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Title: Ricky Williams ready for football - finally Post by: DolFan619 on May 15, 2008, 02:26:16 am http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/longhorns/05/15/0515ricky.html
Ricky Williams ready for football - finally Horns' former Heisman winner says he's excited for chance with Parcells' new Dolphins regime By Randy Riggs AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Thursday, May 15, 2008 A couple of weeks ago, Ricky Williams declined an invitation from Cedric Benson to come to town and spend a Saturday on his boat on Lake Travis. Yeah, that Saturday and that boat. So you think Williams is glad he missed that particular day at the lake, which ended in Benson's much-publicized arrest? Think again. "I think if I had come down, things might have worked out a little bit differently," Williams said Wednesday. "I find I have a calming influence on people I'm around. "As a high-level athlete, it's just something that's ingrained in me. I always think that if I'm there, things would be different. I can't say how." One thing that can be said about Williams' professional football career is that it has certainly been different. Williams, who left the University of Texas as the 1998 Heisman Trophy winner and college football's all-time leading rusher, has done it his way — for better or worse. His NFL career has been interrupted four times by violations of the league's drug policy. He has spent time traveling the world, once living in a tent in Australia, and has studied Ayurveda, an ancient system of medicine from India. But now at age 30 — he turns 31 next Wednesday — Williams' focus finally seems to be solely on football. He is prepared to embark on the final year of his $730,000 contract (the league minimum for veterans) with the Miami Dolphins, whose new vice president of football operations, Bill Parcells, doesn't have a reputation of tolerance for players who do it their way as opposed to his. Williams appeared in great shape Wednesday when he made an appearance at a private golf tournament at Lakecliff Country Club near Spicewood, sponsored by Triton Financial. He'll interrupt his four-days-a-week training regimen again late next month when he returns to Austin for the June 26-29 Triton-sponsored Heisman Winners Association Weekend. Williams will be honored then to mark the 10th anniversary of his Heisman victory. Also being honored are 1958 winner Pete Dawkins of Army and 1983 winner Mike Rozier of Nebraska. Williams' latest — and likely last — NFL comeback began last year, when he was reinstated after his fourth suspension. In his first game back, Nov. 26 at Pittsburgh, his season ended on his sixth carry when he tore his right pectoral muscle. "It was difficult walking off that field, knowing that I came so far and it was over that fast," he said. "I wouldn't describe it as frustrating. For me, I took a lot of pride in making it back." Whether he would make it back with the Dolphins after his surgery, from which he says he has fully recovered, was a matter of considerable doubt — even to him. Williams knew the no-nonsense Parcells only by reputation. Parcells' first meeting with the Dolphins, who finished 1-15 last season, did nothing to dispel Williams' uncertainty. "(Parcells) was describing the kind of player he wanted," Williams said. "Honestly, I had doubts if I was going to be that type of player." To Williams' surprise, Parcells called him into his office after the team meeting and told him he was keeping him on the team to share rushing duties with Ronnie Brown. "I was expecting him not to talk to me at all," Williams said. "I was expecting to get a letter in the mail saying I was going to be a free agent. "I like (Parcells) more than I thought I would," added Williams, who had lunch with Parcells last week. "He's really different than I expected. It seems to me his greatest joy is developing true friendships with his players, being a mentor and trying to help people, not just in football but in life." Balancing life and football has been the great juggling act of Williams' life. With his two small children now sharing his Miami home, he talks fondly of doing parental things, such as attending his 6-year-old son's T-ball games. He says that he recently has become concerned about his legacy, something that didn't register with him for years despite constant lecturing from his agent, Leigh Steinberg, for 10 years. "I never understood what he was talking about," Williams said. "One day, it just clicked." Williams says his legacy "is still a work in progress. It's taken a lot of twists and turns." But now he says he's grown to accept his football legacy and the responsibility that comes with it. "I never wrestled if whether I liked football. I wrestled with the fact that I'm more than just a football player," he said. "One of the things I was always afraid of was that people would only see me as being a football player." Earl Campbell, Texas' 1977 Heisman winner, said he's glad to see Williams once again committed to football. Campbell said he told Williams there's nothing he can do about his past adventures and travails. "But just thank God you're alive today and you can do something about what's happening today," Campbell said he told Williams. "What's going to be important is what you do with Miami tomorrow. Go forward, not backward." Williams insists that is his plan. He credits it to one thing: "Time," he said. "You grow up. As you gain years, you gain wisdom and maturity." |