Billy Ocean

More details to come... is this guy nutty or what?

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"To live outside the law you must be honest." - Bob Dylan

Billy Ocean

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"To live outside the law you must be honest." - Bob Dylan

ASNstunta

Very surprising news.

Billy Ocean

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"To live outside the law you must be honest." - Bob Dylan

Omar12

no

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1846012

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"If I haven't seen it its new to me"

Ace_O_Spades

My first impression: Wow

My second impression: Who cares... I'm not a dolphins fan

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Feh.

soccerchamp76

More power to him, life is more important than your job.

The only thing that matters is that he is happy right now with his decision and will get to do what he truly wants. That is all that matters.

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Brian Griffin: Ah, if my memory serves me, this is the physics department.
Chris Griffin: That would explain all the gravity.

present_future

He always was a bit off IMO. I guess now he's got more time to grow out his dreads and smoke his reefer.

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The only thing I'll ever ask of you... you gotta promise not to stop when I say when.

BigGov

He shaved his head. It made the news on PTI one day.

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One day an Englishman, a Scotsman, and an Irishman walked into a pub together. They each bought a pint of Guinness. Just as they were about to enjoy their creamy beverage, three flies landed in each of their pints. The Englishman pushed his beer away in disgust. The Scotsman fished the fly out of his beer and continued drinking it, as if nothing had happened. The Irishman, too, picked the fly out of his drink but then held it out over the beer and yelled "SPIT IT OUT, SPIT IT OUT, YOU BASTARD!"

Billy Ocean

So it doesn't matter that he's gone back on his commitment to the Doplhins?

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"To live outside the law you must be honest." - Bob Dylan

Spartak

Wow.

I'm just speechless, I have the highlights of his 2002 season running in my head everytime I think "Ricky Williams".

I think maybe his body was starting to give out, he was called on so many times last season, and wasn't nearly as effective as he was in '02.

Wanndstead to be out of a job next season.

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I can read your mind... looking at you... I can read your mind...

soccerchamp76

Or maybe he simply didn't enjoy playing the game anymore. Just because he can play it well doesn't mean he enjoyed the game. Now he will be able to be retired AND be able to walk without a cane.

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Brian Griffin: Ah, if my memory serves me, this is the physics department.
Chris Griffin: That would explain all the gravity.

Billy Ocean

You didn't answer the question. Does his contractual commitment to his team matter?

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"To live outside the law you must be honest." - Bob Dylan

Xepidemic

i dont know how to take this news. my brother in law got drafted to the dolphins. will poole (cb) from USC. This is definately bad news for the whole team but maybe it will give the rookies a chance to shine.

Kurant

No, it doesn't. He retiring. Miami hasen't paid him for what he hasen't played. Although, Barry had to return some money to the Lions. But personally, that's all horseshit.

It's only a big deal and a somthing to complain about if your a Dolphins fan. Other then that, it's a stand up guy, who's doing somthing he wants to do. I applaud that. Not to many sports figures around like this anymore.

pan6467

Depends, did he take the money or didn't he?

If he didn't take the money then his health and desire becomes first and foremost.

If he took money and pays it back same thing.

As seen in all sports a player can be signed and then have a "bad knee: stomach virus: hangnail: undisclosed ailment" and sit on the DL.

He's being a man and saying "I can't play the game anymore" for whatever his reason. I respect ANY athlete that walks away at the top of his game, rather than staying too long and looking like Willie Mays did in the '70 All Star game, or Ali in his last fight, and so on.

I'm sure it was hard to walk away from all that money and the pressures from agents, family and team to stay, but a man has to do what he feels is right for him and I respect that.

He can walk away as a man and sing as Sinatra sang,

"For what is a man, what has he got?

If not himself, then he has naught.

To say the things he truly feels;

And not the words of one who kneels.

The record shows I took the blows -

And did it my way!"

More power to ya Ricky.

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I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

CoachAlan

It's something you have to understand about the NFL. Contracts are not binding to the extent they are in other arenas. Both players and owners know this.

The Dolphins could have cut Williams at any time for any reason, regardless of the fact that they made the same commitment to him. It's a risk players take (which is why signing bonuses are so popular), and it's a risk owners take (which is why escalators and incentives are so popular). Such is life in the NFL.

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"If I cannot smoke cigars in heaven, I shall not go!"
- Mark Twain

Grondar

This is quite a surprise.. I mean, wow.

Aside from being pissed that the league is losing such talent, it does seem like a nice decision on his end.

If he has invested (and not wasted) his earnings over the last five years, he can now life a good life from here on out. He got out before he got battered and bruised, and if he can pull it off, more power to him.

That being said, this really sucks for Dolphin fans, because he was the key component of their offense, and with him gone, major changes are likely going to be made.

