June 8, 2006

WHY HAS THE RICKY WILLIAMS SIGNING CAUSED SUCH A KERFUFFLE?

       So, who cares if the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League signed a running back that hasn’t been a star player for three years?  Who really cares that Ricky Williams, after being suspended for the season by the NFL for violating the league’s substance abuse program, decided to play this year in a different league?  Who really gives a damn that the CFL, the NFL, the Miami Dolphins and the Argos all had to work together to hammer out an amenable agreement in order for Williams to play?  Who could possibly care?  Well…apparently everyone.

       The signing has sparked waves of controversy inside both Canada and the United States and has seemingly divided observers into two dichotomous camps.  On the one side of the river are the positive and supportive types—those that believe in someone’s right to earn a living and so on and so forth.  On the other side are the bitter antagonists that believe one league’s suspension should carry over to all other leagues.  Countless members of the media, the fans, the NFL and the CFL have voiced their opinion on the matter which has sent the simple story of a running back signing a one year contract to play football hurtling into the stratosphere.

       The one who was the most vocal, and seemingly the most upset at the signing, was former CFL and NFL quarterback and present day ESPN announcer Joe Theismann.  In an elongated diatribe caught on the Fan 590 radio station in Toronto Theismann proved to anyone unfamiliar with him that he possesses an uncanny ability to cook what amounts to very little knowledge and turn it into an elaborate smorgasbord of stupidity.  In criticizing the signing he pointed out Williams’ drug history and mentioned that Ricky would be better off in a rehab center.  Not knowing that there are very few rehab centers for marijuana smokers, and ignoring the fact the many, many more football players have been suspended for far more lethal drug use, only to be allowed back into the league following their suspension, Theismann showed how extremely naive he is and how completely oblivious he is to the sports world, and more pointedly, the football world around him.  If he wants to show his outrage he should do so on more serious topics such as figuring out why so many former football players are being busted for drug trafficking. 

       The entire ordeal is a mystery to me.  Ricky Williams is a football player who, like many before him, is trying to salvage the remnants of what was once a promising career.  For a few years Ricky was one of the better running backs in the NFL and one of the few that could be classified as a franchise player.  Certainly Mike Ditka thought so when he traded away half of the New Orleans Saints roster to acquire him on draft day.  And Miami thought their days as a pretender ended when they managed to pluck Williams from that same New Orleans club.  But Ricky was always a man of many dreams, a man of many desires, and a man of many moods.  One day he simply decided that smoking weed was more important to him than his football career.  While those who know him say that Ricky is smart…it does not necessarily mean that smart people always make the smartest decisions.  That decision likely cost Ricky his football career.  When Ricky changed his mind last year and came back to Miami he discovered that his talent had waned, and he was no longer the dominant football player he was when he left the game.  Now a certain herb he insists is strictly used during yoga has cost him another, and this time more lengthy, suspension from the NFL.  Instead of wasting another year, however, he decided to play football in Canada. 

       Will Ricky be a dominant player in a so-called inferior league?  Likely not.  His game is not set up for Canadian game where speed is valued far more than power.   To show his seriousness though Ricky lost a considerable amount of weight and came to camp sporting a much more sleek and slender build.  Perhaps this new body will enable him to be more successful, but the Canadian game is a passing game and unless Ricky becomes that monster receiver out of the backfield he will be just another running back netting his 50-60 yards a game on the ground.       

       In the end the signing will prove to be a success.  His name has brought fans out of the woodwork.  It should improve attendance around the league and will spark interest across the country.  At the end of the year he will leave and go back to Miami where he will hopefully be able to reconstruct his career and return to his dominant ways, however unlikely that will be.