Ricky Williams to retire?

[Jeff]

I ain't kidding. From ESPN.com:

"NFL Shocker: Williams To Retire?
Is he another Robert Smith? Is he bothered by persistent drug rumors? Whatever the reason, Dolphins star running back Ricky Williams, 27, has told the team he is retiring after just five NFL seasons, ESPN's Dan Le Batard reports."

No link yet. If this is true, very surprising, whoa, to say the list. Chris Russell of Sporting News Radio is ripping Ricky big-time right as I type this, for the timing of it all, after all the RBs on the market are gone. I don't get this one in the least.

[billyireland]

Geez, that's bad news for the Fish, Ricky, the neutral viewers and football in general. Good news for Bills, Jets & Pats fans, mind you. I hope he doesn't retire and think it's just a rumour - it's just too 'out of the blue.

[The Double]

A friend of mine who is a Dolphins fan is at the Borgata hotel in Atlantic City tonight. He calls me up at 1:30 to tell me how crazy the Arturo Gatti fight was, and how the line to get into a 6/12 hold'em game is long, so that's why he's calling. To kill time. He tells me how the cocktail waitresses there are models. I say good luck, and to call me tomorrow. He calls me five minutes later with this news, and he's beside himself. I said I really gotta go to sleep.

Guess he was telling the truth.

[Mach1]

There is a story (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1846012) on ESPN.com now. He says he's bored with football and wants to do other things. Travel to Asia for 6 months.

This really sucks for us Dolphins fans. Travis Minor is not a franchise running back by any means. His body is just not big enough to take all of the pounding that he'll face in a full season. Unless there's a blockbuster trade, or Fiedler/Feeley and Chambers/Boston breaks out into a huge season, the Dolphins will be lucky to be 8-8, never mind playoffs.

[RoverMax]

I'm a huge Dolphins fan. Ricky was my favorite player but he isn't anymore. If he was going to retire, he should have at least done it earlier in the offseason so that we could find someone to replace him. Instead he retired at the worst time and screwed the team. I wasn't as optimistic about this season as I have been about past ones but I still think we had a solid team that could make the playoffs. Forget the playoffs now. As for Travis Minor, I think he is a solid running back, but I'm not sure if he can handle a lot of carries. I think we will see him and Leonard Henry split the carries. Maybe Fred Russell will get a good amount of carries as well.

[(TxT)]

This guy was always a bit of an outsider with social problems (helmet interview) and he always seemed like a pot smoking care-free kind of guy. This is a big surprise but not at the level of Barry Sanders retiring.

[skipshady]

I feel bad for the Dolphins and their fans, but I can't blame Ricky for doing this.

There are two types of players who stay in the NFL as long as a team will have them:
1. A player who needs the money and/or has no other life skills
2. A player who really really really loves football

Otherwise, there is no good reason for anyone to stay in the league. You're doing irreparable harm to your body, if not your brain. The paydays are limited and non-guaranteed other than the signing bonus.

If Ricky's happy, then I'm happy for him. I don't think he was ever all that into football, and he just did it because he was good at it.
If he's not into it and he can survive without football, then he shouldn't be out there. I can understand how the team feels screwed over, and he should have announced his retirement earlier. But if he arrived at this decision now, then he couldn't control the timing. Anyway, a team can cut you anytime it wants - a player should have the right to quit whenever he wants as well.

It's interesting that the guys who retire prematurely tend to be running backs - Williams, Barry Sanders, Robert Smith, Jim Brown, etc. Maybe because they make enough money early in their careers (their careers are short anyway), and they don't make as much as quarterbacks to make the poundings worthwhile? And unlike linemen or defensive players, they can't give out the pain as much as they receive it?

[(TxT)]

According to ESPN he was traveling on tour with Leny Kravitz when he made his decision and he had told Dan LeBatard that he would've retired at the end of this upcoming saeson and was looking forward to trying to win the Super Bowl. My dad is a dolphin fan so I'll have to hear him complaining all year and probably the rest of his life.

[Mach1]

Timing is everything. If he would have done this a month or two ago, before the July 1st cut date, then I wouldn't have near a problem with this. I don't like seeing our main offensive force leave, but Miami could have tried to do something. At the very least, Miami could have gone after Eddie George this past week! But to wait right before training camp to make this decision and not give your ex-employers basically any chance to find a replacement, is very selfish. Unless they pull a rabbit out of their hat (or Minor gives us all a heck of a surprise), this just cost Miami's season, and probably Dave Wannstedt his job.

[RoverMax]

Timing is everything. If he would have done this a month or two ago, before the July 1st cut date, then I wouldn't have near a problem with this. I don't like seeing our main offensive force leave, but Miami could have tried to do something. At the very least, Miami could have gone after Eddie George this past week! But to wait right before training camp to make this decision and not give your ex-employers basically any chance to find a replacement, is very selfish. Unless they pull a rabbit out of their hat (or Minor gives us all a heck of a surprise), this just cost Miami's season, and probably Dave Wannstedt his job.

