Ricky Williams says he retired from NFL because of Dolphins' quarterback play

The decision of former Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams to retire from the NFL prior to the 2004 season was always a curious one, as he was choosing to walk away from the game at the height of his career.

As Williams explains in an upcoming episode of NFL Network's "A Football Life," set to air Friday, the lack of help he was getting from the Dolphins' quarterback position played a significant factor in the decision.

"I led the NFL in attempts the past two years and they really didn't go out and get a quarterback to help me, so I knew it's going to be all on me again. I could see my mortality as a football player, that I'm not going to be able to do this much longer," he said. "It just became obvious to me that playing football for me is not going to be fun, not something I'm going to enjoy and it's time for me to do something different."

Of course, still yet to find the franchise quarterback they had been in need of since the retirement of Dan Marino, the Dolphins entered that 2004 season with A.J. Feeley and Jay Fiedler as their top players at the position.

Appearing on an NFL AM broadcast ahead of the documentary's airing, Williams was asked for the one piece of advice he would give to himself looking back at the time he was coming out of college. Without hesitation, he indicated that he would pass on the opportunity to play in the NFL:

"I decided to play football because that seemed like the next logical choice. But some people are built for the NFL and some people aren't, and I don't think I was a person who was really built for success in the NFL," Williams admitted.

Williams was able to become a serviceable player after returning from both retirement and the several drug suspensions that followed, but the football world will always wonder what could have been had such a talented running back played out the prime years of his career.