Ricky Williams: I left the NFL due to Dolphins' bad QBs

Yeah, probably. But he inherited an amazing defense and Fiedler and Lamar Smith were fairly effective in 2000. Fiedler had his best year in 2001, such as it was, though Smith was terrible -- probably ruined by the 50-carry game against the Colts and general overuse. Wannstedt was death to running backs.

 

wait a minuet n 2002 we played Oakland in the second round and was leading until the Fiddler on the roof threw 2 interception s

I thought it was 2003 that we played the Ravens . which year was it where we were beating the socks of the patriots 27 -7 and then they came back and won it. that was the game Jamar Fletcher kept getting burnt .

 

that's true its sort of Wannstedt was to runningbacks as Sparano was to field goal kickers

 

Of what? No playoff appearance in 2002 from our Dolphins.

 

Don't really care why he left...ancient history...doesn't matter.

 

He did inherit a good defense but he got more from it than the guy he inherited it from (JJ). Someone somewhere deserves some credit for getting fairly effective play out of Fiedler and Lamar Smith. Maybe its not Wanny, but someone. As much as Dolphin fans like to wax poetic about those defenses and the running game, the overall offensive talent level was very, very low. And from my recollection, as good as those defenses were they did have a tendency to give up key plays at inopportune times.

Also, I don't believe any RB has been "ruined" by overuse in a single game. Yeah, he had a bad game the next week, but it was only 8 carries, and he had a lot of bad games before that too.

As to whether Wannstedt was "death to running backs," I guess it depends on what you mean by that. Ricky had his best years under Wannstedt. Lamar Smith had his best years under Wannstedt. So did Rashaan Salaam. And Raymont Harris.

 

I perhaps worded it wrong... That is what i meant.

 

In 2000 we beat the Colts in OT (and Lamar Smith had 50 carries and over 200 yards; Fiedler threw 3(?) picks in the first half; Peyton and Vanderjagt choked). The next week we got killed by the Raiders 27-0.

In 2001 we got smothered by the Ravens.

In 2008 we got smothered by the Ravens.

Unless I'm forgetting something, that's it for the playoffs for us in this millennium.

 

The Dolphins O-line that season was a meat grinder. If I were Ricky staring at that situation, I can't say I blame him.

 

In 2000, Lamar Smith had 309 carries (honestly thought it was more) and 1139 yards (3.7 per carry). The next year, he had 313 carries, 968 yards (3.1 per carry). That was pretty much the end of the road for Lamar Smith.

In 2002, Ricky had 383 carries, 1853 yards (4.8 per carry). The next year he had 392 carries, 1372 yards (3.5 per carry). The next year he quit.

Maybe you can't blame Wannstedt for Smith. Lamar was 31 his last year in Miami, and that is very old for a tailback. But it was painful seeing him get fed into defenses and wind up with numbers like 23 carries, 42 yards (I swear that happened).

In 2003 Ricky was still just 26. I remember seeing an article in the 2000s that 375 carries or more in a season was pretty much death to a running back's effectiveness. Williams was Exhibit A, but there were a lot of others.

 

Then consider that he was basically doing it for free in one of the worst contracts ever written in the NFL (not based on personal accomplishments, but team accomplishments and playoff wins). I would have walked too....and Ricky only came back because they gave him a new contract. That alone would drive anybody to be a pothead.

 

Most NFL players have been in bad situations like Ricky was, they just don't quit. Look I love Ricky, I think he's a smart, articulate guy who is open and thoughtful. I thought he was the best Running Back to come into the NFL since Barry Sanders or Eric Dickerson, I think he could have had a HOF career if he wanted it, he was just incredible to watch, maybe the most talented player we have ever had in Miami and that is saying something. But he did quit and thats on him. Maybe he had his reasons and maybe they were good ones but he left in the prime of his career over the roster decisions the coaching staff was making? If he wanted to save his health and move on thats great but I don't think he does himself any favors when he shoves the responsibility on to other people. I mean did he ever approach the coaching staff about this or try to get a trade? I don't know, I've moved on from what Ricky did to the franchise a long time ago but as a fan I just wish I could have seen him play more in his prime, he was amazing. Its too bad he couldn't stay away from the drugs and couldn't make it work here until it was too late.

