Ricky "Shithead" Williams

[CrzyC1414779017]

Got this off another board (not CP) but thought some of you guys would enjoy it....

Article by Andy Cohen, Editor of Dolphin Digest

Ricky's Last Run An Ugly One

July 26, 2004

Every person has a right to quit their job, to change the direction of their lives in a moment’s notice. But not the way Ricky Williams did it. Not by turning his back on a team, on a season, on thousands of fans, just days before training camp began. Not by failing to give any indication it was coming, anything to afford the Miami Dolphins the opportunity to locate a replacement.

Ricky Williams shafted us all. The way he did it. The timing of it all. It was as selfish and classless a move by an athlete as I have seen in a long, long time.

Had he given the Dolphins a one week warning – just one week – they could have made a run at either Eddie George or Antowain Smith. Not that either player can touch Ricky's cleats, but at least they were out there with solid credentials and the freedom to negotiate with any team. Today they are gone, George with Dallas and Smith with Tennessee.

What was Ricky thinking? As decent a person that he seems to be, couldn't he understand what he was doing to an entire franchise? To his teammates? Shouldn't he have reflected back toward what this franchise did for him, what they gave up to get him, how they renegotiated his contract, how they placed so much confidence in his ability? What could he have been thinking?

Am I livid right now? You betcha. This wasn't a tackle he was breaking. This was the hearts of thousands of fans. He should have been able to see that, should have been able to feel it, should have been able to think about Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor and all his other teammates who sweat and bleed just like he does.

OK, you want to get out. If you can't tell us a month ago, then play out the season, call it your last and we'll salute you the way your performances warranted. But don't skip town with training camp here. You want to cleanse your soul by touring Asia? The planes leave in February as often they do in July. Show some class. Think about somebody other than the guy in the mirror.

So what now? What happens to an offense that centered so much around Ricky's abilities? Those who have cried that the Dolphins don't pass enough will probably get their wish. There is no way the Dolphins can find another Ricky Williams without a draft or free agency. So they’ll have to adjust. They'll have to pass more on first down, probably pass more on second and third down as well. They'll have to run by committee, maybe trying to get out of two or three players something close to what they got out of Ricky.

Clearly, the face of this offense will change. How about a quick passing game? Maybe a few no huddles? Maybe this will turn Chris Chambers into an All-Pro and put David Boston back in the Pro Bowl. Maybe this will give Randy McMichael the stage he covets.

So who's going to carry the ball? The depth chart says Travis Minor will get the first shot. Minor is a versatile back with some excellent gifts. But he’s never been The Man before and that could take some adjusting. Look for Leonard Henry to get a long look. The kid has another gear. Sammy Morris, a free agent signing from the Bills, can play fullback and tailback. The Dolphins liked what they saw of him this off season.

A trade is always a possibility. But it will be hard and the price will be steep. You can be sure that Rick Spielman and Dave Wannstedt are checking and re-checking every name on their big league-wide personnel board to see who's out there and who could be out there. Which teams have an overload of backs? Who might be willing to deal? Granted, it is among the worst possible times to look for a feature back. But the Dolphins do have an entire training camp and preseason to find him.

Spielman and Wannstedt are good, high quality football men. They never saw this coming. Who would have seen it coming? But they were back in the office on Sunday morning, plotting a strategy and using all their instincts to find some answers. Give them a chance to find those answers. They are as determined as two men can be.

I'm not going to insult anybody's intelligence by downplaying the significance of this loss. But as important as Ricky was to this team, he wasn't the entire team. There is still a defense filled with high-octane promise and some legitimate playmakers on offense. There is still Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas and Patrick Surtain and Chris Chambers and the list goes on. All is not lost. There are stories all over the sports world of teams that lose a superstar and band together. Last time I checked the Texas Rangers were doing awfully well without Alex Rodriquez.

This doesn't mean it will happen in South Florida. It just means they have a chance. Especially with the season still approaching its first breaths.

So Ricky is gone and we never had a chance to say goodbye. We never had a chance to thank him for that record-breaking season of 2002 and for the way he persevered behind a struggling offensive line a year later?

