Friday, May 20, 2005

Williams Tries to Hose the Dolphins Again

Ricky Williams is very interested in returning to the Miami Dolphins! If Nick Saban has any sense at all he will pass on allowing him to return to the team.

Williams cost the Dolphins a chance at a winning season last year when he decided he would rather smoke dope than break tackles. The entire offense was built around him and a month before camp Williams shocked the NFL by walking away. Not only did he cost the Dolphins a chance at a winning season he cost Dave Wannstedt and Jay Fiedler their jobs. Granted both of them were struggling to stay in their respective positions in South Florida, neither had a chance without Williams.

What about the Dolphins fans? They were shafted just as much as the team was. In the 2003 season the Dolphins just missed the play-offs with a 10-6 record. 2004 was to be the season where they competed for the division championship and made a solid play-off run. Instead, without Williams, the Dolphins finished with the second worst record in the NFL at 4-12.

Now that the Dolphins used their 2nd pick in the draft to select RB Ronnie Brown from Auburn, Williams says he is interested in returning. Now it’s the rookie Brown who could be the next victim to receive the shaft from the former Heisman Trophy winner.

The Dolphins had planned to replace Williams with Brown as the running back of the future and as a franchise player. During the first training camp he is supposed to be the center of attention. Bringing Ricky Williams back will only disrupt the Dolphins in their efforts to move on.

In my opinion, Williams doesn’t want to return to the NFL because of a passion to play the game. He wants to return because he still owes the Dolphins $8.6 million and has just entered into a settlement with a South Florida woman to pay $4,200.00 per month in child support and establish a $300,000 trust fund for a child he fathered. That is the motivation behind Williams’ desire to put the pads on again.

If Williams decides to return to the Dolphins then Saban needs to sell him out, but in a different way, this time as a positive for the Dolphins. This is the first time a team would have the chance to build into a championship contender from the trade of one player since the Dallas Cowboys did it with Herschel Walker. By trading Williams the Dolphins could get a load of draft picks to spend on future talent. There are plenty of teams out there who should be willing to make a deal. The Oakland Raiders are the first team that comes to mind.

Being traded is the only way Williams could make restitution for what he did to his Dolphins teammates, coaches, and fans. If he is willing to come back and is eager to play then the Dolphins should make it on their terms and not his. Those terms should be nothing short of a blockbuster trade.