back NCAA rushing titles in 1997 and 1998, and he set 21 NCAA records, including all-purpose yards (7,206) and rushing touchdowns (72). A three-time First Team All-Big 12 selection, Williams led Texas to the 1995 Southwest Conference championship and the 1996 Big 12 title. He led the Longhorns to three bowl berths, earning MVP honors in the 1999 Cotton Bowl, and he finished his Texas career with 46 school records. Williams is one of only three Longhorns to post three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, and he set school records for carries (1,011), yards (6,279), yards per game (136.5) and rushing touchdowns (72) during his career. The 1998 AP and Sporting News Player of the Year, Williams was a member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll and the 1998 AFCA Good Works Team. During his time in Austin, he played for coaches John Mackovic and Mack Brown.
Selected with the fifth overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints, Williams would go on to spend eleven seasons in the NFL with the Saints, Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens and one season with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. The San Diego native went to the Pro Bowl in 2002, and he set the Dolphins’ record for most 100-yard rushing games in team history with 24.
Williams has served as an analyst on the Longhorn Network and as an assistant football coach at the University of the Incarnate Word, and he is active in the Austin community through the Ricky Williams Foundation. A 2013 inductee into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, he is a member of the Longhorn Hall of Honor and just had his jersey retired by the university.
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