Ricky Williams interview

[chickenhead]

Apologies if there's already been a discussion, but did anyone see the 60 Minutes interview? Personally, I think it was conducted rather poorly. Wallace asked only the questions that have been asked before, in the "what do you say to your ciritcs" vein, while he adopted the role of critic and not of interviewer.

I feel bad for the Dolphins, I think Williams' departure couldn't have been more poorly timed, and I've been critical of it before. However, even though the interview made little effort to understand his motivations, it was clear that Williams is as high-anxiety as we've all heard. All you have to do is watch the macho BS nearly every linebacker spews in the face of a receiver or tailback as he's picking himself up off the turf to realize that it all must have taken a heavy toll on Williams. When he said that he didn't know 2 days before he left, he must have had a panic attack. Unfortunately, Wallace didn't ask about that in between all his demands for apologies. I'm sure at the beginning of the offseason, Williams was just so happy to have a break that he didn't really consider retiring.

Anyway, we'll see how it all plays out. I hope he and the Dolphins reach an amicable settlement that allows both to move on.

 

[Russ Smith]

Apologies if there's already been a discussion, but did anyone see the 60 Minutes interview? Personally, I think it was conducted rather poorly. Wallace asked only the questions that have been asked before, in the "what do you say to your ciritcs" vein, while he adopted the role of critic and not of interviewer.

I.

My girlfriend said she thought Wallace was too hard on him, that he was blaming him for his decision. I simply can't convince her that's not so much his retiring, as WHEN he told them, that caused the hard feelings.

Ricky doesn't seem to grasp that either, the problem he has is he says he didn't know, but LeBatard(the Miami writer) and Priest Holmes have both said Ricky told them months earlier he was probably retiring, if he'd told Miami he was considering it, they'd at least have had SOME warning and been able to prepare either by drafting a RB, or trying to convince Ricky to stay. he was lobbying for Trestman as OC for a very simple reason, Trestman likes to pass the ball and Ricky wanted his workload reduced, so to say he didn't know until the very end is hard to swallow.

I did think he made Wallace look pretty stupid when he said "when would it be ok for me to retire? When my knees are shot, my body worn down?" Wallace didn't have an answer other than to seemingly be telling Ricky to calm down. It's a valid point.

again when Ricky was at Texas they had Earl Campbell come out to talk to the team, he couldn't walk out onto the practice field on his own power, he needed a cane. Priest Holmes said Ricky told him then, I am never going to let that happen to me, I'm pretty sure this is where it's coming from.

Side note, anybody else think when Wallace was pushing Ricky on how many kids he had, that he was really trying to get Ricky to comment on the old "Ricky is gay" rumors that were circulating when he was first with the Saints? That was the one part of the interview where I was really unhappy with Wallace because to me that's what he was getting at.

 

[chickenhead]

I hadn't heard about him telling Holmes and LeBatard about his plans. Again, I'm not saying Ricky is above criticism on this matter at all, I just think it needs to be in the context of what he's going through. The point about Earl Canpbell is also important, and I wish that had been brought up more in the interview. They did mention in the lead-in that Ricky carried the ball more than anyone else over the past two seasons, but I'm not sure that average viewer came away from that with a real understanding of the physical implications, especially given the fact that Miami was going to keep that pace going indefinitely. Considering Ricky's other interests like yoga and holistic massage, decades of arthiritic pain and immobility must have been a frightening prospect.

The last thing I'll add is that most of us probably hold the right to quit (to stomp out, even) as more sacred than we know. If you had a job where you'd absolutely had it, and it was taking a serious psychological toll, the notice might become a less important factor. This is assuming that the decision really was made close to the preseason, of course. Imagine how silly some of our quittings look to people around the world who make pennies a day. The money isn't necessarily the key issue. The Dolphins invested heavily in a single player whose history should have concerned them. They have EVERY right to try to recoup fair losses, but I won't single him out as the sole negative aspect of this situation.

 

[DeAnna]

Side note, anybody else think when Wallace was pushing Ricky on how many kids he had, that he was really trying to get Ricky to comment on the old "Ricky is gay" rumors that were circulating when he was first with the Saints? That was the one part of the interview where I was really unhappy with Wallace because to me that's what he was getting at.

I've never heard anything about those rumors, but I always thought he was. Just my perception.

 

[pete]

I think it was pretty clear from the interview that Williams had no intentions of working anything out with the Dolphins to where he could be traded to another team, like the Raiders. In fact, Mort on ESPN pretty much confirnmed it last night when he said the whole deal was a favor on the part of the NFL for poor Wayne H., who got bagged on the signing bonus. Poor, poor Wayne H. I feel so sorry for him.

In the end, Ricky told them all to stuff it. Good for him!

 

[Southpaw]

Ya need to understand Huizenga's ego

I think it was pretty clear from the interview that Williams had no intentions of working anything out with the Dolphins to where he could be traded to another team, like the Raiders. In fact, Mort on ESPN pretty much confirnmed it last night when he said the whole deal was a favor on the part of the NFL for poor Wayne H., who got bagged on the signing bonus. Poor, poor Wayne H. I feel so sorry for him.

In the end, Ricky told them all to stuff it. Good for him!

I can recall numerous instances in the NFL, where players have showed up for training camp and then decided to call it quits, just like Ricky. They get to a point where people pressure them to one more year and when they get their, the light bulb goes on. They just can't do it anymore. The big deal is that Wayne H. and the Dolphins were so ill prepared for the loss that they typically went into spin control. The Dolphins under Huizenga always make sure firings , hirings and personnel moves are Public Relations correct for Wayne. That is his way. They did it to Marino, Shula, Jimmy Johnson, Ricky, Wannstedt, et al. Wayne's ego is so huge that he won't be shown up. He would rather buy them off than have it known that anyone called their own shots for their staying or going. Everyone in South Florida knows this. He runs all of his businesses this way. He is King and don't dare cross him. He owns your ass.

 

[sundevilscott]

When I watched the interview I felt like I was hearing the same type of answers my 8 year old twins would give. The guy came off bad in my eyes.

 

[Russ Smith]

I've never heard anything about those rumors, but I always thought he was. Just my perception.

Started his rookie year, forget which 49er came right out and said it but apparently that was the rumor. I don't know or care if he is or not but I got the impression that was what Wallace was trying to get at and it just didn't seem fair to me but I may have read something that wasn't really there.

 

[pete]

Well it figures a 49er would be doing the speculating. Maybe he wanted a date.