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Holy Schmokes!! Ricky Williams Retired

I just was coming here to post that! I wish he'd change his mind, he had a promising future...
 
I won't believe it until I see it coming from Ricky Williams' mouth. But it's still very strange that he would consider doing something like this.
 
RTP2110 said:
Ricky Williams as in Miami Dolphins/Texas Longhorns Ricky Williams??
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Yep!!!! And they could have gotten Steven Jackson, Chris Perry, Kevin Jones, etc. in the draft if he would have told them sooner!!!! The Dolphins are screwed...
 
this makes absolutely no sense what so ever...why retire after only 5 years...he has no bad injuries that come to mind...he's in miami of all places...why retire...there must be more to this story
 
I guess Ricky couldn't stand Shaq getting all the attention there so he had go make a bigger splash! hehe..
 
espn's website says they wonder if it's like robert smith and drugs being the reason...it doesn't seem like ricky to be into drugs but who knows
 
Unbelieveable!!!

I thought this was a prank thread, and that it was Indianapolis Colts/Texas Tech Red Raiders Ricky Williams. I wonder what made him decide to retire?
 
RTP2110 said:
I wonder what made him decide to retire?
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He said he didnt want to play anymore, wasnt in his heart and he felt he would hurt the team if he went out there and didnt give it his all...
 
Ricky has always been a different kinda of dude. Of the guys in the league that would wake one morning and not want to play anymore; he tops the list of person who would join the Barry sanders and Robert Smith fraternity of I am just quitting.

Williams carried the ball a ton at UT and in his years in the pros. I respect guys who quit early(even at the wrong time) more than those who hang collecting paychecks and destroying thier bodies when the player does not have the heart to compete.
 
All the draft picks they wasted and all the money. Ricky, Ricky, Ricky. I thought he was going to be big. Dang, they could of grabbed some awesome rb in the draft. Such a bad time to retire. Phins are done for this season. Feel sorry for the fans. the season ended early for them today. Good luck in 06' and let the rebuilding begin
 
this is a reply on the Miami Herald web page... made me laugh, i feel for the guy.

need help, what the hell are we going to do, minor is good but not ricky. I am in serious shock and are season just took a turn toward another non playoff season. and i am sure glad that the one jersey i could afford to save up and get was ricky's. Have fun in asia or jamaca and leave us all hanging. you could have told us this months ago. we could have drafted a RUNNING BACK THANK YOU, SELFISH ASSH@LE.. ANYONE HAVE THOUGHTS.
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Maybe since there was some previous talk that the Vikes were looking to trade M. Bennett for some defence, the Fins will look to grab him...
 
scourge said:
Maybe since there was some previous talk that the Vikes were looking to trade M. Bennett for some defence, the Fins will look grab him...
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Adewale Ogunleye for Bennett??? Saying that is a longshot would be an understatement though...
 
Ricky probably retiring so he can smoke pot 24-7. What a doosh bag! He should stay away from the miami clubs! Man, if i was a maimi fan.....
 
I didnt believe it I just had to go turn on espn to see it for myself. This is truly unreal, he has to be on drugs. Heres a question does this move make Ricky Williams one of the biggest NFL bust considering he didnt work out in New Orleans and is gone after 2 seasons in Miami and only 5 years in the NFL and all the picks the Saints used to move up to get him then all Miami spent to trade for him. He was supposed to be the next great back. Broke all those NCAA records and didnt do didly squat in the NFL. I mean he had decent numbers but if he only plays 5 seasons in kinda negates them. I dont know what else to say I am truly shocked I thought all this was a joke. Man my dad is a huge phins fan I sure hope he is having sweet dreams because tomorrow I'm going to have to call him and ruin his week, DAMN.
 
How is Wanny going to save his job. This must really suck. TE beats his wife, RB Quits, No clear cut QB, MLB has surgery before training Camps. Star DE plans to holdout till week 7 so that he can retain free agency status. Total turnover of players on the OL. Also, finish last season @ 10-6, yet no playoffs!!! THAT TEXANS LOSS REALLY HURT!!!! :jam:
 
This has got to be rough for the Dolphins. Not only does Ricky retire but he does so a day after Eddie George signs. Now they're stuck with Minor or have to trade out to find a RB. Maybe they can try and swindle a back from the Vikings but Minnesota probally couldn't get the paper work in on time. :rofl:
 
I am just as shocked as everyone else. The only word that comes to mind is Wow! And they say there's never any big NFL news before training camps.

w_williams3_ft.jpg


Williams has always been an odd cat, but this is beyond anything I would've expected from him. His passion for the game seemed to be reinvigorated when he came to Miami. I wouldn't put it past him to do another 180 sometime this year or next, but one thing is for sure. Wanstedt and the front office for Miami will be looking for new jobs come next season.
 
