Ricky Williams retires?
SoFLPhillyFan
Posts: 3,931 ✭✭
in Sports Talk
Not such a shocker when you look at his past behavior, but after only five years and a successful career you wonder where his head is.
Red Zone article
Miami Herald
Sorry Aknot.
Keith
Red Zone article
Miami Herald
Sorry Aknot.
Keith
0
Comments
I always thought he was a strange cat but WTF?
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It just sounds to me that Williams has a definite drug problem and he doesn't want to face it, or future penalties, suspensions, fines, etc. from the NFL, so he's giving up.
To me, it's just a total waste
Steve
These players aren't just gladiators. They want to enjoy life too. Many other stars have walked away from careers just as successful. I think he did the right thing for him.
As to his cards, I'm thrilled. I never collected his stuff even though he's a hometown hero and a great player. I will now. Ricky Williams set registry here I come.
2005 Origins Old Judge Brown #/20 and Black 1/1s, 2000 Ultimate Victory Gold #/25
2004 UD Legends Bake McBride autos & parallels, and 1974 Topps #601 PSA 9
Rare Grady Sizemore parallels, printing plates, autographs
Nothing on ebay
Chad
Williams cards will quickly be as valuable as Enron stock, as he is now nothing more than a flash-in-the-pan player. He doesn't hold any big records, he never won anything, and he is now a complete disgrace to the sport.
How dare this human being live how he wants? Who does he think he is?
GO MARLINS! Home of the best fans in baseball!!
PS, George wasn't going to Miami, anyway, once Parcells took his call.
2005 Origins Old Judge Brown #/20 and Black 1/1s, 2000 Ultimate Victory Gold #/25
2004 UD Legends Bake McBride autos & parallels, and 1974 Topps #601 PSA 9
Rare Grady Sizemore parallels, printing plates, autographs
Nothing on ebay
NFL star Williams heeds heart, not wishes of crowd
BY DAN LE BATARD
Ricky Williams doesn't know anything at all about the frenzy he has created in South Florida. What his wounded coach said Sunday? How his stunned teammates feel? The arguments all over this football-crazed city about whether his sudden retirement at 27 was extraordinary nobility or selfish stupidity? He hasn't so much as checked his answering machine.
''Why should I?'' he said late Sunday night by cellphone from Asia. ``Does it matter? I don't care. It doesn't have anything to do with me anymore. No one can reach me, and that's how I want it. For what? For people to put more of their [excrement] on me? I'm OK without it, thanks. Why do people have to be so judgmental about this? I'm going in search of the truth. Everything I'm doing in my life now is about finding the truth. Football isn't part of the truth for me anymore.''
He kept getting so much resistance at every turn.
Williams said he would tell people he was thinking about retiring, and they would try to dissuade him or call him an idiot or just start yelling at him. His agents, his handlers, his coaches and too many people with vested interests who Williams thought were his friends kept trying to pull Williams back, but all they did in the end was push him away -- all the way to another country, all the way out of football.
''They made me quit that much faster,'' Williams said. 'I don't respond to being told I shouldn't. It makes me want to do those things more. I don't believe in `shouldn't.' You should make a list and try some of the things you haven't just because other people think you shouldn't. You'll feel better, freer. Everybody was being so selfish, thinking that I shouldn't retire for their reasons instead of really listening to mine. I kept saying I'd be happier without football, but they didn't seem to hear that part. I'm convinced about this. I'm not coming back.''
NO CONFUSION
You think he sounds confused? No, no, no. He has never been quite so clear. All he ever dreamed about as a kid was being a college football player. That was the destination, not the starting point, and he rushed for more yards in college than any running back ever. He played pro football after that only because he was confused and young and lonely and depressed and unsure of who he was or what he wanted to be, and everyone else made it seem like it would be the greatest thing in the world, being a pro football player, even if the spotlight and the fame were never for him. He's still not sure of what he wants to be, but he's more sure than ever what he doesn't want to be -- a football player.
He always found that restricting, that people saw the athlete and nothing more. He never understood why fans would just wordlessly thrust papers in front of him to autograph instead of asking him questions beyond football and getting to know him. He hated giving fans autographs, loved giving them good conversation.
For months, ever since returning from a monthlong solo sojourn across Australia, Williams figured he would retire at the end of the upcoming Dolphins season. One more year, he kept saying to himself, for my teammates and only for them. He even envisioned himself quitting right after winning the MVP trophy for the Dolphins in a triumphant Super Bowl.
