Ricky Williams seems to be something of a living enigma. With an inordinate amount of football talent, Williams brought great hope to the Dolphins’ lackluster running game in the 2002 season. With the exception of his 1999 season with the New Orleans Saints during which he had just 884 rushing yards on 253 carries, Williams has done well. He had 1,000 rushing yards in 2000 on 248 carries and 1,245 rushing yards on 313 carries over two years before joining the Dolphins.

When he joined Miami in 2002, instead of playing a role in the backfield, he was asked to spearhead the Dolphins’ offensive explosion. Ricky racked up 1,853 rushing yards on 383 carries almost like a machine; Do you think they ran the ball that year? By the time the 2003 season rolled around, the hype around Ricky Williams was staggering. Ricky was thrown into the spotlight not only by the local media, but also by the national media hailing him as the next great running back in the NFL. This only increased an issue that he was already escalating. The Dolphins continued to use Ricky in the 2003 season in the same way they had the previous year; he compiled a staggering 392 carries, but only 1,372 rushing yards. Opposing teams seemed to realize that Miami was going to run the ball a lot.

Just before the Dolphins’ training camp began, on July 25, 2004, Ricky Williams made a phone call to the team to announce that he had planned to “retire” and not play the 2004 season. Ricky cited many reasons for his choice to leave the highly-paid football career. He said: “I just don’t want to be in this business anymore,” adding: “I was never strong enough not to play football, but I am strong enough now.” Ricky also added that he was “finally free” and that he didn’t remember being so happy. The Dolphins were not. Miami ended up finishing that season with a 4-12 year. The Dolphins’ savior had become his downfall. The story of Ricky Williams’ decision to quit football to pursue a career as a holistic healer often made headlines during the 2004 season, and many twists and turns arose in that time, including Ricky’s failure of a drug test due to marijuana use just prior to his decision to quit football.

Last season, Williams returned to the Dolphins to play football and tried to get some of the money he owed them for the 2004 season he didn’t play. Ricky missed the first four games of the season and served a suspension for his failed drug test before training camp the previous year. He came back slowly, only managing seven rushing yards in the first two games of his return. Ricky then finished the season with two games during which he gained over 100 rushing yards. At this point, Nick Saban was onto something; he not only had an established power back in Ricky Williams, but he also had a fine back in Ronnie Brown. He enters the two-headed monster of power and finesse.

Now the half power of the two-headed monster is gone. Williams failed another drug test last month and the NFL just suspended him for one year as of last week. The real question isn’t “How will the Dolphins welcome him next year or use him as trade bait?” The real question is how well Nick Saban can convince his team that Ricky Williams is insignificant to his success. While most of us know Williams is a great running back, I doubt his lack of play this season will seriously affect his chances in the AFC East. The Dolphins have improved a lot this offseason, and their competition in the division has either lost key players or been inactive in free agent signings. The Patriots (God bless them) have lost Adam Vinatieri, Ted Washington and probably the biggest hit of all, Willie McGinnest. Not to mention the fact that the Patriots seemed to ignore the latest free agent signing. Meanwhile, the Jets and Bills don’t seem to offer much of a challenge.

So it looks like the Dolphins will survive this year with the loss of Ricky Williams. Unless something else happens to derail their train off the tracks, they appear to be the favorites to win the AFC East. However, what about Ricky? What will become of his career? Will he play for the Dolphins next year? What will happen to his legacy? Well, only time will tell. Only Ricky can decide his future. Either he can serve his one-year suspension and come back and try to be a model NFL player again, or he can mix dried herbs in a burlap bag and feed them to the natives of the Australian outback. He maybe he can get a gig with the Amsterdam Admirals in NFL Europe. Either way, the Dolphins are much better this year than they were in 2004; Ricky Williams, not so much.

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