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
2 replies on “Could Ricky end up in the CFL”
I heard a little different.. — on the radio driving into work the other night. They said that it would basically be up to the Dolphins to decide if he can go or not, because he’s still under contract with them. I could be wrong, because they never mentioned the loophole thing.
You might be right — But the Dolphins would benefit too from Ricky going to the CFL. The loophole I mentioned is just with regard to the substance abuse policy.