Ball, owner and CEO of Los Angeles-based Ball Family Farms, and Williams, founder and president of Highsman, partnered on a cultivar, Ricky Baker, released throughout the Golden State earlier this month.
Ball, the cultivator, and Williams, the connoisseur, are cut from the same cloth in many respects – including their shared passion for cannabis.
But their passion hasn’t always been rewarded, as both share past scrutiny and punishment for past cannabis involvement.
Williams, the 1998 Heisman Trophy winner (awarded to the nation’s top collegiate football player) and former NFL star, was suspended from the NFL twice during his career for failed drug tests due to cannabis, which violated the league’s substance-abuse policy. He abruptly retired before the 2004 season after facing a four-game suspension and $650,000 fine from the league but returned in 2005. He was then suspended for the entire 2006 season before eventually retiring in 2011.
Ten years later, in 2021, Williams founded Highsman.
RELATED: From Heisman Winner to Highsman Owner
Ball, meanwhile, was federally indicted in 2010 and faced a 10-year prison sentence on charges of trafficking cannabis from Canada to Los Angeles – which serendipitously led to his social equity license to establish Ball Family Farms in 2018.
The two have partnered not only on cultivation, but with the intent of educating cannabis consumers to help move the industry forward.
“I think there's something truly valuable about our experiences that are good for the world,” Williams says. “That's the value of what we're doing together because the world needs it. The world needs to see to see successful African-American men that are doing it their way. That's what's important.”
Ricky Pheno-Hunting Ricky
Williams says when Highsman discusses cultivation partners, he seeks “someone who has a similar experience to mine, who can really understand where I'm coming from. That person's going to be able to convey what's important to me more effectively,” he says.
When Williams and Ball first met in 2000, they immediately noticed commonalities.
At the time, Williams was two years removed from winning the 1998 Heisman trophy and a rising star in the NFL. Ball, meanwhile, was a junior linebacker at Division I University of California, Berkeley, who would go on to play in the Canadian Football League.
The two, both from Southern California, were introduced in San Diego by mutual friend and former NFL lineman Darrell Russell.
“We're both from similar parts of the country, we’re both African-Americans, we’re both the same age, we both played football – we have a lot in common, so I just feel there's a natural connection,” Williams says.
So when the two met again in 2021, representing their legal cannabis companies at a legal cannabis industry event, they expressed shared admiration for each other’s journeys.
“Ricky walked up and said, ‘Hey man, I'm a fan of what you do, I love what Ball Family Farms is doing, and I would like to know if you want to collab,” Ball remembers. “And I’m like, ‘Whoa, Ricky, I’m a fan of yours. Do you remember me?’ He’s like, ‘Holy shit, that was a long time ago, bro. It’s really good to see what’s come of this.’
“I took that as a sign,” Ball continues. “Now I understand why we met 22 years ago. I’m a firm believer in Ricky and his story and I’m a supporter of his. I believe what happened to him in his career based off of cannabis was f----- up. So for me, it was a no-brainer why we wanted to do the partnership and collaboration.”
Williams pheno-hunted the Ricky Baker cultivar that Ball Family Farms cultivated, released Oct. 8 throughout California, describing the process as “a true collab.”
“When we connected, Chris happened to be in the middle of a pheno-hunt, so I said, ‘Hey, hey, I’m over here!’,” Williams says with a laugh. “So he slid me what he had, and I went through it and I was looking for what in this group really spoke to me.”
Williams started with an eighth of a variety of Ball Family Farms cultivars. He admittedly enjoyed the pheno-hunting process, saying “everything I tasted from Ball Family Farms, it was an experience.” So, being the cannabis connoisseur he is, Williams wanted to double-check his work.
“I was like, I would feel better if I got to spend a little bit more time with it,” he says. “So I went back, and I got an ounce of the one I chose, and then I got an ounce of my two and my three, and I spent some time with that.”
After Williams narrowed his choices down from three to two cultivars, he and Ball connected in Humboldt County to finalize their collaborative cultivar selection.
Ball says during California’s recent cannabis market crash, he’s noticed consumers seeking “purple weed everywhere” and that “everybody was pretty much trying to chase THC percentages.” With that in mind, he admits he had a leaning between the two remaining cultivars and “kind of nudged the choice a little bit.”
“We spent some time up in Humboldt, and I brought both,” Ball says. “He smoked the one that we ended up choosing, and [Ricky] was like, ‘Bro, it's just better. However much a difference there is between the two of them, it's enough to have me realize it and understand it.’ So, I said, ‘All right, f--- it. This one may not have the color that everybody wants, but f--- it. This is the one that one we're going with.’
“I said, ‘All right, if we’re going to do this one, we’re going to come out and talk education [and] we’re really going to go hard. We’re going to push the envelope and teach people it don't got to be purple for it to be great.’”
Ball notes the Ricky Baker cultivar is green and “not crazy high” in THC percentages, but emphasizes how the cultivar is a representation of the man who pheno-hunted it.
