Director Sean Pamphilon Talks About Ricky Williams Documentary "Run Ricky Run"

Williams has been diagnosed at various times with social anxiety disorder, clinical depression, bipolar disorder, narcissistic personality, and borderline personality disorder. Early in the project, Pamphilon got a taste of his subject's fickle ways. Williams called the director and told him he wanted to give him his first public interview since quitting football. He wanted Pamphilon to fly to California immediately. "Two hours before I leave for the airport, he calls me and cancels it," the filmmaker says. Williams said he changed his mind.

"He was fucking with me," Pamphilon says. "Ricky tests people. He likes to see their reactions. He wanted to see how I would react to him personally, if I was going to freak out and never speak to him again. He wanted to know if I was in it for the long term."

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Ricky at peace.

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More About

• Ricky Williams
• Errick Williams
• Sean Pamphilon
• Personality Disorders
• Mental Health

The film delves into Williams' childhood, exploring the circumstances that produced such a puzzling man. During one incident when he was 6, Ricky told his mother that his father forced him to take naked photos. Ricky's mother told the police. Errick Williams was convicted of "sexually annoying a child" and legally required to stay away from Ricky and his sisters.

Pamphilon discussed the incident with Williams at length during the time he spent at the running back's rented house near Grass Valley, California, in the months after he left football. For hours at a time — often deep into the night — they discussed Williams' views on life. During several talks caught on film, Williams, wearing a thick, unkempt beard, wrapped himself in a blanket and stared off blankly as he thought about the pains in his life.

After he was reinstated by the NFL, Williams converted to Hinduism and studied under a guru at an ashram in California. Pamphilon says Williams often looked through the camera and challenged him personally. "He got in my head," Pamphilon says. "He made me work on myself as he was working on himself. He wasn't going to let me come tell his story and not deal with my own stuff." The filmmaker stayed at the ashram with Williams for three months, living a mostly vegan lifestyle, attending the yoga classes Williams taught.

In time, the running back seemed to open up. Pamphilon says he saw Williams grow as a person. He spent more time with his family. He seemed happier. "Most people think walking away was the worst thing he could have done for his career," Pamphilon says. "But he'd tell you it was the best decision he ever made."

Last season, when Ronnie Brown was injured, Williams once again carried the Dolphins on his shoulders, becoming the first player in league history to go six years between 1,000-yard rushing seasons. And now, after five failed drug tests, three league suspensions, two season-ending injuries, and a quietly rebuilt career, Williams' number 34 jersey is one of the most popular at Dolphins games.

"Ricky knows that whether he likes it or not, whether it's fair or not, his redemption in the eyes of most people is tied to how he does on the football field," Pamphilon says. "And he's OK with that."

The Dolphins were OK with the documentary. A spokesperson says the team participated insofar as it allowed filming during regular media availability. Williams was not available for an interview for this article.

Pamphilon says Williams initially funded the film himself. When they signed a deal with ESPN in fall 2008, Pamphilon claims, Williams got back the exact amount he put in, not a penny more. "We don't want anyone thinking this is propaganda," the director says. "Ricky definitely has a message about how to live life."

During the offseason, Williams now takes classes at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, where he's trying to knock out all the prerequisites for medical school. He's said publicly that he'll probably play one more year; then he wants to become a doctor of osteopathic medicine.

"Once he got everything he ever wanted, he realized it wasn't what he wanted at all," says Pamphilon. "His mind is just more impressive than his physicality. He thinks there's something bigger out there for him than football. And now he knows that the springboard professional sports offers is all part of the plan."