NFL

Contrite Williams commits to team

"I'm back here to work," Dolphins RB says after spending a bizarre year away from the NFL.

By JOANNE KORTH
Published July 26, 2005

DAVIE - Looking more like a yoga instructor than an NFL running back, Ricky Williams sounded like a man who had found a way to achieve inner peace and carry a football.

The Dolphins sure hope so.

One year after his abrupt retirement sent the Miami franchise reeling, Williams participated in the team's first practice Monday noticeably lighter and vastly enlightened.

Unable to say why he was back, a barefoot and bearded Williams assured he is committed to blending his lifelong passion for football with his quest for harmony.

Without marijuana.

"I've been away doing my own thing, studying alternative theories about life," Williams said. "It can't be picked up in a sound bite or really easily understood. The best way I can think to put it is, I'm back here to work."

Williams, 28, spent the past year searching for freedom. He bid farewell to the regimented world of NFL drug tests to study yoga in India, live in a tent in Australia and learn holistic medicine in northern California. And, to smoke marijuana.

During his travels, he discovered a surprising truth.

"I thought freedom was doing whatever you want to do whenever you want to do it," he said. "I realized that freedom is having the strength to be in any situation and be content with that situation. So I see this as a great opportunity for me to work on that."

A former Heisman Trophy winner at Texas and first-round draft pick of the Saints, Williams was traded to the Dolphins in 2002. In two seasons with Miami, Williams rushed for 3,225 yards and 25 touchdowns and set single-season team records for yards (1,853), attempts (392) and touchdowns (16).

No one, including then-coach Dave Wannstedt, saw it coming when Williams called one week before training camp to announce his retirement. Angry fans shredded their No.34 jerseys, the Dolphins spiraled to 4-12 and Wannstedt resigned.

Williams, whose return to the team was facilitated by first-year coach Nick Saban, reported to camp Sunday and promptly apologized to teammates for the hurt he caused.

"It was probably pretty hard for him to come out and apologize, but you could tell he wasn't just doing it because somebody told him to," linebacker and team leader Zach Thomas said. "He did it coming from the heart. He was sincere and honest and you felt him."

By Monday, teammates were teasing Williams in the locker room, saying he looked like a homeless man with his shaggy beard and sprouting dreadlocks.

"He is one of the guys again," said defensive end Jason Taylor, who attended a Halloween party last year dressed as Williams, complete with dreadlocks, No.34 jersey and joint. "He is back in the family. ... Just don't leave again."

Williams will be temporarily unavailable.

As a result of previous violations of the league's substance-abuse policy, Williams is suspended for the first four regular-season games, with his debut scheduled for Oct.16 at Tampa Bay. He can participate in training camp and all five Dolphins preseason games.

Williams said he is done smoking pot.

"I'm hopeful that his moral compass will be what it needs to be," Saban said.

Saban declined to address speculation that Williams' greatest value to the team is as trade bait. The Dolphins used their first-round draft pick in April on Auburn running back Ronnie Brown, who likely will be the focus of the running game.

The 5-foot-10 Williams reported at 213 pounds, about 10 pounds under his 2003 playing weight, but sees no reason he cannot return to form - or better. Saban said Williams will begin at the bottom of the depth chart, behind players who participated in the offseason program.

"If I put my heart and my energy into just working, the results will come," he said.

Another incentive for Williams' return was a judge's ruling that the Dolphins were within their rights to seek repayment of $8.6-million of Williams' signing bonus for breach of contract. The team hasn't demanded the money, and with Williams back in the fold negotiations can be begin, among with many other contractual issues.

"Everyone knows now I have three children, so I was looking at my future," he said. "Whether I wanted to go back to school or start a new job, I'd have that settlement chasing me. So, I can't say that didn't play into my decision."

As stipulated by the contract he signed as a rookie, Williams' one-year absence means he will make $540,000 in base salary this season, the league minimum for a player with his experience. He would have made $3.7-million had he stayed.

Which is not to say Williams isn't richer for the year he spent away from football. Sorry for the turbulence it caused, Williams does not regret leaving. The lessons he learned were valuable, including how to be happy.

"A lot of people think happiness comes from outside things," he said. "Happiness arises when you have contentment. Contentment comes from the inside. Just learning to be content with whatever situation I was in, whether I was in the Himalayas, whether I was in school, whether I was out there on the field today.

"You know, I'm learning to be happy in any situation."

[Last modified July 26, 2005, 01:16:15]