Usually the focus of a sports movies is an event, the Miracle on Ice, the Rumble in the Jungle, or the show down against the Hawks a la The Mighty Ducks. Sometimes ending in triumph, sometimes ending in disappointment or tragedy, the payoff in these films is almost always the outcome of the event, but rarely do we look at the people who make these events so iconic.
Run, Ricky, Run, Sean Pamphilon's look at former Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams, is a giant departure from the sport-as-event lens that is so common in sports movies. Pamphilon begins his exploration of Williams with his decision to leave the Miami Dolphins in 2004 for the anonymity of the Australian outback, but that is just a jumping off point for looking at the psychology of an individual who at times looks incredibly thoughtful, articulate, and introspective, and others looks downright insane. In the trailer for RRR Dan LeBatard of ESPN says "95 percent of what he says is so illuminating, and so enlightening... and so refreshing... and then 5 percent of what he says makes you wonder if he's got aluminum foil on his head saying that's the reason it keeps aliens away".
This sort of dichotomy is what makes Williams such an interesting subject. He is a warrior on the field with a punishing running style, but studying to become a healer off it. He is described by just about everyone as friendly and charming, but he seems to want to be alone. The six year old boy who is described as the man of the house, who is not a father to his own children. At times he is so open and honest it almost makes him harder to figure out.
At his most enlightening, Ricky is able to expose the hypocrisy of fans' vitriol over his retirement. "When would it be okay for me to walk away?" he asks to 60 Minutes' Mike Wallace, "when my knees give out? When my shoulders give out?". In doing so, Ricky is able to conjure the images of running backs like Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson, LaDainian Tomlinson (or Boobie Miles who never made it) who's bodies quickly deteriorated after a few punishing NFL seasons, and make you think that maybe he was smart, rather than flakey or selfish, for walking away. At his worst, Ricky seems be caught in some sort of nihilistic philosophic haze.
The reality, it seems, is that Ricky is both the self aware jock and the confused amateur philosopher.
At its core Run, Ricky, Run is the portrait of an unusually introspective football player who is scared, confused, and trying to figure out who he is. Of course, when you're seriously trying to do that under the scrutiny of the football media, you're bound to look strange, and you're bound to find people who don't like what you're doing.
The ultimate irony is that after all the controversy Ricky caused by walking away from football, and all the ire he drew from Miami Dolphins fans, it seems to be the best thing to happen to his football career and for the Fins. Williams, going into his 10th NFL season, is going to outlast many of his peers at running back by virtue of his break from football. While Williams was able to complete the 2009 Dolphins season with over 1,100 yards rushing and 11 TDs, his contemporaries like Edgerrin James, Jamal Lewis, and Shaun Alexander are physically no longer able to play in the NFL.
And so as fascinating as the story of Ricky Williams is, it is an incomplete story. As the 2010 NFL football season began Ricky remained a member of the Miami Dolphins with an eye towards completing his degree at the University of Texas and a doctorate, from Harvard no less, in psychiatry. Though one might imagine that he might just surprise everyone and play another 5 years in the NFL.
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