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Just another week before training camp opens and football is back. I was checking some local sports pages for
some Miami Dolphins news and came across a blog by the Maimi Heralds Armando Salguro. The blog title read; “Ricky
could be best player on Fins’ roster”. I am a big Ricky Williams fan when he’s playing football and not quiting or
going on some life quest in search of the soul inside myself. I can tell you from the training camp sessions and
OTA’s including quarterback camps and other drills, Ricky Williams is the hardest working guy on the field. Ricky
finishes runs even in practice so if you’re a defender who likes to take a few plays off and relax in the hot South
Florida sun. You could be the next victim with an imprint of Rickys’ helmet on your chest. I really wish we didn’t
have all the drama associated with Ricky because he is just one incredible athlete.
You don’t have to believe me, Armando Salguro wrote; “Ricky Williams looked every bit the best player on the
field the last time the Dolphins were together for one of their offseason practices. He ran with authority, he
showed quickness, and he never let himself shift out of top gear, even in drills that didn't mean much.” Ricky,
with cartoon superhero muscles bulging out of his jersey sleeves, caught the eyes of anyone paying attention. No
wonder he was the only player Dolphins football czar Bill Parcells congratulated with a fist bump as he was coming
to the sideline after one workout. That practice came in June, in shorts, in the middle of what the NFL mistakenly
calls the offseason. But when the Dolphins gather again next week for the start of training camp, the first leg of
their regular-season marathon, there is nothing that suggests Williams won't again be one of the team's better
players.
He might even be the most talented player the Dolphins roster has to offer and that is great news for Ricky
Williams, But not so great for the Dolphins. It has been six years since Williams rewrote the Miami record book
with those stirring 1,853 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns in 2002. His encore 1,372-yard-season in 2003 still merits
appreciation mostly because it came behind a broken offensive line that delivered neither holes nor hope. For any
running back about to embark on this new season, those long-passed days should seem like a career ago. For Williams,
they should seem like a lifetime ago because those years came before the retirement, the first NFL-mandated drug
suspension, the second NFL-mandated drug suspension and the season-ending injury last year. AFC East watch your back
because Ricky Williams is back.
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