Also, it's an interesting time to announce the retirement, with training camps starting up and all. I think it would have been nice for him to give some indication prior to the draft, so the his team could look for a future replacement, but maybe he didn't care about the team, or hadn't made his decision yet at the time.

It's a good move for him, but a very bad decision for football and his fans.

In regards to his salary, this is from ESPN's story:

Article can be found HERE.

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"Yes, I rather like this God fellow. He's very theatrical, you know, a pestilence here, a plague there. Omnipotence. Gotta get me some of that." -Stewie

crewsor

Thats shocking. I can't imagine anyone saw this coming. I think it's going to be a huge loss for Miami. He was such a major part of their offense. Hell, he practically was their offense.

But I guess he must have his reasons. It's gotta be hard to walk away from that kind of dough. Hope he saved and invested well.

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We all have wings, some of us just don't know why.

wrongfullyaccuzd

I agree with crewsor and everyone else, this is a shock. I remember last year when the Dolphins beat my Bills by rushing Williams (some sort of record) ~45 times, I thought "Man this guy's a horse that will not stop." But yeah, I guess he feels he has better things to do. Even though I hate the Dolphins with a passion, I feel for the organization and especially the fans. He really was their whole offense. Oh well, I guess in the end good news for me.

The real question now is...is it too late to take him out of Madden 2005? Or will he just be out in the first roster updates?

Ace_O_Spades

Ohh reminds me of Barry Sanders all over again now that I'm thinking about it more... His talent will live on unclouded now that he's gone... Unlike guys like Smith

If he wasn't having a good time, I'm glad he left before the season started and he was detramental to the team.

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Feh.

Billy Ocean

I think there's more to it here then money... he made a commitment to the team, he's now going back on that commitment a few days before camp. He could have announced this sooner, which would have given the Dolphins more options.


Sure there's the issue of his own happiness, but I can't overlook how he's screwing the Doplhins and their fans by handling things the way he has. That matters also IMO.

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"To live outside the law you must be honest." - Bob Dylan

SAM821

.... im speechless, if you read my post in the 2004 NFL predictions, i said it all there, but this is the Icing on the cake, what a fucked up offseason...

Can it get any worse for the dolphins? and the answer now is, Yes!

Go Dolphins... " chirp, chirp, chirp" (sounds of crickets)

SiphonX

screw you guys, the dolphins are going to rock, what does it matter if he's gone... im pretty sure we had him last season and didn't even make the playoffs. superstars don't win championships, look at the pistons, marlins, and patriots, they were all amazing teams with role players in their respective positions. this might be a little biased seeing as i'm from miami but im not a dolphins fan so it doesn't matter anyway. the fins still have a good defense and their offense isn't really lacking, jay fiedler is a good QB and has good receivers in Chambers and Boston, as for a running game i guess they'll make some trade or bump up travis minor as the main tailback, eitherway if everyone gets their job done i don't see why they won't make playoffs this year. im 2 cents poorer.

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/Knowledge is Power/

pan6467

Would you rather Ricky sat on the bench with a "mysterious stomach ailment" or "hurt in some lame way"?

Corey Dillon did that to Cincy last year, was that better because he honored his contract but claimed injury, was detrimental to the team and just was a negative in every way. Williams could easily have done that.

I understand what you are saying, but teams don't show loyalty and cut players days before the season or mid season. Then those players are left chasing teams trying to get signed on. Look what the Browns did to Kevin Johnson last year.

And in every sport but baseball the teams usually don't have to pay because the contracts aren't guaranteed.

Again, I'd rather see a player walk away at the top of his game then be a joke and shadow of what he once was.

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I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

siddhartha

Sentimental Dolphins fan here. And it doesn't really matter to me one way or the other, but can you really say he was at the TOP of his game?

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The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older, shorter of breath and one day closer to death.

SAM821

this was on the "runrickyrun.com" website, its ricky williams own personal website that he uses to express himself... its his last journal he wrote... when you read it, it almost gives you a slight indication that something is up in his mind


