I was sad when I heard about the Ricky decision on the way home from work. He's undoubtedly one of the greatest wastes of "scary good" talent that I've ever seen. I followed him when he was at Texas, and when he was a junior, I marvelled at his pure talent. I said, "Man...I'd give a lot to have that guy as a Dolphin." I got my wish.
Bottom line: Ricky messed up. Even if this suspension was due to accidental ingestion of poppy-seed covered Sudafed, you just can't DO that in his situation. He knew he already had three strikes. He's a nice guy, and has apparently become much more team oriented in the past year, but...he's gone for 2006. If he wants to come back in 2007 at 30 years old and make good, God bless. I hope it works out.
NOW:
Get one thing straight. The Dolphins do not NEED Ricky Williams. Would he have been an asset to the team? Absolutely. Will the Dolphins collapse because of this? Absolutely, positively not...and those of you who are predicting the Dolphins' demise because of this really need to take a better look at this team. Think back to all of the POSITIVES that have happened this offseason:
1) Dom Capers, the artist formerly known as a Defensive Coordinator.
2) Mike Mularkey.
3) L.J. Shelton.
4) Daunte Freaking Culpepper for a second round pick. (And seriously, love him or hate him, just remember that we basically got A.J. Feeley for the same price under the Wanny regime.)
5) Almost certainly Joey Harrington as Daunte's insurance policy.
6) Arguably one of the best two or three fullbacks in the league in Fred Beasley.
7) We capably filled our FA losses with FA signings (Allen for Madison, Cooper for Schulters...okay that one's a stretch, but you get my drift.)
Now consider that Ronnie Brown has a year of experience under his belt, with an upgraded offensive line...which is in it's second year under Houck...and an absolute beast of a fullback to make holes for him.
Excited yet? I am. Then remember that sometime next year, probably in October, the guy that's gonna be handing the ball off to Ronnie has an absolute howitzer for an arm, and he's a hell of a lot more accurate than Gus Frerotte.
THEN remember that Channing Crowder's a year older and more expereinced. So is Manny Wright. And Matt Roth.
Then realize...we don't need Ricky nearly as much as we might have thought. This team was already far better than last year with OR WITHOUT Ricky. The saddest thing about this situation is probably that we didn't need Ricky nearly as much as he needed us.
Goodbye for this year, Ricky. I hope to see you in 2007, and I hope you can contribute, because I REALLY think we'll be ready to finally get that ring at the end of next year.
But if we have to...we can do it without you.
Bottom line: Ricky messed up. Even if this suspension was due to accidental ingestion of poppy-seed covered Sudafed, you just can't DO that in his situation. He knew he already had three strikes. He's a nice guy, and has apparently become much more team oriented in the past year, but...he's gone for 2006. If he wants to come back in 2007 at 30 years old and make good, God bless. I hope it works out.
NOW:
Get one thing straight. The Dolphins do not NEED Ricky Williams. Would he have been an asset to the team? Absolutely. Will the Dolphins collapse because of this? Absolutely, positively not...and those of you who are predicting the Dolphins' demise because of this really need to take a better look at this team. Think back to all of the POSITIVES that have happened this offseason:
1) Dom Capers, the artist formerly known as a Defensive Coordinator.
2) Mike Mularkey.
3) L.J. Shelton.
4) Daunte Freaking Culpepper for a second round pick. (And seriously, love him or hate him, just remember that we basically got A.J. Feeley for the same price under the Wanny regime.)
5) Almost certainly Joey Harrington as Daunte's insurance policy.
6) Arguably one of the best two or three fullbacks in the league in Fred Beasley.
7) We capably filled our FA losses with FA signings (Allen for Madison, Cooper for Schulters...okay that one's a stretch, but you get my drift.)
Now consider that Ronnie Brown has a year of experience under his belt, with an upgraded offensive line...which is in it's second year under Houck...and an absolute beast of a fullback to make holes for him.
Excited yet? I am. Then remember that sometime next year, probably in October, the guy that's gonna be handing the ball off to Ronnie has an absolute howitzer for an arm, and he's a hell of a lot more accurate than Gus Frerotte.
THEN remember that Channing Crowder's a year older and more expereinced. So is Manny Wright. And Matt Roth.
Then realize...we don't need Ricky nearly as much as we might have thought. This team was already far better than last year with OR WITHOUT Ricky. The saddest thing about this situation is probably that we didn't need Ricky nearly as much as he needed us.
Goodbye for this year, Ricky. I hope to see you in 2007, and I hope you can contribute, because I REALLY think we'll be ready to finally get that ring at the end of next year.
But if we have to...we can do it without you.
