Ricky Williams: [running] I had run for 5 years, 2 months, 14 days, and 16 hours. [he stops and turns around]
Dan Le Betard: Quiet, quiet! He's gonna say something!
Ricky Williams: [pause] I'm pretty tired... I think I'll go home now.
And that was it. Ricky doesn't feel like playing anymore. Easy for him to say. Tough for us to absorb.
This is some of the most conflicted feelings I have ever felt for a sports story. My first reaction to reading Le Betard's article was denial. "Damn it, someone hacked in and posted a fake story on the Herald page", I think. It's happened before. Just earlier this year, hacker's planted a fake Alex Rodriguez Red Sox jersey on the MLB.com website hoping the rumored trade would be finalized. CNN.com has mistakenly placed celebrity obituaries prematurely before their passing. Moments later, the 1AM Sportscenter confirmed the reality of the situation: Ricky Williams retires at the age of 27. I check ESPN.com, CNNSI.com, and it's listed there as well. My second thought was confusion. "This is the most bizarre story I've ever read," I thought. I sit and ponder the mysterious end to the NFL career of Ricky Williams I had just read. My third reaction was pure disappointment. My Dolphins' season is over before it started.
My emotions begin to build up. One part of me is angry, annoyed, stunned, and disappointed. He has just hurt the Dolphins on the field, mentally, and emotionally in a way that's going to be difficult to heal with the season shortly ahead. This is the NFL, a league where he's going to piss off thousands of fantasy owners, Dolphins fans, and all around football fans who enjoyed his bullish, fierce, and gutsy style of play when he reaches a decision of this magnitude. But when the tale of this man is really broken down, another part of me feels guilty about blaming a man for ignoring his critics and conventional wisdom to fulfill his own desires. Maybe I'm the one, along with many NFL fans and the Dolphins organization, that is selfish. Maybe we look at this game as what we want it to be without actually thinking of the people involved. The guy isn't happy with the career he chose and wants to look somewhere else. He wants to travel the world, go back to school, embrace a degree in psychology. What's the big deal? People switch majors in college all the time, people quit mediocre jobs and try to achieve a foolish dream of theirs. As Le Betard stated in his article, "People care about the Dolphins a lot more than they care about him, so he'll become a traitor or worse in South Florida, just like that. That's another reason Williams disdains fame: Real love isn't this fickle."
Now, he's cut his hair, quit his job, and intends to travel the world and be with his family. Yes, Ricky's having a mid-life crisis at the age of 27. "This is how Williams has always floated through life, going wherever the wind guided him, so he never really fit within the drill-sergeant rigidity of football with all its rules, regimen and stopwatches.", said Miami Herald writer Dan Le Betard in his column regarding Williams departure.
I should point out that it shouldn't be stated that Ricky has "retired", because to retire, a person must give years of service to something until they've reached their maximum potential and can't achieve any higher success. Ricky hasn't "retired", he's quit. Ricky has quit on his teammates, his fans, and himself, for better of for worse the NFL and Ricky won't know for a while, but he certainly hasn't retired. He's given up on something not because he wasn't good at it or because he was incapable of performing at his peak anymore, but simply because he didn't want to do it.
Ricky is no stranger to controversy. He's injury-prone, he wears his helmet during interviews, he's a loner, he's tested positive for marijuana twice, he's worn a wedding dress on a magazine cover. Yet, we're still shaken by him retiring in his prime. Williams has been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder and depression, and has displayed symptoms of these mental illnesses throughout his short career. Maybe it isn't so much what Ricky did (it's actually somewhat characteristic of the man himself) but it's more of when and why. His decision comes a week before the start of training camp, all because he's lost his passion. Miami's no stranger to surprising departures. The Dolphins have already seen Dan Marino pass up a front office job just 22 days in. The Heat had to deal with Pat Riley quitting just before the Heat were set to begin their season in 2003, but as Greg Cote of the Miami Herald writes, this is much different. "Pat Riley resigned as Heat coach on the eve of last NBA season, and that was sudden, and shocking, but different. The Heat had a coach ready to step in. And coaches don't matter as much as star players.", he said in an article on Sunday, July 25th.
