Ricky Williams to play for Toronto Argonauts
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Bill Jempty | Sunday, May 28, 2006 |
From the Palm Beach Post-
Running back Ricky Williams received permission from the Dolphins on Sunday to play for the Toronto Argonauts during the 2006 season, the Dolphins announced.
Shortly before, the Argonauts scheduled a 4 p.m. news conference in Toronto to announce that they indeed signed Williams, who is expected to attend.
Details of the deal are not yet known, but Williams likely will earn upward of $350,000 for the one-year deal.
Following the CFL season, Williams will wait until the end of the NFL season to seek reinstatement after fulfilling a one-year suspension.
If he is reinstated, he will be bound to return to the Dolphins based on details of legal documents faxed to the Dolphins from the Argonauts on Saturday evening.
This has been rumored for over a month. I’m just surprised the Dolphins are allowing this. What if Williams gets seriously injured playing in the CFL? Put aside his drug use and other personality problems, Williams is possibly the best running back in the NFL. That’s based on his play prior to 2004.
Then maybe Miami isn’t planning on Ricky being a part of the team’s future. There is good reason to question his desire to play in the NFL.
Does the CFL have a drug policy? If they do, it doesn’t seem to be much of one. Why would they otherwise allow a NFL player suspended for drug use to play in their leauge. I know next to nothing about the CFL but allowing Williams to play is beyond me.
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What does the Dolphins have to lose? The risk of an injury is a much lower risk compared to the reward for seeing him shape up and perform. Use occams razor.
1) He stays out of trouble or not.
If he stays out of trouble, then decide if his talents are still there. If not, they know for sure and don’t waste a spot on the team roster for a less talented but potentially contributing player.
2) He has a great year or not.
If we got past the problem of his staying out of trouble, then we find out how he plays. If the stress of him staying out of trouble keeps him from playing well, then its again better to know now. If he stayed out of trouble and he played well, then the Dolphins have a good thing on their hands.
3) He gets injured or not.
At this point, Ricky is only valuable if he stayed out of trouble and played well. If he then gets injured, thats a real bummer for the dolphins. On the other hand if he passes the above tests without injury, he is what they want.
Contrast this to the other alternative. They tell him to sit out the season, stay in shape and wait until next year. First, are they really likely to know what they are getting next year, second is the chances of him staying out of trouble greater or less if he doesn’t have the game to focus on and third, he could get injured playing amature athletics while he is waiting around.
This definately seems like the right move by the dolphins.
As far as the CFL drug rules, less face facts. The CFL is not the first choice. They don’t get the star players just because the player wants the prestige of playing in the CFL. A local college has a “0 GPA” transfer policy. You come in with a blank slate. Your graduation GPA is what you earn at that school. Needless to say, they get a fair number of students who have messed up academically and are looking for a second (or third) chance. It’s a tough school academically and they regularly weed out a large portion of the classes. Partly from the usual student issues. Partly because there may be a reason a student needs that second chance. But the student who is really ready to put theit past behind them gets the chance. Perhaps the CFL has a similar approach, where they will test Ricky for drugs, but not assume past behavior is controlling. They also get to have a player of a caliber they could never hope to have otherwise.
I like the idea of him playing as well – make sure he doesn’t get rusty, having him stay in playing shape, etc.
Iâ??m just surprised the Dolphins are allowing this
I’m not.
Miami’s likely thinking he has a better chance of returning to Miami, even with the chance of injury.. thinking that with the deal, he’ll be less likely to get into trouble again.
If getting the guy back is a goal, this seems a reasonable thought.
The question to my mind is, good player or not, why are they even dealing with the guy?
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