BECAME CONVINCED
But the more people Williams told about his desire to quit, the more disappointed he became in their reactions, and the more convinced he became that he couldn't take those Sunday beatings and wake up in pain for others anymore. All the ''yes people'' in his life who always laughed a little too hard at his jokes suddenly became ''no people'' for the first time, more interested in preserving their own place in his flashbulb-filled universe than understanding why he didn't want to be at the center of it anymore.
Until the other day. He went back to those days when football was the most fun for him, back before money and professional responsibilities got in the way of what was once just play. He informed his former University of Texas coach, Mack Brown, that he was thinking about retiring right away, and Brown's reaction was immediate and freeing. ''Good for you,'' Brown said without hesitation. ``Congratulations.''
And Williams felt like a kid being let out into the playground at recess.
And then he was gone.
''No regrets,'' Williams said Sunday. ``This feels right.''
But we feel wronged.
He owed us more, didn't he?
Isn't that the hostile feeling that has engulfed South Florida sports today?
That Williams owed his fans, the paying public, this city and his teammates more accountability and more responsibility?
So the name-calling has commenced -- Loser! Quitter! Traitor! Druggy! -- because Williams has dared to think and live for himself, and this decision becomes not unlike the man himself:
Hard to understand, yes, but forcing you to think.
It's his life, not yours, no matter how often we live vicariously through our athletes and their fun and games, but our reaction has been a little too angry, a little too loud and a lot too betrayed. Is he the one being selfish here or are we? He says he's happy. Isn't that enough? We should all be so lucky. Or is he responsible also for making us happy, too?
If a man in any other line of work gets rich, gets happy and retires from a job he no longer enjoys, we either salute him for his good fortune or envy him for removing shackles we can't. There are many people booing Williams right now who would leap at the opportunity to quit their jobs with millions at 27 to go roam. But an athlete does it in his prime, wrecking our team's season, and we remove his right to run his own life because his workplace is our play place, our escape.
ONE-SIDED VIEWS
You say he owed us more because we embraced him? No, we didn't. We embraced what he did, which isn't the same thing at all. We never knew him. We just like how we felt when what we knew of him was in the end zone.
What about his word? What about that contract he signed? That contract is counterfeit. NFL money isn't guaranteed. Teams can rip up those contracts whenever they like and make a player unemployed just like that, from one minute to the next. It happens all the time in this sport, guys with expensive contracts getting cut. Awfully convenient to demand loyalty from only one party in a marriage.
The name-calling and hatred in South Florida?
''I'm prepared for that,'' Williams said. ``It'll be fine.''
Leaving all that money on the table?
''I've been poor before,'' he said.
It's interesting, the way his workouts have been in the offseason, completely without the structure he abhors. He is in the best shape of his life, down to 220 pounds, and he did this by simply running and running and running every day until he didn't feel like running anymore. It was never 40 minutes or 60 minutes or 120 minutes. He would just run until his body and heart told him to quit.
And that's where we are today.
Ricky Williams' heart has told him to stop running.
GO MARLINS! Home of the best fans in baseball!!
YES he "owes" us that much. You know the $60 Jerseys, Collectibles, his charitable org, seems all like a farce.
I would say the same to the Owners etc.
Yes Im a Dolphisn fan first. So to loose him hurts yet to loose him in a way that seems that he waited til the "last minute" to make a decision he knew about for a bit (hmmm No one else speaks of knowing about his retirement btw in the articles Ive read cept maybe 1 other) is pretty "crappy" be you a player, coach, manager etc.
Im all for "finding yourself" but not when it is at the expense of others that are "relying" on you, "at the last minute".
GO MARLINS! Home of the best fans in baseball!!
<< <i>Dolfans usually save their crying for when the team falls apart in December. Nice to see you're in midseason form!
Well this is new for us..... I mean he is not in jail, not caught drunk driving, nor beating the snot out of his pregnant GF/wife.
I mean this hit us hard. The other stuff we have come to know and love from current and former Dolphins.
That and not knowing how to tackle properly.
GO MARLINS! Home of the best fans in baseball!!
He even envisioned himself quitting right after winning the MVP trophy for the Dolphins in a triumphant Super Bowl.
For someone who claims to be so selfless and searching only for the truth, he seems to have still wanted some personal glory. He also mentions that everyone asked about football or just wanted his autograph and never asked about him.
I can see that he is young and trying to find himself, I'll give him that. I also know that someone who will not give up his poison of choice is very selfish, and I see some of that happening here.
