We’ve covered issues pertaining to the NFL and cannabis extensively in the past, with a wide range of topics. We’ve also covered some of the legal cannabis businesses being formed by celebrities within the past few years, including the Pittsburgh Steelers’ legendary running back Franco Harris. Now another former NFL running back is entering the legal cannabis space by starting his own brand: ex-Miami Dolphin Ricky Williams.
Williams is calling the brand Real Wellness, and their products are vaporizer cartridges, salves and tonics that are infused with “hemp-derived CBD or THC or a mix of both,” according to the Real Wellness website. The Real Wellness products will also have other herbal extract ingredients – like arnica, lavender and turmeric.
Williams, a former Heisman Trophy winner, has been no stranger to cannabis, and has was always in favor of the plant medicine – despite being suspended from the league twice for using it back in his playing days. He’s long been an outspoken advocate of holistic wellness, including practicing yoga and studying Ayurveda, which is an alternative medicine that has its roots in ancient India. If there is any former NFL player who should succeed in the legal cannabis business, it’s Williams.
“I am known as a professional football player,” Williams told The Sun Sentinel. “In the last 14 years, I have been educating myself and training as a health care practitioner.”
Williams offered up some insight into who might be the largest part of his customer base upon his company’s launch. “Surprisingly enough, our research found that the main demographic coming into the cannabis market are women ages 35 to 60,” he said. “Cannabis coming on the scene is a reemerging of herbalism back into our culture.”
The dispensary and consulting firm OutCo is developing the Real Wellness products in collaboration with Williams. The products are now on sale in San Diego and Los Angeles, as well as in the Orange County area. Later this year, the company plans to sell their products online as well. Products from the Real Wellness brand will cost between $35-$70.
Recently, Williams also announced that he was becoming a partner with the hemp clothing brand SuperEgo.
It’s good to see former professional sports players using their platforms to speak out about the benefits of medical cannabis and to create products with the intention of helping people. As the lucrative cannabis industry grows, it won’t be surprising to see more former sports stars speaking out about the healing properties of cannabis and starting their own brands.
