RICKY WILLIAMS ...MORE TROUBLE

[Dphins4me]

I hate to say "I told you so..."

Long Live Ronnie Brown.

I'd love to see what you Ricky apologists have to say now.  All you people that said "he'll never do it again," "he's a changed man," and who bashed me for continuing to hate this jackoff, and for not welcoming him back for fear that he'd jump ship again....

Rumor has it he was simply out of the country.   What will you say if it turns out to be a simple misunderstanding?

Also did you have to use GD?

[Brian Fein]

Rumor has it he was simply out of the country. What will you say if it turns out to be a simple misunderstanding?

Also did you have to use GD?

My sincere apologies.  I didn't mean to be offensive.

I hate Ricky.  He's screwed us over too many times.  I was aggrivated when I heard this. 

But I wonder how many of you will take him back yet again if he tries to return a third time?

[Dphins4me]

I hate Ricky.  He's screwed us over too many times.  I was aggrivated when I heard this. 

But I wonder how many of you will take him back yet again if he tries to return a third time?

From PFT.


POSTED 8:51 a.m. EST; UPDATED 9:19 a.m. EST, February 20, 2006

 

RICKY VIOLATION WAS A MISSED TEST


A league source tells us that Dolphins running back Ricky Williams violated the NFL substance abuse policy not through a positive test but by failing to report for a scheduled test.


Players who are subject to the drug program face regular requirements to submit to testing.  Once notified of the obligation to provide a sample of kidney Kool Aid, the player has a specific time period within which to do so.  (Per the drug policy, the player has four hours from the time of the scheduled test to produce an Italian astronaut.)


As a participant in Stage Three of the program, Williams is subject to up to 10 unannounced tests per month. 

 
Meanwhile, The Miami Herald has revised its story regarding the failed test to leave the door open for the possibility that it was, indeed, a failure to show up for the test.


The difference is technical.  Either action is a violation of the substance abuse policy, and a violation (for Williams) most likely will trigger a minimum suspension of one year.  During the suspension, he still will be expected to submit to testing and other aspects of his treatment plan. 

[Brian Fein]

In addition - to clarify -

The reports are Ricky was in India thus missing his drug test.  In the NFL, a missed test = a positive result.

News flash - you know you have to be tested, take the damn test.  Missing a test because you're taking Yoga classes in India is no excuse, and doesn't garner any slack in my book.  You've been tested ten times a month for the past year, why do you think its ok to miss it now?

[JVides]

Here's where I fall in on this subject:  If it's a missed test, and he was in India when he was supposed to take the test, and didn't want to fly the 20 hours every few days to take the test, can you blame him?  It's the off-season, and he's doing his thing, studying whatever it is he wants to study, and the NFL tells him he needs to lose 2 out of every 3 days (10 tests per month equals one every 3 days, and 20 hours travel from India to the U.S. and back adds up to nearly two days).  I'd have a problem with this if I were Ricky Williams.  If the scenario I described is the issue, I think Williams has a good case on his hands.  Is he supposed to lose the freedom to travel and study because he failed drug tests in the past?  I'll wait on the facts before passing judgment.

Before you all jump on me as a Williams apologist:  I don't care one way or another if Williams is on the team next year.  From a football perspective, I viewed him as a luxury the team could afford to have because Ronnie Brown is on the roster.  This news is not devastating to the team, as, relistically, the Dolphins could not have traded him for more than a mid-round pick, and Williams had become a complementary piece to the team, not its focal point.  His loss will only hurt in the sense that on days when Ronnie Brown is either hurt or not getting it done, there will be no Ricky to turn to.

[Dphins4me]

In addition - to clarify -

The reports are Ricky was in India thus missing his drug test.  In the NFL, a missed test = a positive result.

News flash - you know you have to be tested, take the damn test.  Missing a test because you're taking Yoga classes in India is no excuse, and doesn't garner any slack in my book.  You've been tested ten times a month for the past year, why do you think its ok to miss it now?

If RW was in India, then I wonder how players are done when they want to travel in the offseason?   

I know the NFL has its policies, but players should be able to travel.

[Phishfan]

With the most recent update to the story I have to agree with Jvides. I am curious how much notice they give before the test. It can't be much notice given the fact that they don;t want to provide a warning. If Ricky was out of the country and missed a test, how long has he been gone, when was he informed about the test, Would the NFL allow an Indian testing facility to administer the test?

There seems to be a lot of questions here.

[Dphins4me]

Here's where I fall in on this subject:  If it's a missed test, and he was in India when he was supposed to take the test, and didn't want to fly the 20 hours every few days to take the test, can you blame him?  It's the off-season, and he's doing his thing, studying whatever it is he wants to study, and the NFL tells him he needs to lose 2 out of every 3 days (10 tests per month equals one every 3 days, and 20 hours travel from India to the US and back adds up to nearly two days).  I'd have a problem with this if I were Ricky Williams.  If the scenario I described is the issue, I think Williams has a good case on his hands.  Is he supposed to lose the freedom to travel and study because he failed drug tests in the past?  I'll wait on the facts before passing judgment.