Thank him? Right now it's hard to feel anything but disdain. Ricky showed us some great moves in his two seasons here. But the last move he made – the one out of town – should be remembered as his worst.

We can only wonder whether someday – hopefully soon – he’ll look at himself and realize what he's done.

[Guest pod]

Most normal jobs ask for a 2-week notice of departure. He should have thought of that.

[Guest endymion]

Problem: people love you too much

Solution: piss them off

[Guest shannon_coolj.]

Most normal jobs ask for a 2-week notice of departure. He should have thought of that.

apparently, ricky is too cool to give a 2 weeks notice >

[Guest pod]

Probably. I'll tell him if I see him out this weekend.

[V. Barbarino]

he'll be back. He owes the fish 8 million bucks, and I doubt he has that kind of dough in the bank. When push comes to shove, if he has to pay up, and i'm sure big wayne will make him pay, rickey will be poor just like those jamicans he said were the happiest he's ever seen. His kids won't be able to go to the good schools and his h2 hummer is gone for a camry.

Cash rules every thing around me!!!

[Guest endymion]

You really think he was too dumb to take advantage of the fact that he's the one who selected the timing? He's smart and rich enough to have an attorney doing asset protection for him. He won't starve I promise.

[Guest durrtylexx]

he'll be back. He owes the fish 8 million bucks, and I doubt he has that kind of dough in the bank. When push comes to shove, if he has to pay up, and i'm sure big wayne will make him pay, rickey will be poor just like those jamicans he said were the happiest he's ever seen. His kids won't be able to go to the good schools and his h2 hummer is gone for a camry.

Cash rules every thing around me!!!

got a dollar bill y'all C.R.E.A.M

Run Ricky Run, I have no love for the man anymore.

[V. Barbarino]

You really think he was too dumb to take advantage of the fact that he's the one who selected the timing? He's smart and rich enough to have an attorney doing asset protection for him. He won't starve I promise.

wait! you think a guy who's first agent was a rapper who published how to make crack on his album incert is going to beat wayne hyzuniga? Do you know who wayne is? a contract is a contract is a contract. Rickey is not a smart guy. He actually had in his first contract a bonus for 3000 yars rushing. The all time record was 2200!!!!!!!! 800 yards over the record, lol... At 4.5 yards per carry, how many extra avg carries would he need to get an additional 800 yards?

pt being, rickey is going down, wayne will see to it. you can't set a precedent to let players walk away. plus rickey had little if any endorsements, and taxes are 40% plus agent fees.

[Guest endymion]

He and his bazillion dollars are on a different continent now. Good luck collecting on that default judgement.

[Guest pod]

Totally. He did the sensible thing and is in a place where no one is likely to go and serve him. Besides, it isn't like the Dolphins are hurting for money.

[Guest endymion]

He doesn't really have to get served to end up with judgements against him but those judgements are just bits of paper if he's smoking out and writing poems on an island in the south Pacific somewhere, financed by a big lump of cash in the Cayman Islands. An asset protection specialist doesn't have to get extremely creative to pull this one off.

Most useful thing the Dolphins can do at this point is to go "Gosh he was a mistake" and screen the next guy for enthusiasm a little better. If I could tell that he wasn't all that into it just from reading the newspaper and I'm not even a Dolphins fan then Dolphins management has no excuse.

[Guest Clarisa]

how much notice did he need to give if he failed two drug tests in separate occasions. If that would've happened to anyone not in the public eye they would've been fired inmmediately. :

[Guest endymion]

From a Herald article today:

''I didn't quit football because I failed a drug test,'' Williams said . ``I failed a drug test because I was ready to quit football.''

Not saying that's good or bad, just thought of this thread when I read it.

[Guest LdySphynx]

Omg did you gus hear what Ricky Williams said?

That he failed the Drug Test because he was ready to quit football !!!

WHAT A LOSER!

