Say goodbye to Ricky Williams.
His future with the Miami Dolphins is over, and his future in the NFL is over, too. Or it should be. It's bad enough that Williams blew the chance that Nick Saban gave him with the Dolphins. What's worse is that this is the second time in two years the guy's gone down the chute.
|
|
| Ricky Williams ran for 743 yards last season despite missing the first four games. (Getty Images) |
Tell me an NFL team that will take a flyer on Williams after he went on hiatus for a year, then returned to play half a season only to screw up again -- this time taking another season off, compliments of the NFL.
Let's put it another way: When Williams returns to play -- provided, of course, he's cleared by the league -- he's 30 years old. What kind of market do you think there is for a 30-year-old running back who spent his past three seasons by a) going AWOL, b) serving a four-game drug suspension and c) serving a one-year drug suspension?
It's not just that the guy has a substance-abuse problem; it's that he has a credibility problem, too. You simply can't trust him. Now you see him, now you don't. Once, you checked with trainers to see if Williams was OK; now you check with the league office. Or Williams' travel agents.
It doesn't get much worse than that.
Ask Dave Wannstedt. He built an offense around Williams, and Williams responded by leaving the team a week before the start of training camp in 2004 because, he said, he knew he tested positive for drugs. Unprepared for Williams' exit, the Dolphins sank to their worst record in over three decades, a shipwreck that cost Wannstedt his job.
I ran into a reporter last summer who said he faulted Wannstedt and his coaching staff for making Williams the foundation of the offense. OK, fine, a guy's entitled to an opinion, but this one I can't follow. I mean, the Dolphins also built their offense around Dan Marino, and he didn't decide in mid-July to take six months of R&R in Palau.
Detroit built its offense around Barry Sanders. Chicago built its offense around Walter Payton. San Francisco laid the foundation on Joe Montana. Somehow, it worked because these guys knew what was expected of them. They were professionals, and they were responsible.
Which is the problem with Ricky Williams. He's irresponsible. He's untrustworthy. And he's unprofessional.
Now, he's out of a job. Good riddance.