  I will not pass judgment, but the NFL only gives players 4 hours to submit to a test once they have been notified.    I agree that if a player wants to travel out of the country during the offseason, then he should be able too.  I hope the NFL has a procedure on this.

Before you all jump on me as a Williams apologist:  I don't care one way or another if Williams is on the team next year.  From a football perspective, I viewed him as a luxury the team could afford to have because Ronnie Brown is on the roster.  This news is not devastating to the team, as, relistically, the Dolphins could not have traded him for more than a mid-round pick, and Williams had become a complementary piece to the team, not its focal point.  His loss will only hurt in the sense that on days when Ronnie Brown is either hurt or not getting it done, there will be no Ricky to turn to.

Miami probably could have gotten more from a team like Denver prior to this.  However, even if this turns out to be nothing more than a misunderstanding it still brings it to the front of other teams minds that might have been interested in him.

[Dphins4me]

With the most recent update to the story I have to agree with Jvides. I am curious how much notice they give before the test. It can't be much notice given the fact that they don;t want to provide a warning. If Ricky was out of the country and missed a test, how long has he been gone, when was he informed about the test, Would the NFL allow an Indian testing facility to administer the test?

There seems to be a lot of questions here.

4 hours to submit, & I guessing no way in h-e double would the NFL allow someone else to do the testing.

The NFL expects players to drop whatever they are doing & run to get tested.  4 hours is pitiful.   If you have been using then it would remain in your system for 24 hours.      A day should be plenty of time for a player to finish whatever he is doing & find his way to get tested.

Frankly I thought they simply showed up at your door with a sample bottle.

[Dolphin-UK]

CONSPIRACY THEORY ALERT 

OK So i'm looking ot trade for Williams,  but his value to a team is unsure, given his past, and looking at what he has just done this season.  There's a sure fire way to ascertain his value, make it zero by starting rumours of failed drugs tests, knowing full well the NFL can't comment on such things as it violates their policy.

Less conspiracy theory like, is the idea that someone just decided to start a rumour because they knew it would upset Williams, Saban, the dolphins, everything.

Admittedly there's a lot of people saying he's failed something, either drug test or failure to show for one, but i'd rather wait for an official announcement before accusing Ricky of something which is currently only unconfirmed rumour

[JVides]

Frankly I thought they simply showed up at your door with a sample bottle

I did, too.  It's because I'm confused as to what happened and what should've happened that I can't pass judgment just yet.

[jtex316]

Hey man, if you play in the NFL, you know the rules.  No excuse.  He gets paid a lot of money (even the league minimum is a boat load of cash).  He knew of the rules, regardless of how unfair it is or how little time you have to report to your off-season drug test.  You sign a contract = you abide by that contract, otherwise, find another career.  Simple as that.

Ricky didn't show up to his drug test.  That = violation of drug-policy, which is his 4th offense, which in turn = 1-year automatic suspension, which makes him = worthless.

Goodbye Ricky.  Have a nice life.  Those cows in india don't shit dollars, so you're gonna have a hell of a time paying $8.6 M. 

[jtex316]

Here's where I fall in on this subject:  If it's a missed test, and he was in India when he was supposed to take the test, and didn't want to fly the 20 hours every few days to take the test, can you blame him?  It's the off-season, and he's doing his thing, studying whatever it is he wants to study, and the NFL tells him he needs to lose 2 out of every 3 days (10 tests per month equals one every 3 days, and 20 hours travel from India to the U.S. and back adds up to nearly two days).  I'd have a problem with this if I were Ricky Williams.

Then, if you were Ricky Williams, you should quit the NFL.  That little piece of paper called a contract that you signed couldn't give two shits whether you have a problem with it, or not.  If you HAD a problem with it, you should have contacted your agent, and asked him if he could negotiate a little reworking of the contract to allow you your off-season free time without interruption for silly things like drug tests - something that would NEEEEEEEEVER be a problem for you anyways.

I severly doubt that the NFL gives their players a total of 4 hours to submit a drug test / attend a drug test.  They probably did for Ricky, because he's a repeat offender, but not for regular NFL players.  And i'm sure he could have called the NFL and said "hey guys, I'm in India, but i'll hop on the first plane outta here and come do the drug test as soon as I land".  I'm guessing he didn't, and just ignored the call / e-mail / fax.  That's responsible.

[Dave Gray]

I don't think Ricky will have to pay back the 8 Mil anymore.  The first time he quit -- so the judgement for him to pay back the money was based on his unwillingness to work.  This is a totally different case.

[JVides]

Hey man, if you play in the NFL, you know the rules.  No excuse.  He gets paid a lot of money (even the league minimum is a boat load of cash).  He knew of the rules, regardless of how unfair it is or how little time you have to report to your off-season drug test.  You sign a contract = you abide by that contract, otherwise, find another career.  Simple as that.

Jtex, I don't know what you do for a living, but I know you post at all hours of the day, which means you must post while you're at work.  Unless you own your own business, you're probably in violation of your company's policy regarding personal use of its computers.  I sincerely doubt that if you got fired over this, you'd feel it was justified, that you knew the rules, no excuses, blah blah blah.  You seem almost singularly unable to view anything from another person's perspective.