American Football: rickey williams wants to return to dolphins

and they wonder why they call it dope

Agent: Ricky Williams wants to rejoin Dolphins

By STEVEN WINE, AP Sports Writer
October 6, 2004
MIAMI (AP) -- Maybe Ricky Williams is tired of traveling. Maybe he has run out of books to read. Or maybe he doesn't want to pay the $8.6 million he owes the Miami Dolphins for breach of contract.

Whatever the reason, Williams wants to rejoin the Dolphins and has asked the NFL how soon he can return, his agent said Tuesday.

It's unclear whether the 2002 NFL rushing champion must serve a suspension the rest of this season for repeated violations of the league drug program. He has asked the league for a hearing to clarify his status, but no date has been set.

A Dolphins source speaking on condition of anonymity said the team's understanding is that Williams can't play this year because of the violations.

Williams left the Dolphins reeling when he retired just before training camp in late July, and they're off to an 0-4 start, their worst since 1966. His agent, Leigh Steinberg, declined to discuss Williams' change of heart.

``All I can tell you is that Ricky has asked me to explore and to try to facilitate his return,'' Steinberg said. ``He's excited and in good shape and misses football.''

One likely factor for Williams' reversal: On Sept. 24, an arbitrator ordered him to repay more than $8.6 million to the team for breaching his contract.

Steinberg and the Dolphins declined to say whether there have been recent conversations between the two parties.

``This is an issue between the player, his representative and the league,'' Dolphins general manager Rick Spielman said. ``Accordingly, we don't have a comment on the matter.''

Last week, coach Dave Wannstedt said he hadn't talked to Williams in about a month.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello declined to comment on the situation.

Since retiring, Williams has traveled to Asia and Australia, but Steinberg said he's now in the United States.

``He's in excellent shape,'' Steinberg said. ``He has been working out regularly and looks great.''

Williams and the Dolphins traded long-distance barbs in the days after he quit. But the Dolphins' poor start would likely make them more inclined to take him back.

The 27-year-old running back has given many reasons for retiring. He expressed a desire to travel, read and continue smoking marijuana. He said he was unhappy about his contract, a workload he considered excessive and Miami's new offensive coordinator Chris Foerster.

He acknowledged testing positive for marijuana three times. Under league rules, a player in the NFL's drug program faces suspension if he returns in the calendar year after he announces his retirement. If he returns after a year, he faces a lesser suspension.

The Dolphins might be headed toward their first losing season since 1988. They have scored only two touchdowns in four games without Williams, who rushed for 3,225 in two seasons after being obtained in a trade with New Orleans

I'm not surprise he spent all the money and smoked himself stupid...

Ah, he needs the money!

All the better to find stuff to hide the weed with...

Teammates don't expect Williams back with Dolphins

DAVIE, Fla. -- With running back Ricky Williams ready to reverse directions and come out of retirement, his former Miami Dolphins teammates were mixed in their reaction Wednesday.

Defensive end David Bowens said he would like to see Williams rejoin the Dolphins, in part because they're 0-4. But Pro Bowl linebacker Zach Thomas said he doubted that help from Williams is on the way.

"He will not be playing for the Dolphins," Thomas predicted. "He's got too many things with the fans and too much with the media, and that's the reason he ran from it in the first place. He wouldn't come back here."

Thomas might be right. Gary Ostrow, an attorney who has represented Williams, said the 2002 NFL rushing champion hopes to receive clearance from the league to play again before the Oct. 19 trade deadline so he can be dealt by Miami.

Williams asked the NFL for a hearing to clarify his status following repeated violations of the league drug program. The Dolphins say their understanding is he must serve a suspension for the rest of this season, and the NFL has declined to comment.

"It's very murky water, and Ricky has asked for a clarification," Ostrow said. "He would like the option to play for another team."

full story

Williams regrets not facing Wannstedt

NEW YORK -- Former Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams says he misses football but would only play one more season if he returns to the NFL.

Ricky Williams

In an interview that will appear in Esquire early next month, Williams also said he regrets not talking with Miami coach Dave Wannstedt before he abruptly retired before the season.

"I should have been man enough to have a conversation with Dave before all this happened," Williams said. "But I didn't. I got scared, and I just told him I was retiring. It just came out."

When reached by the magazine, Williams was at a retreat near Brisbane, Australia, before his return to Los Angeles last week. According to Esquire, he was living in a $7-a-day campsite and had lost 20 pounds on a vegetarian diet.

Earlier this week, Williams' agent, Leigh Steinberg, said his client had asked the NFL how soon he could return to play. The Dolphins are off to an 0-4 start without the 2002 rushing champion.

