One week after his bizarre, but not entirely shocking retirement, the fallout of Ricky Williams' decision to leave the game to pursue a life in which he is free to smoke marijuana is trickling through his old locker room.
While many former teammates support his decision to leave the game if his heart isn't in it, they seem a bit ticked off that he made his announcement so, ahem, bluntly.
"I would have applauded it if it would have happened in February or May or even one month ago," linebacker Zack Thomas told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. "That would have given us the opportunity to go and get somebody else. ... It's all about timing, because there are a lot of guys depending on each other."
Some teammates were down right vicious. Center Seth McKinnley ripped Williams for the late announcement, prompting Williams to criticize his former teammate's ability to block. McKinnley responded accordingly.
"What Ricky seems to misunderstand is that in a team setting, people are accountable to each other," he said. "He said he doesn't owe me anything. That would be true if we had no association with each other. However, we are on a team. That's the association we have - teammates. He owes me and I owe him - that's the reality of it. I owe him to block to the best of my ability. I owe him because he makes an offensive line look better than it really is. He owes me to run to the best of his ability, and that is all he owes me as a teammate. ... I never quit on him. It's about quitting, and unfortunately that's what he did. He quit on us."
IN TOUCH WITH HIS ROOTS: While some spent their offseason playing golf or fishing, or just chillin', Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez did something slightly different.
With a goal to become fluent in Spanish, Gonzalez spent part of the offseason living in San Miguel Allende, Mexico.
"During the games, if I'd go to Oakland or a place where there are a lot of Latin people - actually almost everywhere - I'd walk out and people would say, "Tony, hola. Como estas?' I'd be like, "Bien.' And then they'd ask me more and I'd be like, "No hablo.' "
MONDAY NIGHT RAW: If former wrestler Brock Lesnar makes it through training camp with the Vikings and plays in an NFL game this season, the accomplishment should not go unnoticed.
Lesnar, who lives in a Minneapolis suburb, hasn't played football since Webster High in South Dakota in 1995. But the 6-foot-3, 290-pounder apparently has tremendous athleticism and stunned the Vikings when he ran a 4.75 40 at a workout.
"This is no bum we're talking about," Vikings coach Mike Tice said. "Is he raw? Yes, of course he is raw. But what I told him is to be patient. I know I'm going to be patient. A guy like him, you never know. It's worth the effort."
Lesnar walked away from a $1.5-million WWE contract to sign a nonbinding rookie contract worth $230,000. He likely will be placed on the practice squad and earn $85,000 for the season.
"People think it's so easy," he said. "They look at it and think, "Oh, it's rough. But I bet it's not that hard.' ... Just watch a football game from the sideline and you'll see how fast and how hard these people are coming at you. Full speed. Three hundred pounds. And when you get hit, it's like a car wreck. It's not for the weak."
Asked what he thought of the naysayers, Lesnar returned to his ring persona: "I haven't really thought about it, and I don't really care."
NFL, ON A ROLL: Falcons quarterback Michael Vick said one goal for his career is to throw for 4,000 yards in a season. Keep in mind, Colts quarterback Peyton Manning had his best season last year and threw for 4,267 yards. ... Want to know why brothers Kevin and Carl Poston have developed a reputation for being hard-nosed negotiators? The Postons have three unsigned franchise players: Orlando Pace, Charles Woodson and Julian Peterson. They also have one unsigned first-round pick: Browns tight end Kellen Winslow.
Information from other news organizations was used in the report.
