Ricky Williams Explains Why College Football Now Being 'Professional Football' Is A Wonderful Thing

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College football has changed quite a bit since Ricky Williams was running at will for the Texas Longhorns in the late 90s. In this new era of NIL with student-athletes being paid, many have concluded college football is now a professional sport. While Williams agrees with that idea, he doesn't think this new pay-for-play era is a bad thing.

The 1998 Heisman Trophy winner joined 'Don't @ Me With Dan Dakich' on Monday and touched on a wide range of topics including cannabis, Williams' real calling in life, and the state of today's college football.

READ: RICKY WILLIAMS HAS AN INTERESTING TAKE ON NIL, FUTURE OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL

While Williams referred to the transfer portal as the 'trade portal,' he thinks it's great that college athletes are able to make money nowadays.

"We can call it college football because they're playing mostly on college campuses and the players are enrolled in the school, but it's not college football, at least not the way I grew up with college football," Williams explained. "It's professional football."

"People are getting paid and now we have the trade portal. It's great, I think it's wonderful that these young athletes can start making a living instead of being exploited. So, I think it's wonderful, but it's not college football anymore."

Catch Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich every Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET on OutKick, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.