 

Yeah, you really hardly ever see that anymore. Growing up in the era of 300+ carry, 1500 yard running backs, I still see that as normal, but it probably shouldn't be.

 

ii think it was a whole host of reasons why he quit, but its ancient history now. im just glad i got to watch him run on sundays, it was an absolute treat.

 

Reading some of these posts only re-enforces by belief that athletes are underpaid.

 

That talent should have been in the AFCCG every damn year.

He cost us glory and set the franchise back so far, we are still suffering for it.

 

Ricky is a selfish prick. No surprise he had multiple illegitimate kids. Only cares about his whims.

Great runningback. ****ty guy.

 

Didn't he get into drugs pretty bad?

 

A lot more civil than the conversation over at finheaven (50 pages worth...part of the reason I'm here now). Loved Ricky, loved his personality and he was just such an amazing all around back. Only knock I could understand is that he did it so abruptly, but the man had his issues and management quit on him not knowing what in sweet **** they were doing.

 

He smoked weed, so no. But he probably didn't help the way he was wired a hell of a lot either.

 

Well it all makes sense now. Can't blame him for walking anymore..... I almost quit watching football altogether because of Jay Fiedler and his sugar daddy Pornstache.
Worst era in Dolphins history as they slowly flushed the franchise right down the toilet.

 

Amen!

 

Whooptie.

He rode a very talented defense and a RB to wins until he destroyed both of those as well.

 

Hot take! How well do you know the guy?

 

We were running him into the ground , I would have quit too

 

Ricky had/has mental problems. Not in a "I'll murder you" way, but more of an "I have no idea what I want to do tomorrow, or the day after that, or the day after that...etc".

 

Smith never did much of anything before that either, so there's not much reason to think he was "ruined" by Wannstedt. As I said, Wannstedt was really the only HC that got any real production out of him. And as you note, he was already 31 his last year in Miami.

Ricky also had his best years under Wannstedt. He was ou7t best offensive player and we used him as such. That's what you do. Should we have been throwing 45 times a game with Fielder and the WR corps we had? I certainly don't think so.

That 375 carry thing is pretty arbitrary and not really true. It's OK to have 365 carries, but 375 is too much? Eric Dickerson had 4 375+ carry seasons and rushed for 1650+ in each one. Walter Payton rushed for 1551 yards at age 32 a season after having 381 carries. John Riggins rushed for 1239 and 14 TDs at age 35 a season after having 375 carries. Edgerrin James had 2 1500+ yard seasons after his 387 carry season. Emmitt Smith had 4 365+ carry seasons and had more than 1450 yards in each one. LaDanian Tomlinson had 5-6 great seasons after his 372 carry season. Notably, none of those guys, or any of the other 375+ carry guys (other than Ricky) retired because they got too many carries. Nor are the coaches who had those backs criticized for using their stud RBs too much.

 

Fiedler....uggh..I could not stand him or Wanny as head coach. I still think Sage was the best option and they should have played him..we would have had a much better passing game.

 

Robert Smith of the Vikings also left with a lot in the tank. In fact, I think he had a ton left in his tank. He quit after his best season. I think he was one of the first to really appreciate the trauma he was causing to his body. I have a lot of respect for him for a lot of reasons.

I genuinely like Ricky. He was a character and I think was true to himself in the face of enormous pressures in the NFL. That said, I've done things in my past I struggle to explain. I think that's what this is.

To me, the list of reasonable Ricky grievances look like:

1) Horrible ****ing offensive coordinator -- if the Dolphins had Chan Gailey calling the shots instead of horrid *** Norv Turner, there's little telling what they could have done
2) Horrible offensive line -- again, if the team could have had the 2000-2001 line during 2002-2003, things would have turned out a lot better
3) Horrible coaching generally -- ugh just ugh
4) Horrible trade for Feeley -- ugh ugh ugh
5) A limited but spirited Jay Fiedler...if he even had the athletic ability of Ryan Tannehill, he'd have won so much. Dude was an amazing QB with the very limited talent he had.

 

Could have been a HoFer...maybe the last HoF RB.....what a shame...

 

Screw Ricky. We just won 37-0.