The most annoying aspect of this story is that it's difficult to call Williams a traitor and fault the man for changing his direction in life. Sure, the NFL is one of the biggest institutions in the world and is taken extremely seriously by millions, but Ricky never took life seriously and couldn't care less what others think. So as much as you want to hate Williams for backstabbing his team, league, and fans the way he did, he technically hasn't done anything wrong. It just makes the individual feel selfish and greedy that we want someone to live their life the way we desire him to live it. So many athletes in the spotlight react to so many other factors, yet Ricky only listens to his heart and himself. You wanna hate what he did and how it affects you, but then you realize how self-indulgent that is of your own dreams for your team. This isn't like an athlete battling a drug or violence issue, such as athletes like Chris Washburn and Rae Carruth who exited prematurely. In these cases, people tend to think that "it serves him right, the drug-using or violent moron". But Ricky is simply chasing another dream. In any other profession, it's not a major concern, but when you're in the spotlight and living in the public eye, sadly, you have to deal with the court of public opinion. Ricky is backing away from this conventional theory and being an individual. You gotta loathe him as a fan, but respect him as a person. "I can't remember ever being this happy", Williams has said. Deep down inside, it's extremely difficult to argue that.
Ricky might be back. Who knows. I haven't been able to figure out this guy during his career, from his Heisman Trophy up until his tenure with the Dolphins, nor has any coach, scout, teammate, or other fan truly been able to. I can't figure out why he acts the way he does. I can't figure out where his logic and decisions come from. He might change his mind. He might be in training camp next week. He might be back next season. He might make a comeback a few years down the road. He might fade off into obscurity just like Robert Smith, Barry Sanders and the rest of 'em. Who knows, it's impossible to decipher the source of Ricky's beliefs. If he does decide to make a comeback, I wouldn't be shocked. If he stays retired, I won't be surprised either. There are no guarantees with Ricky Williams, and the Dolphins know that all too well right now.
As far as from the Dolphins standpoint, there is no Plan B. This isn't like Trent Green getting hurt and a young star named Kurt Warner emerging, or the Patriots rallying around Tom Brady to a title, no, I've seen Travis Minor play. Travis Minor can't control an offense. And Ricky's soul search came to a close "conveniently" one week before the start of camp, leaving no time for the Dolphins to draft, trade for, or sign a replacement. In cases such as with Barry Sanders and Robert Smith, their teams, as saddened and stunned by their sudden exits as they were, had time to recover and actually improved. The Lions went 8-8 and made the playoffs in 1999 as opposed to 5-11 with Sanders in 1998. The Vikings were shocked by Robert Smith's decision to pursue a medical career in 2000, but were able to draft Michael Bennett as a replacement, whose gone on to be a 1,000 yard rusher. The Dolphins are left searching for answers and wallowing around in their own misery and confusion.
NFL.com analyst Pat Kirwan talked to Dolphins GM Rick Spielman Sunday, who summed up the situation perfectly. Spielman said they will treat this like a major injury, meaning that they realize he won't be there, but at some point there is the chance he will come back. Some are considering the possibility that it may have an adverse effect, and that maybe it will force the Dolphins to retool their offense for the better by opening up the passing game to Boston, Chambers, and McMichael. Maybe Ricky's absence will provide an inspiration, a spark, a motivation to overcome this hurdle and play better. Maybe it'll be a 6-10 season. If you're a Dolphins fan, pray for the former.
This Dolphins offseason has been beyond tumultuous, easily the worst in sports this year. Period. You can argue the Lakers faced some tough issues, but at least they got Kobe back. From Marino's brief comeback with the front office and his resignation 22 days later, to Zach Thomas' knee surgery which should delay his season debut, to Ogunleye's holdout, to Boston and Feeley looking sluggish in training camp. Then factor in Randy McMichael's abuse allegations, plus going through two offensive coordinators and Dave Wannstedt barely clinging to his job and it's hard to argue anything topping this. Now, the centerpiece of your offense and the face of your team for the last two years is abruptly gone. And Dave Wannstedt? His job technically goes as soon as Ricky faxes his retirement papers.
With Ricky Williams, the Dolphins thought they had the answer to their running back curse. Unfortunately, it's alive and well despite a two-year hiatus. With Ricky, they thought they had a permanent solution following busts such as Lamar Smith, Cecil Collins, Lawrence Phillips, J.J. Johnson, Thurman Thomas, Karim-Abdul-Jabar, and John Avery. Yet again, they're disappointed, not based on talent but on the character of the man. Regardless of whether or not the decision to step aside from the spotlight and back away from the vigorous responsibilities of the NFL will ultimately be a smart decision for Williams, one thing's for sure: that he's given a black eye to the Dolphins organization and jammed a big dagger through the hearts of every Dolphin fan and their hopes and dreams for the 2004 season. The organization is embarrassed and pondering how one week from now, they're supposed to head to training camp to prepare to contend for the Super Bowl in January. Mr. Wannstedt, there's a Coach of the Year trophy waiting for you if you can get this muddled mess to the postseason. Godspeed.