I was thinking about that too, he could have just single handedly screwed the Phins playoff chances and ended the Dave Wandstat era
 
The Dolphins message boards are overloaded I cant even get in its like a bomb just went off oh well i guess ill give them to to grieve:(
 
Vikings' head coach Mike Tice said Thursday that running back Michael Bennett will take the bulk of the carries and reamin on the field during goal line situations. When interviewed by KFAN radio in the Twin Cities, Tice said he plans to use Bennett until the four-year veteran indicates that he needs a breather.
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Don't they still have Mo Williams and Ontario Smith?? I was thinking more so one of those guys in a trade rather than Bennett. I guess it's going to be a wait and see with this but either way this really damages the Dolphins to epic proportions.
 
They do look alot like a expansion team, after this season the everybody is going to want to jump ship. I would hate to be a Phins fan they are in for years of rebuilding. Maybe it will work out for the best I really dont think they were going to win anything with Dave at the helm hes to indecisive.
 
I say its time for the Dolphins to move to somewhere in Asia. Nowhere inparticular. Just travel anywhere Ricky's heart desires. Seems like the only way you'll ever see him in a Dolphin's uniform again.
 
Would anyone else find it absolutely hilarious if Ricky Williams goes to all their road games and watches from the stands? After all, it would still be traveling.
 
Im going to state this question again does this make Ricky one the NFL's biggest bust considering the hype and his potential coming into the league and what 2 teams gave up for him.
 
I wouldn't say he's a bust because he did produce quite a bit when he played.

I would think it would be more of a disappointment than a bust.
 
If he truly retires I dont think he is going to be able to show his face anywhere near the dolphins or Florida for that matter He'd better stay in Asia.
 
isnt disapointment and bust one in the same
Plus New Orleans gave up their whole 99 draft to get him-things didnt work out

Miami gave up 2 1st round picks to get him-things didnt work out

Yes he had decent numbers but retiring after only 5 years kinda negates that

I truly hate it when someone has so much god given talent and they just piss it away it just upsets me
 
I don't think it negates his accomplishments at all. He was still very productive in those 5 years. 4 out of the 5 he had over 1000 yds. The only year he didnt get 1000 was his rookie season when he got around 800 yds. Barry Sanders retirement was seen as early and shocking, but it in no way negates his accomplishments in the NFL. It's the same as when someone attempts to discredit a QB for being a product of the system. He still put up the numbers and deserves credit for them. As I said before Ricky was an odd guy, but that wasn't unknown to NFL clubs. Drafting him came with inherent risks that come with any other prospect, but his negatives weren't the usual ones that GMs & coaches encounter. While most prospects were considered to be a risk due to their attitude/criminal history/behavior problems, Ricky was a risk because of his unusual nature and his personality disorder. I think you can chalk this up as you'd chalk up any other NFL player who suffered from a mental/personality disorder. Examples would be Barrett Robins, and the backup safety for the Bucs. Both suffered from depression, and I believe Robins also was bipolar. In the end you wouldnt take anything away from Sanders or Jim Brown for retiring early, therefore I don't think you can take much away from Williams even though his retirement is earlier than the other two. Football is like anything else in life. If you don't have the drive to do it anymore then there is no point in going through the motions.
 
Carr Bomb said:
I truly hate it when someone has so much god given talent and they just piss it away it just upsets me
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I think Ricky Williams is too big for the NFL...not necessarily talent wise but in the since that he wants to do so much in life. The guy is talented in many of his hobbies (was even drafted by the Phillies in 8th round to play baseball before going to college) and I think that he has just closed one of the many great chapters of his life. He proved he could play in the best football league in the world and I think that influenced him in making his decision to move onto something else. I have a feeling Ricky will show up again later down the road...famous for something else other than football. I've always kinda liked the Dolphins so I'm surprised when I find myself supporting what he is doing. He did choose a somewhat bad time to do what he did, but in my opinion thats Ricky. So I wouldn't say he is just pissing his talent away...he is simply moving on to another area of his life where he can show his other talents...life isn't too long and someone at his age should want to see the world and educate himself. If I recall he is really into photography too, so maybe he wants to travel the world taking photographs. I think what he is doing is being himself...always marching to the beat of a drum we can't always hear.