RELATED: Tomorrow in Cannabis: THC or Terpenes?
“What makes [Ricky Baker] special is all the undertones underneath it, the terpene profile percentages, what those are and how those affect Ricky,” Ball says. “Because ultimately, I said, ‘Ricky, this strain of weed is going to represent you.’ So I don't care what everyone else thinks. I care about what Ricky thinks. That's what this strain represents. For everyone who tries this strain, that gives them some sort of connection to Ricky [Williams].”
Continuing Consumer Education
Williams succinctly describes what cannabis represents to him, saying “to me, the whole point of cannabis is the idea of feeling good.”
“To me, what feels good is the flavor [or] the taste, and the way I feel. That’s my sweet spot,” he says. “For everyone, I just want to educate them to know there's nuance here. And when you try different flower, ask yourself, how does this taste? What flavors do I taste? Do I like it? Do I not like it? And then compare it to how you feel a couple minutes later.
“Personally, for me, I don't care what it looks like. If it tastes good and it puts me in a place where I can be creative, what I'm looking for, then I'm good, I'm happy.”
But while THC percentage and color may not be paramount to Williams’ cannabis preferences, Ball says those are often the preferred attributes of many consumers. He says consumers should also consider a range of factors, including terpene profiles, growing media, brand reputation and sustainability, and more.
“I know the industry is hyped on Gelatos, and I know the industry is hyped on purple weed, and I know the industry is hyped on THC percentage, but because of my platform and Ricky's platform together, I believe it was a perfect opportunity for us to teach consumers, ‘Well, here's how you're really supposed to shop for [cannabis],’” Ball says.
Growth, however, often takes time. Especially in a brand-new legalized industry without much of a blueprint to build off.
Both Ball and Williams recognize the industry’s nascent nature, noting that, in addition to continued education, markets will inevitably mature as more states legalize and consumption is normalized.
California, after all – the epicenter of the U.S.’ cannabis culture – is just approaching its fifth year of adult-use cannabis sales in 2023 after sales launched Jan. 1, 2018.
RELATED: California’s Cannabis Market at a Crossroads
“Legal cannabis is a baby, it's a toddler,” Williams says. “And as it matures, its lifestyle is going to stabilize.”
Nonetheless, further educating consumers of all backgrounds and experience levels is a necessity, and that’s exactly what the partnership between Highsman and Ball Family Farms aims to do, according to Williams.
“It’s an opportunity to educate the consumer,” Williams says. “And I don't mean educate necessarily just talking about terpene profiles. I'm talking as an advocate, as an OG in this space, about educating people on how to get the best out of their experience with cannabis. I'm not saying anything negative about colors; I'm saying everyone has to have their own experience and empowering people to know that ‘Oh, there's different tastes, there's different flavors.’”
What’s Next
While the Ricky Baker cultivar marked the first collaboration between Highsman and Ball Family Farms, you can rest assured it won’t be the last. Both Ball and Williams mention they will, at some point, partner on another Highsman cultivar.
“This isn't going to be the last time we collaborate, so I’m excited about the kind of work we can do together,” Williams says.
In the meantime, Ball Family Farms will be adding another six cultivars to its genetic lineup.
“I'm expanding the menu to about 16 different cultivars, just because we are learning that the cannabis consumer, they like new shit,” he says. “They want new things, and the data reads that you can have Daniel LaRusso, and Daniel LaRusso has been selling for four years, but our consumers want new things, they want to try new flavor profiles, [and] they want to try new weed all the time.”
Ball also says the company will be doing one or two collaborations in 2023, and plans to expand its product offerings to include rosin pens, edibles, and more.
Ball Family Farms will, however, pause expansion plans in Oklahoma due to the current market, with Ball saying, “as the market changes, our strategy has to change.”
While the cannabis market change is out of Ball or Williams’ direct control, one impact they do hope to make in tandem with their partnership is ending the stigma around the plant.
“The University of Texas a couple of years ago (in 2020) renamed their football field after me and they did a statue a couple years before (in 2012),” Williams says. “For anyone to think they need to hide that they consume cannabis, I think I'm proof that you don't. I went public and I still got a statue, and I still got a field named after me – in Texas!”
One important aspect of ending the stigma around cannabis, in Ball and Williams’ view, is using their platform to champion their culture and their communities.
“At the end of the day, it is a Black company, it is a social equity company, and making sure that my people have access to tell their stories is important to me,” Ball says. “I think there's so many athletes that have been affected by this the way [Ricky] has. So, for them to see him doing this as motivation, and [knowing] there's a bunch of little Black and Brown kids that have been incarcerated for selling weed the way that I was, that see me doing this, it's bigger than race. It always veers back to that, but really, we're just trying to be examples for our community and show the people where we come from who may be similar to us, ‘Hey, you can do it and it can be done. Here’s two examples right here that are doing it and it can be done and be successful.’”