A sad story for him and the fans. Hope it all works out the best for everyone.
<< <i>Hope it all works out the best for everyone. >>
Yeah when the Dolphins win the Superbowl, Travis Minor gets the MVP and "craps" on Jersey #34 (that he gave up to Williams) in the end Zone.
Bitter.....me?....nahh
Personally, I admire the guy to sac up like he did...he said hey I'm not happy, I'm out of here. I have more money than I'll ever need, I need to get my head straight, and I don't want to hobble around the rest of my life from the hundreds of car wrecks I go through each year. Anyone else wish they could retire at 27, travel the world, and never have to worry about it? I know I wish I could.
And for those that are condemning his alleged marijuana smoking, and saying he should put in jail with child molesters and murderers, I really, really hope you were being sarcastic
And like someone else posted, this isn't the first time someone has retired at a young age. I think the people most upset with this are those who feel he 'owes' us to run himself into the ground...that he needs to play until WE say he can go. It's unfortunate, but I think a lot (I mean A LOT) of people are ganging up on him because he's an easy target; because of his past behavior that is a bit unbalanced.
My prayers go out to him in hopes he gets the healing (that is so obvious) he needs.
He's a head case, that's for sure. Sucks for the Dolphins, sucks for their fans, sucks for fantasy football.
Robert Smith did the same thing to us a few years back too. We got lucky with Bennett. Hopefully you guys can find something this year to get you through. I doubt it will be Minor, though he's good between the tackles and he catches well. Maybe the draft will be good to you next year. I would be one bummed out Fish fan right about now. What great timing Ricky has...BUM.
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The only real issue with Ricky's departure is timing. One Dolphin player called it a "selfish move". He was right. At least retire at the end of a season, so the team doesn't build its hopes around you next year, and give them time to draft or trade for your replacement. It's just like a big CEO leaving a company with no notice...very unprofessional move.
It's funny, though, that people in this country continue to look down their noses at a natural occuring herb like marijunana because it's illegal here, but deem smoking completely acceptable. No one has ever died from smoking marijuana, but countless millions have died of smoking tobacco. Ironic, no?
<< <i>No one has ever died from smoking marijuana, but countless millions have died of smoking tobacco. >>
that is a rediculous
and completely untrue statement.
smoking ANYTHING will damage your lungs,
effect your health, and kill you in the long run.
<< <i>I'm from Detroit, so I can relate to a star running back walking away while they were still capable of playing several more good years. But, when Sanders retired, he timed it a lot better than Williams. Williams, regardless of his reasons for retiring, is a complete bum in my opinion. He hung his team and teammates out right before the training camp, right after George was off the market, and now the Dolphins are completely screwed. Plus, they traded a bunch of top picks to get him two seasons ago.
Williams cards will quickly be as valuable as Enron stock, as he is now nothing more than a flash-in-the-pan player. He doesn't hold any big records, he never won anything, and he is now a complete disgrace to the sport. >>
Doesn't compare Barry Sanders was definitely the worst offender of the 2. He couldnt even come clean his self, had to have his daddy do all his talking for him. He also waited til it was to late for detroit to get any help. He left his fans high and dry, ricky was only with the dolphins for 2 yrs. Much less of a deal than barry.
<< <i>I think people who smoke up should be thrown in jail and rot with the child molesters and murderers.
How dare this human being live how he wants? Who does he think he is? >>
lol, I think he should smoke what he wants.
Contract clause may force Williams to return $8M
The sentence that hit me was,
<< <i>The Dolphins said they've made no decision about whether to pursue the matter. Williams' contract expires in 2006. >>
Maybe this is just a position move to give Ricky a false sense of security, but they better come after his ass and get that 8M back.
Brian
<< <i>
<< <i>I think people who smoke up should be thrown in jail and rot with the child molesters and murderers.
How dare this human being live how he wants? Who does he think he is? >>
lol, I think he should smoke what he wants. >>
potheads have no business in society.
<< <i>By now probably most everyone is sick of hearing this stuff, but after reading a new article, I decided to add another log to the fire.
Contract clause may force Williams to return $8M
The sentence that hit me was,
<< <i>The Dolphins said they've made no decision about whether to pursue the matter. Williams' contract expires in 2006. >>
Maybe this is just a position move to give Ricky a false sense of security, but they better come after his ass and get that 8M back.