If anyone else supports him I'd like to hear it...I'm already sick of people givin him crap, and Ive only known for 4 hours or so.
 
More power to him if he can afford to do it. Ricky is legend up here in Austin, and he can do whatever the heck he wants to. At least he wasn't on the Texans-and quit!
 
Why the sudden urge to travel to Asia?... voices in his head calling? :hmmm:
I also think he is one strange cat.
What bad timing. Dave Wannstedt will be pulling all of his hair out now!
 
Carr bomb,

Ricky Williams is not a bust. He was highly productive for 5 NFL years. Bust refer to people who could not get the job done. Ricky Williams could play in the NFL, but does not want to play in the NFL.

H-town,

I have no problem with williams walking away. Football is not a summer job tearing tickets a movie theater where if you not into it really does not matter. Would hate to see that guy not protect himself or another player because he is not wanting to be there.

From a fantasy standpoint the team also has Sammy Morris. Mack is out there as is the guy who started for the Lions in 2002 and was injured last year. See lots of quality choices.

Honestly, I thought the Dolphins were a 3rd or 4th place team in that division before Williams, now I think it would be a miracle if they finished 7 and 9 or better. If Wanny goes his usual 9-7 or 10-6 borderline playoff in or out he will deserve to keep his job.
 
They will applaud him and praise the fact that he walked away from the NFL on his terms, supposedly setting himself free from the shackles of fame -- and, let's not forget, fortune.

They will say Ricky Williams understands what life is all about, that football is just a game and not something all that important in a world where soldiers are being blown up on a regular basis in Iraq and starvation is ravaging countries throughout the world.

But some 24-year-old running back, just hoping for a chance to play in the NFL for one week, will pop on his TV Sunday morning and wake up to the news that Williams, a running back from the Miami Dolphins, is retiring and just get a sick feeling in his stomach.

How could he?

That player would do anything for one carry, and yet Williams is walking away a starting job and millions to be, in his words, free.

Williams notified the Dolphins that he is retiring from the NFL Friday, according to the Miami Herald. That newspaper would know since their lead columnist, the respected and well-read Dan Le Batard, is one of the few allowed in Williams' inner circle and the guy who reported the story Saturday.

Getting into that inner circle is said to be like breaking into the White House at midnight, but it also begs this question: Why would you want in?

If you looked up different in the NFL dictionary, Williams' picture would be next to the word. He is an enigma, a hard-running back who talked in a whisper and somehow seemed as if he was curling up in a fetal position every time someone stepped near his locker or asked to speak with him -- even after his much-publicized bout with a social disorder and the medical treatment he received for it.

What many NFL linebackers could not do, bring him to his knees, the sight of a camera or a writer invading his space often did.

Weirdo is a term some of his ex-teammates and coaches used when his name was brought up -- and that will be even more so now.

In telling the Herald why he is retiring, Williams said, "The people in Jamaica, living in these little tin shacks, they were the happiest people I've ever seen. This is an opportunity to be a real role model. Everyone wants freedom. Human beings aren't supposed to be controlled and told what to do. They're supposed to be given direction and a path. Don't tell me what I can and can't do."

Two things about that quote: Any Jamaican living in a shack who wouldn't trade places with Williams in an instant has been imbibing in too much of Bob Marley's favorite leaf. The second thing is that we're all told what we can and can't do. It's called laws and bosses and wives and parents.

The NFL said Williams couldn't smoke marijuana, so he reportedly did what he had to do to pass the tests -- drinking a masking agent, according to the Herald -- but he failed a test in 2002 and was facing a fine pending an appeal of a failed test late last season.

Now he is free to roll as many fat spliffs as he wants, provided the law doesn't find him. It is illegal, big guy. One more thing, Ricky: It takes green to buy the green, and leaving millions of salary behind isn't exactly a way to get the good stuff.

