Tag: ricky williams

Categories
General Sports

Odds and Ends for Wed May 24 2006: Motivation

Thanks to The Hater Nation for pointing us to MotivationalBuck.com where you can create your own motivational poster spoofs. You know, those lame ass “Success” and “Teamwork” posters you find in offices of people who lack any actual skills. We couldn’t resist creating one. Send us any that you create and we’ll post the best ones.

In other news…

[Miami Herald]: Dolphins still cockblocking the Toronto Argonauts

[Raptor Blog]: Who will the Raptors take with the #1 pick?

[USA Today]: College Football fans: Paul Maguire is ready to ruin your Saturdays

[ESPN]: Duke womens lacrosse team will wear “innocent” bands to support the mens lacrosse team. No truth to the rumor they bought them from OJ Simpson.

Categories
Miami Dolphins

Could Ricky end up in the CFL

If, as widely suspected, Ricky Williams didn’t actually fail his drug test on purpose, then his best bet might be to join the Toronto Argonauts. (Around these parts, the Argos are most known for giving Rockey Ismail the biggest salary in the history of football to lure him away from the NFL in 1991.) The Argos have put Ricky on their “negotiation list” which basically means they call dibs on the running back.

The NFL substance abuse policy has a loophole that allows suspended players to play in another league so the road is wide open for Ricky to join the Argos. And since the CFL doesn’t have a policy at all, Ricky can enjoy all the fine BC Bud he wants with the $200,000 to $300,000 (Canadian!) he could make in the CFL.

If Ricky is sincere about going back to the Dolphins in 2007, he almost certainly has to accept the offer and play for the CFL. Ricky will be 30 years old when he’s eligible to play again and not many teams will be willing to take a chance on a player out of the league for 2 (non-consecutive) seasons and has questions about his desire to play the game. Canadian winters are a far cry from South Beach but he’d be a god in Toronto.

Links:

[Winnipeg Sun]: CFL might be Ricky Williams’ best option

Categories
Miami Dolphins

Ricky Williams loses drug test appeal

So Ricky has lost his appeal… and nobody really cares. Dolphins fans are sick of the soap opera, Nick Saban has Ronnie Brown, and the other players won’t have to answer any questions about Ricky after training camp. Hell, not even Ricky cares. In what is apparent to almost everyone, this is how Ricky wanted it. He got the $8.6M monkey off his back, played the full 2005 season and now can be free to smoke all the pot and practice all the yoga he wants.

In every interview since he left the team in 2004, it was evident that Ricky Williams didn’t like football and didn’t want to be a football player. Sure, he said all the right things about bring re-energized and enjoying his time with Nick Saban and the Dolphins, but in between the lines, you could read his desire to just get back to Australia or India or Marin County. He says he’ll be back in 2007 but the odds on that are about the same as Vince Young joining Mensa.

So this is the end of the Ricky Williams saga. A can’t miss athlete whose legacy will be more for pot smoking and posing on the cover of ESPN in a bridal dress with Mike Ditka than anything he did on the field. But it’s not a tale of wasted talent. Ricky just did what he wanted to do. Who are we to judge?

Links:
[Miami Herald]: Dolphins must run without Ricky
[Miami Herald]: Now Ricky has time to find himself
[Miami Sports Dudes]: Debating the effect of Ricky’s suspension