This Time it's for Real

When he was on the field, Williams was one
of the most feared backs the game has ever
seen.

We've heard this story before, but this time it looks like it's official.

After 11 great, but controversial NFL seasons, Baltimore Ravens running back Ricky Williams has decided  against taking handoffs next season and will retire.

Williams, 34, played is college ball at the University of Texas, where he was twice named a Consensus All-American and received college football's highest individual honor. Despite finishing fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1997, Williams would claim the award the following season, receiving 85.23 percent of the vote.

Since the award was created in 1935, Williams is one of only six players to received 80-plus percent of the vote and only the third to tally 85 or more. USC's Reggie Bush, whose 2005 award has since been vacated, and Troy Smith (2006) are the only other to receive that high of a vote total, 91.77 and 91.63, respectively.

The former Longhorn standout finished his Heisman campaign with 2,124 rushing yards on 361 carries, scoring 27 touchdowns.

Williams completed his collegiate career as major college football's all-time leading rusher with 6,279 yards. However, just a year after setting the record, Williams' successor of the prestigious award, Ron Dayne, broke that record, rushing for 1,834 in his Heisman season, bringing his career total to 6,397.

Till this day, Dayne and Williams are still the most productive backs in FBS history.

The New Orleans Saints and then-head coach Mike Ditka drafted Williams with the fifth overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft. The Hall of Fame coach traded all six of the team's draft picks that season and their first- and third-round picks in 2000 to the Washington just to draft the 226-pounder.

While he was productive in his rookie season, it was in Williams' second year that he eclipsed the 1,000-yard threshold for the first time in his career, rushing for 1,000 yards on the dot. That season Williams led the Saints to their first playoff appearance since 1992, helping them record their first playoff win in franchise history, defeating the St. Louis Rams, 31-28.

New Orleans was ousted from the postseason the following week by the Minnesota Vikings. Those would be the only two playoffs game Williams played in for the Saints.

Williams would play one more season in New Orleans before being traded to the Miami Dolphins prior to the start of the 2002-03 season.

In order to acquire the former Heisman Trophy winner, the Dolphins gave the Saints their '02 first-round draft choice, swapped their fourth-round draft positions for the same draft and a conditional third-round pick for 2003.

A hefty price to pay, but no nearly the cost New Orleans paid to draft him. Miami, at least initially, would be rewarded.

In his first season in South Beach, Williams became the league's rushing leader, carrying the ball 383 for 1,853 yards, putting together, at the time, the eighth best rushing season in NFL history. Williams also led the NFL in yards per game that season, averaging 115.8 and scored a career-high 16 TDs.

He would be named his first and only Pro Bowl and All-Pro team.

Following up his breakout campaign, Williams rushed for his fourth straight 1,000-yard season and became the definition of a workhorse for Miami. In his first two seasons with the Dolphins, Williams carried the ball a combined 775 times, by far the most in the NFL.

After the best two seasons of his career, Williams surprised everyone, choosing to retire from the NFL after violating the league's drug policy and facing a four-game suspension to start the 2004-05 season. It was the second time in threes years Williams had tested positive for marijuana, and along with his suspension, he was slapped with a $650,000 fine.

When his first retirement was made officially on August 2, 2004, Williams was ruled ineligible for the upcoming season.

Miami countered Williams' retirement by drafting Auburn standout, Ronnie Brown, with the No. 2 pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. In his rookie season, Brown, taking most of the snaps vacated by Williams, narrowly missed rushing for 1,000 yards, rushing for 907.

Williams and Brown formed a more than
respectable one-two punch in the
backfield.

However, Williams returned to the Fins the following year, paying back most of his signing bonus and served his four-game suspension. The 12 games Williams played that season, he rushed for 743 yards on just 168 carries.

His second stint didn't last long. In 2006, Williams went north of the border, playing for the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League.

Williams would be reinstated into the NFL in 2007 by Commissioner Roger Goodell -- a decision that was contingent upon Williams taking multiple drug tests throughout the week. In his first game back, on Monday Night Football, Williams torn one of his pectoral muscles and was placed on injured reserve not long after.

Williams wasn't the one only that missed time that season -- a season that saw the Dolphins almost go winless, finishing the year 1-15. Brown missed the final nine games of the regular season due to a knee injury and also found himself on IR.

In 2008, with a healthy Brown, a new head coach and Bill Parcells calling the shots, Williams was apart of the wildcat offense and making his first playoff appearance since his second year in New Orleans.

2009 would be Williams last run at something special. Brown was placed on IR with a right foot injury just nine games into the season, giving Williams his starting job back.

He rushed for 1,121 that season. It had been six years between 1,000-yard seasons for Williams -- an NFL record.

Williams spent one more season in Miami before signing a two-year contract this past August to join the Ravens. He served as Ray Rice's backup and played in all 18 games this season, including both of Baltimore's postseason games where they ultimately fell in the AFC Championship Game.

In 147 regular season games, Williams finishes his career with 10,009 rushing yards, becoming only the 26th player in NFL history to eclipse that mark. He scored 74 career TDs and was one of the rare running backs with the ability to catch the football. Williams caught 342 passes in his career for 2,606 yards.

Whatever the future holds, Williams will be remembered for his shaggy dreadlocks, rock solid physique, but fragile personality. He had the potential to be one of the greatest running backs in NFL history.

Instead he might be the most misunderstood figure in sports.