Espn Insider

[SlickRick1382]

Since I have ESPN insider access I decided to post some of there reports, articles, etc here on Maddenboard for those who don't have access to get the lastest in sports news as well as the opinions of these respected sports writers. I will leave all the threads open to some discussion but this first one I will be posting I will close since we already have a thread for it.

Also if you frequent ESPN and notice an insider article you may want to read let me know and I will do my best to get it up, but please don't go asking me for every insider report. Its not as simple as copy and paste since ESPN has its pages blocked properly to discourage such things.

RICKY WILLIAMS RETIREMENT

Sunday, July 25, 2004

By Randy Mueller
ESPN NFL Insider

Mueller was New Orleans' general manager when the Saints traded former first-round pick Ricky Williams to the Miami Dolphins in March 2002. He reflects on Williams' decision to retire after just five seasons in the NFL.

Ricky, Ricky, Ricky.

As tremendous a football player as Ricky Williams can be, it's exactly this type of out-of-the-blue thinking -- suddenly announcing his retirement after just five seasons in the NFL -- that factored into our decision to trade him to to the Miami Dolphins for two first-round picks after the 2001 regular season.

With Ricky, you just never knew what was coming next. Saints coach Jim Haslett and I used to regularly converse about whether or not we wanted to put ourselves in a position of having to count on Ricky for the long haul. The trade was evidence of what we concluded.

The deck was stacked against Ricky before we even got to New Orleans. Everyone knows the story of Mike Ditka and the Saints giving away the better part of two full drafts to acquire him.

He was the only rookie draft pick for the Saints in 1999, so he was on his own and without peers right from the get-go. He hired a rap singer as his agent and signed a contract that has always been contrasted to that of Edgerrin James, whom the Indianapolis Colts drafted ahead of Ricky. If it were a car race, Edge would have lapped Ricky several times with the money he has made, compared to Williams' incentive-laden deal.

Then came the wedding dress episode (for a photo shoot for ESPN The Magazine), and doing interviews with his helmet on while lying on the field. It was a circus-like atmosphere almost from the start. Needless to say, when Jim and I arrived in New Orleans before the 2000 season, the signs of Ricky's wanting to be "different" were flashing in our faces like red neon, and we knew right away that a decision about his future with the Saints was going to have to be made sooner than later.

His decision to suddenly retire is, without a doubt, the one that takes the cake. But he has a history of these types of off-the-wall decisions. Honestly, it surprises very few of those who have been around him throughout his short-but-turbulent NFL career. Think about it. For a guy who says excessive attention makes him uneasy, he sure has a crazy way of showing it.

Look, Ricky is a good, kind-hearted kid who, during our time together in New Orleans, always seemed a bit confused or troubled. He worked extremely hard on the field. He could run all day and he fashioned his body into that of a racehorse when he was in tip-top shape.

He kept to himself off the field, but we were always dealing with his various erratic and peculiar activities: having a condo in the French Quarter, and a house 10 miles away in the suburbs; disappearing to Europe for four weeks in the middle of our first off-season program; getting stopped for speeding (at more than 120 mph) on the freeway; numerous run-ins with local law enforcement officials in and around New Orleans for minor traffic infractions; the continuous rumors of illegal substances; and the constant injury bug he was fighting.

You had to pay attention to all of that off-the-field noise, and it factored into our decision to move in a different direction after the 2001 season.

Miami was willing to overlook most of these issues, and take the risk, because of Ricky's abilities on the field. There was no better punishing-type runner in the NFL over the past few seasons. Ricky single-handedly carried the Dolphins on offense since the trade, and it's no wonder Miami coach Dave Wannstedt, since receiving the word of the retirement Friday, has been trying to get though to Ricky and change his mind.

Will Dave be successful in changing Ricky's mind? That's one I can't answer, but if I were Dave, I'd keep trying. Ricky is so spontaneous that he may just wake up tomorrow and show up for practice as if nothing has happened. Who knows? This may even be Ricky's way of getting a new deal.

As outlandish as it sounds, you can never predict which course Ricky will take. And if you can, perhaps I can coax you into meeting me in Las Vegas, where predictions can make us all rich. I spent two seasons with Ricky Williams, and saw him compile the bulk of the 3,129 yards and 16 touchdowns he totaled in his tenure with the Saints. But if you can figure out what he's going to do next, you're way ahead of me.

andy Mueller, former GM of the New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks, is a regular contributor to Insider.