Ricky Williams shared on OutKick’s Maintaining With Tyrus that a rather unconventional reason prompted him to retire for good from the NFL.

From 1999-2011, Williams played running back for the Saints, Dolphins, and Ravens, with two years off in the middle (one year for briefly retiring, one for a suspension). While he was an above-average player for most of his career who never really had a dramatic down year, he retired earlier than most, at the age of 34, while appearing to have something left in the tank – and plenty more money to earn.

The reason he retired relatively young while still performing at a high level was because he believed he was stable enough financially, and didn’t want to put his body through any more unnecessary wear and tear. As such, he decided to do other things with his life.

Ricky Williams Finished His NFL Career With 66 Rushing Touchdowns

“I was thinking, I was just going to be playing this game my whole life until I ran my tires raw. And I had this moment where I looked at my bank account, and I was like, ‘I’m good.’ They don’t want to let me live my life and do the things that are important to me? I looked at the money, and I was like, ‘I’m good.’ I had enough money to do all the things I wanted to do, so I said, ‘I’m going to do it,’” Williams said.

Most NFL guys would chase paychecks as long as they could, but Williams’ perspective on life is special. He realized that there was more to life than football, so he walked away from it and lived a life he found enjoyable (having earned $24.3 million certainly helps with that decision). 

The full Ricky Williams interview on Maintaining With Tyrus drops Sunday at 9 a.m. on both YouTube and OutKick.com.