Photo: Marc Serota/Getty Images
That might be all she wrote for Ricky Williams’ career as a Miami Dolphin. It’s been one hell of a roller coaster ride, what with his leave of absence and the whole marijuana thing and then his return to Miami, but Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots might just be the final time Williams wears a Dolphins jersey.
It’s no secret the Williams hasn’t been happy all season, what with his split carries with Ronnie Brown, who was obviously underperforming in comparison, and he didn’t try to hide it.
In his final appearance with Sid Rosenberg on WQAM-560, Williams laid it all on the table, addressing every issue from the offense’s struggles to Tony Sparano to the impending free agency. But there’s one thing he made quite certain: he’s ready to move on from Miami.
“It seems like now is time to move on,” said Williams. “I was drafted in 1999, and this is the first time I’ve been a free agent. I’m excited to see what happens.”
Williams didn’t have the season he’d anticipated, getting 159 carries for 673 yards and two touchdowns. He felt under-appreciated and angry, which was evident when he laid a ripping into his team:
Williams lays into Sparano’s coaching style: “Tony goes through a lot of effort to show us the things it takes to win football games. Not turning the ball over, converting third downs, scoring in the red zone. He spends a lot of time saying, ‘If you do these things, you win.’ And sometimes I feel personally that he does a little bit too much. My personal opinion is if you have the right attitude that, ‘You guys are going to win,’ then all that other stuff takes care of itself. … Coach (Nick) Saban had a saying. He said, ‘We’re worried about mouse manure, when we have elephant s— all over the place.’ I want to really start focusing on what I want to accomplish and what it is I want to achieve, but not micromanaging this or that and focusing on the little things. It’s keeping my eye on the prize and putting myself in a supporting environment and going to work every day with a smile on my face.”
Williams not pleased with last three seasons under Sparano: “Not a great fit for me. … It was an experience for me, and I learned a lot about myself and I got better as a football player, but at the same time, I didn’t enjoy it. For me it’s about playing football, it’s about having a good time and it’s about working hard.”
Williams rants about Marshall as teammate: “Being around Brandon a lot – I like the guy, I think the world of him – but as a teammate, sometimes he makes it difficult to like him and support him. It’s not necessarily what he says, it’s when he says it and the way he says it. But for the most part the things that he says are things that everyone else wants to say, but no one has the courage, or the balls. And some of it is intelligence – they’re smart enough not to say those things, because they don’t want to burn bridges. But when you have $50 million, then you can get away with whatever you want.”
Williams rips season finale in New England: “It’s like we weren’t prepared. We didn’t show up. I had a little bit of a sense during the week of practice that we weren’t maybe as focused or preparing as well as we needed to. … Usually after a rough season there’s a sense of relief when it’s over with, but I didn’t feel like that. It’s the contrast with what they have going on in New England and what we have going on here, and it’s a very stark contrast. … They had less to play for than we did … and they played harder than any team we played all year, and I just expect that from my team. I’m not angry at my teammates. I’m angry at the situation. That’s the coaches, myself, teammates. That’s everyone. That’s the whole environment that we have there, and I’m just frustrated that it’s not better.”
On the major difference between the Patriots and the Dolphins: “They have a quarterback.”
It’s more than likely that Williams will not be returning to Miami. It’s clear that he doesn’t want to be a Dolphin and, after the public ripping of his team, it’s pretty likely the Dolphins do not want him back.
What do you think of Williams’ remarks? Were they warranted? Would you still like to see him back as a Dolphin in 2011? Sound off below!
Alyssa Barbieri can be reached at MadSportsGal06@aol.com or at Twitter.com/MadSportsGal or Facebook.com/MadSportsGal
