raisinbran20 asked
SAN JOSE, Calif. - What Ricky Williams did was bizarre, selfish, undisciplined - and probably smart. What the Miami Dolphins gave to acquire running back Williams - two first-round picks - was even dumber than the second pick in the 1997 draft the Raiders spent on the Ricky Williams of defensive linemen, Darrell Russell. The joke ultimately was on the Dolphins and Raiders for risking so much on these two San Diego natives. Williams says he has retired, and I believe him. Russell might have played his last NFL down after being released by Tampa Bay and suspended a second time for violating the NFL's drug policy. Williams and Russell share this: Their bodies belong in the NFL, but not their mentality. Neither ever loved football enough to pay the severe price required to perform up to their potential for a Hall-of-Fame length career. Both played football in part because everyone around them - family, friends, coaches - made them feel as if they were born to play. The surprise among several NFL scouts and general managers I've spoken with is that Williams lasted this long before walking out on whichever team was foolish enough to bet on the fool's gold that always has been Ricky Williams. The surprise here is that the New Orleans Saints, then coached and run by a guy who can act even crazier than Williams - Mike Ditka - didn't hear these concerns about Williams before trading almost two full drafts to select him in 1999. I heard them from scouts on several other teams. Almost as surprising is that the Raiders didn't do a little more thorough background check on Russell. Dolphins coach Wannstedt has been equally selfish. Williams has led the NFL in carries - and perhaps collisions - each of the last two seasons. Williams suggested that was a bad plan because handing him the ball so much at the expense of a balanced offense produced consecutive out-of-the-playoffs seasons. Valid point. But the bigger one is that Williams didn't want to effectively
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