Brian >>
Didn't they try this same ploy on Barry Sanders when he retired? I thought they wanted like 2.5 mil back from his signing bonus or something...Anyone remember that? I think the Lions retained his rights even after he retired too, so even if Ricky did decide to come back in a month/year/2 years....his rights would still be held by the Fish. I think...
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"While the appeal was pending, Williams said, he continued smoking marijuana during a trip to Europe and failed a third test upon his return. "
Williams Admits to 3rd failed drug test
<< <i>
Robert Smith did the same thing to us a few years back too. We got lucky with Bennett. >>
Wrong. Please don't compare Robert Smith to Ricky Williams. Smith was a class act. He retired at the end of the season, not just prior to training camp. He gave the Vikings plenty of time to find a replacement and he never failed a drug test.
Unlike Williams, Smith had an injury plagued, surgery filled career and in addition to wanting to pursue other interests, wanted to walk without a limp when he turned 40.
Williams just wants to smoke dope without being hassled. What a waste.
HOF Quarterbacks Football
Ricky's retirement is an act of cowardice, not courage
EDWIN POPE Miami Herald
I am clearly not a chemist, and therefore disqualify myself from comment on that aspect of the Ricky Williams case. But it doesn't take special insight to recognize a quitter, and Williams has identified himself beyond question as the worst quitter in the Dolphins' third-of-a-century history.
Quitter. Disloyalist. Betrayer.
True, who among us would not at some point yearn to kick back under the frangipani trees and partake of something to soothe a nerve? Picture the typical truck driver making a summer's way across Miami's melting streets and imagining, That's it! I'll retire and join a concert tour and check out all the joints!
But quitting is quitting, and running out on people who are counting on you is beyond disloyal. It is betrayal, even when it involves so relatively meaningless a matter as football.
One of the risks in taking up the subject of Ricky Williams is talking it to death. And it is too easy to get off on some libertarian tangent involving life and liberty and the pursuit of individual happiness, or the venality of professional sports so based upon and debased by money.
But some of the discussion surrounding Ricky the Quitter is so ludicrous, it is impossible to address it seriously.
• Agent Leigh Steinberg calls Williams ''an American original'' in excusing Williams for dumping his employers and co-employees.
Excuse me?
Nothing is original about irresponsibility or immaturity. People could bring up Joe Don Looney, the notoriously aptly-named halfback of the 1960s who locked himself in his Giants training camp dorm room and responded to notes telling him he was fined such-and-such by pushing them right back out under the same door.
Of course, that wouldn't be fair. Looney never produced anything.
Of course, too, it's ridiculous to mention fairness in this instance. What Williams has done is so sorry, even in pro sports, it defies any definition of fairness.
• ''I'm finally free,'' Williams said after collecting millions upon millions of dollars for five years' work.
At age 27.
And never bothered to tell the other Dolphins he was deserting them when they needed him most, when he was their only truly-proven major offensive weapon.
You don't even have a quarterback, then your running back takes off without so much as a farewell wave.
• Williams' departure is being compared with the walkaways of Jim Brown and Barry Sanders.
Come on.
Brown led the NFL in rushing eight times and went to the Pro Bowl nine times. Sanders went to 10 Pro Bowls. He stuck the Detroit Lions at the last minute, but he did his time.
Williams in there with Brown and Sanders?
Any of at least five backs today -- Jamal Lewis, LaDainian Tomlinson, Priest Holmes, Clinton Portis and Stephen Davis -- are as good as or better than Williams.
Now, back to the inarguables. Sure, some of this stuff is plowed ground. But maybe some of it needs to be sorted out again while development tumbles on top of development, none, to be exact, to Williams' credit.
''Incredible'' is the most overused and abused word in our sports vocabulary. This is one time it applies, as in ``incredibly selfish.''
Williams said, ''Everybody was being so selfish, thinking I shouldn't retire for their reasons without really listening to mine.'' He added, more than once for emphasis, ``I'm not coming back.''
Good.
A guy like this might come back and then quit right before a kickoff.
The word ''cowardice'' has been applied to Williams, but that's off the mark for any NFL runner.
This much is certain, though: Williams has extended an unspoken screw-you to every teammate who ever busted a gut for him.
And all along we thought that website Run-Ricky-Run.com was about running toward something
How someone can respect his decision is not thinking clearly. He made his money in a team sport and then flucks his team over.
I would probably get killed but would love the chance to punch him smack in the face just once. Actually I could probably punch him, drop a rolled cigarette, kick him a few times and get away before he realized it was just tobacco.