Longhorns legend Ricky Williams to run marijuana friendly gym

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Ricky Williams and marijuana have been inextricably linked over the years, with the former Texas Longhorns great serving multiple suspensions for using it during his football career.

Now, he's going to profit from it.

RELATED: Marijuana friendly gym to open in San Francisco this fall

Williams is a partner and spokesman for Power Plant Fitness, a pot friendly gym scheduled to open this fall in San Francisco.

The venture is the brainchild of Jim McAlpine, the co-founder of the 420 Games, a series of running events developed to destigmatize cannabis. Williams, who said he used marijuana to help recover from injuries during his NFL career, is a spokesman for the 420 Games. He will run Power Plant Fitness, according to a news release.

"Having Ricky Williams as a partner is (expletive) awesome because he exemplifies a successful and very athletic person who also uses cannabis," McAlpine told Complex. "Ricky is as smart as he is a talented athlete. And that is a big statement."

As for the gym, McAlpine said in a blog post on the 420 Games website that "it won't be a place to get high and just screw around. We are focused on the athletic side, not the cannabis side."

Williams, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1998 at Texas, recently spoke to the International Business Times about the NFL's stance on marijuana and Mississippi offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil's slide in the first round of the draft after a photo fo him smoking from a bong while wearing a gas mask went viral.



Click through the gallery to revisit athletes memorable for their marijuana issues. less Former Texas Longhorns great Ricky Williams, seen here throwing out a first pitch at an Astros game last year, will run a marijuana friendly gym in San Francisco set to open this fall.

Click through the gallery ... more Former Texas Longhorns great Ricky Williams, seen here throwing out a first pitch at an Astros game last year, will run a marijuana friendly gym in San Francisco set to open this fall. Photo: Gary Coronado, Houston Chronicle Photo: Gary Coronado, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 35 Caption Close Longhorns legend Ricky Williams to run marijuana friendly gym 1 / 35 Back to Gallery

"I was a really good football player, a really good person, my teammates loved me, my coaches loved me, but my career and life were ruined because of a drug test," Williams said. "It doesn't make sense. They have to take a more humane approach to this.

"For the most part, the NFL is a closed system; they don't have to keep up with the times. Because they are a business that depends on viewership, only when the viewers speak, the NFL will follow."

Click through the gallery above to revisit athletes memorable for their marijuana issues.