Williams told the Herald the only people who he has to be accountable to are his three kids. I bet they'll love it years from now when their friends tell them how their daddy walked away from NFL millions to smoke weed and hang out in tin shacks.

Lunacy.

But you can bet Williams will be praised in certain circles for standing up for his beliefs, not catering to the wants of others.

Free, baby.

Jim Brown, Barry Sanders and Robert Smith are all former NFL running backs who walked away from the game with plenty left to give. All three could be considered eccentric to some degree. Williams is friendly with Brown and he also was said to have had a recent conversation with Smith.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall to hear that one, two we're-smarter-than-the-rest-of-you-and-don't-need-this-mindless-game men trying to understand how so many other players put their lives into playing football.

Williams is also selfish. Making this kind of decision a week before the Dolphins were to open training camp makes anything Terrell Owens did seem trivial. This is a quitter, a guy who bailed on his teammates as they were readying to make a Super Bowl push. That's the ultimate insult.

Indications are that Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt is furious. Wouldn't you be? His job is on the line and suddenly his star running back decides he'd rather sit in a circle with his legs crossed listening to poetry and clicking his fingers at every line he likes?

The Dolphins tailored their offense to Williams and now he runs over them as if they were a seven-year old trying to tackle his big butt. Miami's best option is to play Travis Minor, a fourth-year player from Florida State, who is little more than a third-down back.

Heck, if Williams had made his decision a couple of days earlier the Dolphins could have made a run at Eddie George. But he couldn't even do that for them to maybe make it a little easier.

Williams had three years left on his contract, with base salaries of $3.75 million in 2004, $3.74 million in 2005 and $3.5 million in 2006. The contract also included incentives that could have added more money, so Williams is walking away from $10 to $12 million.

But look at the bright side: At least now he's free. No more being told what plays to run. No more being forced to deal with the media and the spotlight and the constant adulation from fans. Wouldn't you walk away from $10 million and never having to make a reservation for a restaurant table in South Beach, with a bevy of models eyeing your every move to be free of a game that gave you the chance to be free?

As one of Williams' former coaches said recently, "He's as weird as they come."

Ricky W means Ricky Weirdo.

But at least he's free.

Free to see the world.

Free to do what he wants.

Free to put this mindless game away for good.

You can bet there's a young running back somewhere shaking his head wondering how Williams could give this all away and he can't even get a chance. Wasting God's gifts is a sad thing, but it's even more troubling to those who didn't quite get the full compliment, say a runner who might be a half a step slow or a tad too small.

Williams had it all, and now he's throwing it all away.

Is that really something that should be applauded?
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nice article from Pete Prisco
http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/7523844
 
I love how fans call him selfish. In reality they are the selfish ones. Why force someone to do something they are obviously, (or not obviously) not happy doing. Football is no joke and if you heart is not in it, why continue? for fans?

Of course now every year for the next half decade we will hear of teams trying to court him and coax him out of retirement.
 
Also calling him a bust, please a bust is someone who can't play.

Ricky will be getting calls from the NFL for the next 5 years to try and get him to unretire.

A dissapointment? maybe by a fans perspective. Most running backs careers start to spiral down at around 30 years old. He left a couple years early.
 
Sorry Pete Prisco, but a free life is about doing what you have a desire to do, not what you the most talent at doing. Once a person is given a gift it is his to use as he pleases even if others don't like it.
 
this would be a time for miami to call up st. louis...and try to find a way to trade for steven jackson...i know he was st. louis's number one but they don't need him and he's already upset people there by not showing up...a trade to miami for next year's number one and number three sounds like a good trade
 
It's an interesting article, but I have to totally disagree. Yes Ricky had awful timing, and he single handedly destroyed the Dolphins. No Ricky isn't the Dahli Lama or any other spiritual being on another level than the rest of us. But the main point here is to realize that football is just a game. With all the drama and storylines that the media puts into it sometimes magnifies it to a point where people see it as more than just a game. And with all due respect who is Pete Prisco to determine what the man's perception of freedom is? I can absolutely understand why some fans would be outraged, but they have to realize that these players are still human beings, and are still entitled to the same rights as we enjoy. One of those many rights is to follow your heart's desire. Perhaps for Ricky its taking photos in Asia, or perhaps its something else. Either way its within his rights to pursue that dream.
 
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