The Eagles released Bernard Williams 29 years after his final game. He found peace after flushing ‘$100 million down the drain.’

Bernard Williams was driving his Amazon delivery route Thursday evening in suburban Atlanta when he received a text from an NFL scout he coached in high school. The Eagles, who drafted Williams 14th overall in 1994, had released him nearly 29 years after his final NFL game.

“He said, ‘I saw it come across the wire,’” Williams said.

Williams’ promising rookie season — he started all 16 games in 1994 at left tackle — was followed by a drug suspension after he tested positive for marijuana. The NFL banned him for the entire 1995 season and he never applied for reinstatement, causing his name to linger in the league’s database until Thursday. That’s why a 51-year-old left tackle landed on waivers.

“This came out of nowhere,” Williams said.

He was drafted 14th overall while Hall of Famers Isaac Bruce, Kevin Mawae, and Larry Allen fell to the second round. The Eagles finished 7-9 and fired head coach Rich Kotite, but it was a promising start for Williams, an all-rookie selection that season.

His final NFL game was on Christmas Eve in Cincinnati in 1994. Jeffrey Lurie owned the Eagles for just a few months, Howie Roseman was a sophomore at the University of Florida, Nick Sirianni was in the eighth grade, and Jordan Mailata — the team’s current left tackle — was not yet born.

The NFL still tests players for marijuana but rarely, if ever, suspends them for a positive test. The league introduced a new policy after Williams’ rookie season that included frequent testing and stiffer punishment. He started smoking in college, leaning on marijuana as a way to cope with a traumatic series of events.

Williams’ father, Walter, died when he was in high school and his grandparents and cousin died when he was in college. His friend was shot back home when he was at the University of Georgia, and his aunt, Alice Johnson, was arrested on drug charges and sentenced to life in prison before being pardoned decades later by President Donald Trump.

His mother, Celestine, told him on draft day that she had breast cancer, and Memphis police officers roughed him up in his driveway shortly before he moved to Philadelphia after they confused his car for one they were chasing.

His suspension, Williams said, wasn’t really about marijuana.

“It was about me dealing with personal stuff,” Williams said. “A lot of grief at that point in my life that I hadn’t dealt with. I really needed to take some time off, but I couldn’t. Marijuana was my crutch during that time. Pretty much, I just wanted to be home. I applaud the young athletes like Simone Biles who are taking time off to deal with their personal issues and mental health. If I was given that opportunity back then, I think I would’ve played a lot longer than I did.”

Williams arrived at the University of Georgia as one of the nation’s top defensive ends but switched after one season to the offensive line. A new offensive coordinator told him the position would give him a long NFL career and his cousin, longtime NFL offensive lineman Ray Brown, agreed.

“He had been telling me since high school that that’s where the money is,” Williams said.

Three years later, he was at home in Memphis when the call came from Philadelphia. That long NFL career seemed ready to start, but his father wasn’t there and his mom delivered a gut punch.

“I’m the youngest of three brothers, and I think I was the one my dad had the most doubt about,” Williams said. “I wanted to show him what I could do.”

Williams smoked throughout his rookie season, but the league’s policy didn’t penalize his failed tests. That changed under the new policy. He agreed to go to a rehab center in Chester. Williams used an alias but it didn’t take long for people to realize who the 6-foot-9½, 305-pounder really was.

“The representative from the team came up, and he had on NFL gear,” Williams said. “I left that day, and that was the day I got suspended. That was the end of it. I was like ‘I’m done with it.’

“I enjoyed the time I had in Philly, but I think if the organization had been in better shape at that point, then my situation would’ve been handled better. My rookie year, we didn’t really have a drug policy. The next year, they say, ‘We have a new drug policy, and you’re Stage 3.’ It wasn’t a good situation for me or for them.”

He was suspended six games for leaving rehab. His career ended when he got in the car and smoked a joint.

“I was driving and they said, ‘You have to take a test,’” Williams said. “I was driving back to Philly and I said, ‘That’s it.’ I needed a break. I wasn’t sad at all.”

Williams spent his suspension hanging out with Julius Erving, went on a book tour with Patti LaBelle, partied with Notorious B.I.G. and Thomas “Hitman” Hearns, and was friends with Mike McCary of Boyz II Men. He played basketball in the Sonny Hill League, ran pick-up with Penny Hardaway back home in Memphis, and took care of his mother before she died in 1997. The NFL kept moving without Williams. He moved on, too.

“I found peace with it early,” Williams said. “I see a lot of players who play 10 or 15 years and can’t transition into being regular people when they come out. I’d like to be well off, but I don’t think I ever wanted to be famous.”

He returned to football in 2000, latching on first with the Canadian Football League before stints in the Arena Football League and the XFL. The former first-round pick still had it, but he never tried to get back to the NFL. Williams played football year-round as the XFL and Arena Football League started in the spring and ended just before the CFL started in the fall. He kept smoking.

He was playing for the Toronto Argonauts in 2006 when Ricky Williams jumped to the CFL after being suspended by the NFL for violating the league’s drug policy. The team’s new star was planning a return to the NFL, which meant he couldn’t smoke in Canada despite the CFL’s policy that allowed players to. So he stayed away from the former Eagle.

“But then I told him, ‘The league can’t come up here and test you,’” Williams said. “He said, ‘Really?’ I said, ‘Yeah, they won’t give them a work visa to come up here and test you. He said, ‘Are you serious?’ I knew all the rules. The next day, he was at my house every day smoking until my roommate came home. All he wanted to do was smoke weed and play Madden. He loved playing with the Falcons and Michael Vick. That’s what we did.”

Williams blocked as a pro for three Heisman winners — Herschel Walker, Rashaan Salaam, and Ricky Williams — and protected the blindside for Randall Cunningham. He has enough stories from his football days that he told old Eagles rusher Charlie Garner last week that they need to start a podcast. His NFL career was brief but not uneventful.

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Williams, who played his final game that season in Canada, coached high school football for 10 years in Georgia and trained players. He helped guide the career of his nephew — three-time All-Pro defensive back Eric Berry — and is now back in college working toward a psychology degree while driving for Amazon and restoring old cars. His daughter, Dahlia, plays volleyball at Clark Atlanta University and his nephew, Alex Whitmore, plays football at UNLV.

Heart surgery in 2015 caused Williams to curtail his smoking. Now Williams makes lemonade.

“It was a lot of loss,” Williams said. “I dealt with a lot. I look at so many people who had better situations at some point and a worse outcome. I’m just happy to be here.”

Williams’ sister-in-law taped all of his games on VHS — “She would stop it on commercials, so there’s no commercials,” Williams said — and he can sit back now to watch his battles with players like Reggie White and Charles Haley. It was just one season, but it was enough of a taste for Williams to believe that he could’ve been special like them. The promise that was halted nearly 30 years ago officially concluded Thursday.

“I think I could’ve played 10, 15 years and been a Hall of Fame player,” Williams said. “I think my talent was that great. But I also think football isn’t life and it’s never been for me. I do love football, but I love myself more. I think about the $50 million down the drain, maybe $100 million down the drain, but when I was rich I wasn’t happy. The money doesn’t bother me.”