Williams has acknowledged repeated violations of the NFL drug program. The Dolphins say their understanding is he must serve a suspension for the rest of this season if he tries to return. The NFL has declined to comment.

By returning to the Dolphins, Williams could avoid paying $8.6 million for breach of contract.

Yeah right ok, play for one year then retire again. No wonder they don't want him back....

There are teams out ther ethat could use him, though...

its all about the money, and that is why he is coming back

Originally posted by freak29
its all about the money, and that is why he is coming back

exactamondo!

Comeback-minded Williams to meet with NFL

DAVIE, Fla. -- Retired running back Ricky Williams is scheduled to meet Thursday with the NFL to seek permission to immediately rejoin the Miami Dolphins, despite his multiple violations of the league's substance abuse program.

William David Cornwell, an attorney representing Williams, and the NFL Players Association will also attend the meeting in California.

"We are anxious to present the case for permitting Ricky to rejoin the Miami Dolphins this year and to clarify his status under the league's substance abuse program," Cornwell said in a statement Monday.

In July, Williams said he learned shortly before retiring that he had failed a drug test for marijuana -- his third violation in the program since 2002.

Because of the violations and Williams' subsequent retirement, the Dolphins say their understanding is that he is suspended for the entire season. The NFL has declined to comment.

If Williams were to play this year, it would likely be with Miami, because the league trade deadline is Tuesday.

The Dolphins haven't won a game since the 2002 NFL rushing champion retired. At 0-6, they're the league's lone winless team and off to the worst start in their 39-year history.

Cornwell declined to address Williams' motivation for coming out of retirement.

"It is not appropriate to discuss our rationale for rejoining the Dolphins until after the NFL and NFLPA hear from us directly," Cornwell said.

Contributing to the change of heart was an arbitration ruling Sept. 24 that Williams must repay more than $8.6 million to the Dolphins for breaching his contract. He has done without his $3.5 million salary while traveling in Australia and Asia.

By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com


The long-awaited missive from erstwhile tailback Ricky Williams, officially seeking reinstatement to the league, arrived Monday at NFL offices.

But no one, not even Williams and his attorneys, expects the NFL to act on the request anytime soon.

Ricky Williams
Williams

In fact, league sources said that Williams has all but abandoned any hope of playing again in 2004, a pursuit that likely would have been futile anyway because of his repeat violations of the NFL substance abuse policy. Instead, those sources explained, attorney David Cornwell, who represents Williams and once worked for the NFL, will attempt to negotiate terms of the player's return for the 2005 season.

Williams abruptly retired in July just days before the start of the Miami Dolphins' training camp. His representatives met with league officials on Oct. 21 in Santa Monica, Calif., to clarify his status and explore potential scenarios for his return.

League officials said last week, at an owners meeting in Detroit, that they had yet to receive a formal request for reinstatement. "When something shows up, we'll deal with it," one NFL official said.

Even with the letter's arrival Monday, though, there will be no hurry to resolve Williams' future. It likely will take some time for Cornwell to broker an agreement under which the talented but enigmatic running back resumes his football career.

Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association, told ESPN.com last week that he supported Williams' return but that it would not occur in 2004. Upshaw also said that Williams erred this spring in not accepting a "pretty good deal" that would have gotten him out of the substance abuse program.

The terms of that deal would have required Williams to pay a fine of $650,000, the sanction for his first two positive tests. Doing that would have earned him a clean slate. It is believed Williams failed a third test shortly thereafter.

Under terms of the substance abuse program, Williams, who by his own admission tested positive for marijuana on three different occasions, would have been suspended for a year had he attempted to un-retire in 2004. Any player who leaves the league while in the drug program, and returns within a year of his retirement, is deemed to have tested positive. A fourth positive test, which would have been the case for Williams, results in a suspension of one year.

So it appears the plan now is for Williams to sit out in 2004 -- and possibly, in a good-faith move, submit to league-administered testing in an effort to reinforce his intent to remain clean -- then play again next season. Where he would play is open to question, as Miami players have made it clear they do not want him back and Williams isn't apt to mend those fences.

Dolphins officials have said privately, though, that they regard Williams as a valuable commodity for trade purposes.

"We want to get something for the guy," one said.

The team also wants the $8.6 million it was awarded by an arbitrator, who ruled that Williams breached his contract and that certain default language in the deal was valid. Last week, the Dolphins filed suit seeking payment of the $8.6 million.

If he needed something to hide the weed with, take into consideration the beer commercial with the rock. They hide the beer in a rock and put it in the fridge. LOL