I really feel for Ricky (or should I say Errick?). Everyone wants to be famous but not so many people really think through all the pressures that brings, on and off the field.

For all the criticisms that Texas players in the NFL have gotten lately for not being ‘tough enough’, I can kind of see it. Mack Brown is a coach who shapes men and gets them focused for what they do. The jump from that attitude – where the Texas program is a family and something very organically cohesive – to one of looking at your bottom stat line every week and intense competition throughout the (longer) season cannot be harder, in my mind. I think Ricky really benefited – perhaps I’d even go so far as to say he was sheltered – from having such a positive coach who looks out for the best interests of his players, and from being in an environment that isn’t quite as fickle as the professional league.

I hope his plan to become a holistic trainer for teams becomes a reality. He seems like he has the respect of a lot of players and coaches to have been able to come back to the NFL after his couple of infractions. And honestly, I hope once his career ends, the spotlight on him fades enough that he can do whatever he damn well pleases, even if that includes smoking some marijuana from time to time.

I’m hoping to see him bust out some big runs this coming season. Now he’s probably more in the fullback mold (and I think he even ran as a fullback a few times last season?), but he needs some more tastes of the end zone before he retires.