[V. Barbarino]

congrss passes laws a few years back so people can not hide their assets off shore. Doesn't mean Rickey can't pull it off, but more than likely he will have a judgement against him and he would not be able to do much in the terms of US commerce, buying a house etc. Could even get tossed in the slammer, and he has 3 kids who if given that money could cause another mess.

And not being able to come back to the US to face the judgement all while he's hiding it, would be a mess. Wayne could just make his life a mess for decades to come.

[V. Barbarino]

do the math

he makes 3.5 a season

5 years at 3.5 = 17.5 million.

- 40% taxes = 10.5

agent fees? lets say 1 million

9.5 million

what he spent

etc

THE MAN DOESN'T HAVE 8 MILLION DOLLARS!!!!!!

[Guest endymion]

A couple of those years were during the tech boom during rapid economic growth when his wealth planners could have possibly been doing a good job. Plus endorsements. You don't know how much he's worth. If his asset protection guy is doing his job then nobody does.

[V. Barbarino]

A couple of those years were during the tech boom during rapid economic growth when his wealth planners could have possibly been doing a good job. Plus endorsements. You don't know how much he's worth. If his asset protection guy is doing his job then nobody does.

he has very little for endorsements. Just paxil which he dumped after he said smoking pot was better. He did some video game stuff but thats about it, and just like in the tech boom, he's probably wiped out and too dumb to invest anyways.

[Guest trancelator]

When this is all said and done, everyone will look back and say,"Ricky retiring turned out to be the best thing that could have happened."

[Guest LeVeL]

When this is all said and done, everyone will look back and say,"Ricky retiring turned out to be the best thing that could have happened."

I am over this already but it sure hurts though, I feel like I have dumped by my girlfriend or something :'(....but just like those heartbreaks you get up again and you keep living your daily life. This will be a hard phase though, I see us losing to Teams that we wouldn't have lost too if Ricky would of been in the team. But atleast we are going to beat the Jets, that all I can say.

[Guest guyman1966]

When this is all said and done, everyone will look back and say,"Ricky retiring turned out to be the best thing that could have happened."

I am over this already but it sure hurts though, I feel like I have dumped by my girlfriend or something :'

So you should be used to it. lol

[Guest trancelator]

When this is all said and done, everyone will look back and say,"Ricky retiring turned out to be the best thing that could have happened."

I am over this already but it sure hurts though, I feel like I have dumped by my girlfriend or something :'(....but just like those heartbreaks you get up again and you keep living your daily life. This will be a hard phase though, I see us losing to Teams that we wouldn't have lost too if Ricky would of been in the team. But atleast we are going to beat the Jets, that all I can say.

Yeah, but you wouldn't want to date a girl who is thinking about someone else. Williams isn't into it anymore. Even if you could rewind the clock and not make this happen, his psyche just wasn't into the game. That being the case, I would want Minor to be the RB even if Williams was still playing for the Fins.

It is evident that Williams is mentally fragile. He's never had a hard life and he feels insecure about who he is. Say what you want about Kobe Bryant but that dude is tough. He endured national scrutiny, long days in court, plane rides from court to the game as well as a lot of mental anguish (granted, he put himself in that situation) and STILL performed at a high level.

Travis Minor has that type of toughness. Not only has he performed on bigger stages (national championship games) and been on better collegiate teams than Williams (FSU over Texas), but he has also endured hardship. If I remember correctly, his father was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident last year. A motorcycle that Minor gave to his father. If anyone doesn't think Minor is hungry, they are crazy. He has a lot to prove and I'm sure he is licking his chops waiting for this opportunity. In sports, you always want the guy that is hungrier. This is going to bring the Fins closer. The fans always want the big names to come to Miami but that is obviously not the formula! Chemistry is...just look at New England.

Don't be surprised if Minor does very well. His 4.5 yards per carry average should not be overlooked. Besides, Ricky never was champion at any level (or even close).

[Guest JMT]

he is still that same loon from new orleans who refused to take off his helmet with the dark visor during post game interviews because he was afraid of people.

[Guest endymion]

Correct. Kind of a dumb option to depend on.