Wannstedt won't lose his job now. This pretty much saved his job IMO. If the Dolphins have a bad season, Wannstedt will probably be off the hook because of the RB situation. I think Wanny should have been fired last year. I think he is a terrible coach and the only reason why this team has had a lot of wins the past few years is because of the talent. We missed the playoffs two years in a row and I think we had the talent to go both years.

[(TxT)]

Wannstedt won't lose his job now. This pretty much saved his job IMO. If the Dolphins have a bad season, Wannstedt will probably be off the hook because of the RB situation. I think Wanny should have been fired last year. I think he is a terrible coach and the only reason why this team has had a lot of wins the past few years is because of the talent. We missed the playoffs two years in a row and I think we had the talent to go both years.


Wannstadt should've been fired last year and probably the year before (02) for his idiodic decision to throw the ball at the end of the game against the Pats in week 17, not to mention the fact that they also blew it against the Vikings the week before. I think you are right about not having Ricky will let him off the hook. On another mater I think Bill Cowher should've been fired at the end of last year too.

[RoverMax]

Wannstadt should've been fired last year and probably the year before (02) for his idiodic decision to throw the ball at the end of the game against the Pats in week 17, not to mention the fact that they also blew it against the Vikings the week before. I think you are right about not having Ricky will let him off the hook. On another mater I think Bill Cowher should've been fired at the end of last year too.

The Patriots game in the last week of the season in 2002 was probably the worst moment I have ever had as a sports fan. That was such a good team and we pretty much had the game and the division locked up, and then all of a sudden, we blew it. Ricky was having such a good game too, and then we threw 3 times in a row, gave them back the ball, and then they scored and tied it up to send it to overtime. What sucked even more is that the Vikings beat us at the end of the game with a field goal to beat us the week before, and if we won that game, we would have won the division. Bad times.

[BadReligion]

As a Jets fan, I'm elated, although I will admit, this is a big loss for football in general. With that being said, he'll be back within a year..

[Jeff]

As a Pats fan, I'm happy since the annual Fish flop will start in October, not December. Boston is a head case, Chambers has the skills but opposing CBs can focus on him since Boston's too fooked up to be counted on week in and week out. Randy McMichael needs to bounce back. Translation: the Fish don't have much of a passing game either. They're done, not that they would have made the playoffs anyway.

[DutchFootballRulez]

WOW..it sux because ESPN 2k5 came out just a WEEK too early. Now Sega has to rush to make a Roster Update to download.

Anyway, I think Ricky was way way too much into Marijuana. He's sorta depressed. He wants to be more than a football player which is understandable. Retiring early, seems to be something that happens to Running backs more than any other position. I think its the constant work load.

[kenntomasch]

I heard on his way out of town, he made a sizeable donation to Jackson Memorial Hospital.









To establish a glaucoma research and treatment center.

[BenC1357]

An open letter to Mr. Ricky Williams.

Dear Mr. Ricky Williams,

You are not, nor will you ever be, Barry Sanders or Jim Brown.

I thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Ben







Ok, on a more serious note. What a selfish bastard!!! You have linemen busting their ass all post season trying to get ready to work even harder to get you another great year. You have a franchise, composed of fans, players and ownership, that you've just hung out to dry. If you make this decision in January, the team can cut their losses and find another option. Now you've left a team, that mind you gave a LOT to get you, with nothing.
Have fun smokin' reefer in Asia. I hope you go broke and we see your ass on 'Beyond the Glory' in 10 years talking about how you are a drug addict living on the streets. What a childish, selfish prick.

[kenntomasch]

That was a more serious note?

[Northside Rovers]

I'm just mad because I traded Marshall Faulk for him at the end of last season.

Now I got nothing.

[skipshady]

That was a more serious note?
Seriously. I just can't manage to work up the rage and venom like some other folks. He did what every one of us would have done (well, other than the timing of the annoucement) if we had financial security and wasn't all that interested in fame or football.

NFL contracts are the least player-friendly in all the major sports, and I can't think of a major team sport that is more damaging to the joints and the brain. NFL teams hang players out to dry all the time. What's one player?

And it's not like everyone didn't know Ricky was a little eccentric. The Dolphins knew they weren't getting a typical jock - so they got burned. Big whoop. There's no Mayflower truck backing into Pro Player anytime soon, and the team will eventually move on and continue their grand tradition of folding in December.

Does anyone really think this year would've been any different? They should be thankful that for two years, he was the difference between mediocrity to sniffing distance of New England's' jocks.

I applaud you, Ricky. Way to get out of the sport while you still know how to tie your shoelaces and for giving Dolfans another excuse for their annual winter swoon.