Over the past few months that I have not been keeping up with my journal entries at all, I have received many e-mails, and personal comments from people asking me if I was going to continue posting them. My reply has always been an apologetic yes, followed by an explanation that I'm been trying to revamp my web site and my life, which leaves little time to write. Today while reading USA Today, the one with my before and after mug shots, I saw a story about writers cleaning their refrigerators -- a metaphor describing a writer's procrastination. To follow with my own metaphor, I have cleaned my fridge and everything else is dirty in my house. I am ready to write again (not that I consider myself a writer). The website is coming along great, by the way. I have found the more feedback I get, the easier it is to do. I am never sure of the things that you all find interesting. To reapply myself to this thing, I am focusing on my true fans. A good friend of mine who lives in L.A. told me a story last night about a school she visited. While at the school, she noticed a vocabulary lesson with my name in it. The class was working on words, and one of the words was 'aggressive.' The little girl wrote "Rickey plays football very aggressively." When I heard this story, I was overcome with a sense of disappointment. Not disappointment over the fact that she spelled my name wrong, but I was disappointed at myself for sometimes forgetting my real fans, like that little girl. It rarely occurs to me that anyone outside of my friends and family pay much attention to me that way. The way kids hang my posters in their rooms, the way they wake up early on Sunday mornings eagerly waiting to see me play, or the way the 3 and the 4 are falling off their "Ricky Williams" jersey because they wear it everyday. Not the way people in a restaurant hear that a football player is seated across from them, disturb my meal to ask me if I play football, if I start, what team do I play for, and ask for an autograph. Not the way they come up to me to tell me the Dolphins suck, and ask me to put down my teammates. To me, that's not a fan. I could go on forever. But who wants to be negative? Not me. Back to the little girl: The story made me realize that their are people who are really interested and touched by my personal account of my daily life. I even met a guy in Australia who recognized me, told me how great my site was and how much it helped his girlfriend deal with some difficult things in her life.
I have also decided to tackle some more of the issues I have in my life. I am trying to be a bit more organized. Both physically and mentally. My thoughts are usually all over the place (as if you couldn't tell in my writing.) I have been working on keeping a schedule, a very loose one, but a schedule. I have also been working on saying what I mean and meaning what I say. I am one of those people who overcommit themselves because they are trying to please everyone. I have also, most importantly, been working on setting goals. Not big ones, and not even football goals like yards or touchdowns. Goals which are simpler. My first goal is to really commit and dedicate myself to setting goals. I have been telling myself I am going to be more goal-oriented for a while now. Another goal I have set is to write more. I hope you all will benefit from that one.

Billy Ocean

I'd rather him sign a contract he could live up to.

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"To live outside the law you must be honest." - Bob Dylan

pan6467

I think he was playing the best HE could so yes he is leaving at the top of his game (may not be as good as some wanted or expected, and that maybe why he felt he needed to retire.)

Easy to say that, but perhaps he just realized he couldn't do it anymore. I truly don't see a reason to demonize the man for following what he believes is best for him. We all want to, and some of us eventually get lucky enough to reach a point where we can.

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I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

Spartak

I beg to differ.

The Pistons had 'Sheed and Big Ben, Marlins had Beckett and Pudge, Pats had Ty Law and Tom Brady. The latter has never lost: a) an overtime game b) a playoff game.

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I can read your mind... looking at you... I can read your mind...

pointbock69

He always was a bit off IMO. I guess now he's got more time to grow out his dreads and smoke his reefer.

In a way, we all want this. I consider myself one of the top players at my job, but if I had a cool few million in the bank, I think I would have myself a house in south Florida and drink beer everyday. It's what I want to do when I am at work, kick back, Drink BEER. Can you imagine being an athlete?? You truly are an animal that is barked at, fucking screamed at, told what to eat, when to eat it, when to go to bed, how to dress for the media, when EXACTLY you will report, and where, and the list goes on. You make a shitload of money, but fuck it, if you make a few million and that world just fuckin pisses you off, you can take it and run. fuck'em all. he was a great running back. In my eyes, not Barry Sanders, but top o' the heap, nonetheless. good luck Ricky, go smoke a big fuckin bowl. enjoy it, cause you ain't gotta take that test anymore!!

cameroncrazy822

This guy's is a head case. He should do what the wants though. With all that money how many of us would continue to work if we didn't have to anymore?

jobu

well if he wants to quit more power to him but, his timing couldn't have been any worse. 1 week before training camp starts and if he had told the dolphins a little earlier then they might have been able to make a run at either george or smith. he basically left the dolphins hanging. if he had really been thinking about this for a while than he could have at least told management so that they could have at least taken some kind of action to fill his position.

Kodega

I never liked Ricky Williams. I knew he was going to screw over the Dolphins like he screwed over the Saints. When he was with the Saints, he had turf toe for two years. Got all whiney about how the team wasn't good enough for him and that he didn't want to play. Now he waits until camp starts, than leaves the Dolphins high and dry. Good riddance Ricky "Turf Toe" Willams, may you never come back.

SiphonX

... i said superstar, sheed, big ben, beckett, pudge, ty law, and tom brady are stars... not superstars. right now brady might be considered a superstar, but at the time he was playing we was just a good QB. superstar would be someone like Shaq, MJ, Kobe, Duncan, Bonds, Pujols, Mariano Riviera, Vick, LaDanian Tomlimson, Randy Moss, and Peyton Manning. Ricky Williams was a star running back, but only had 1 great season and 2 good ones. He's no payton, emmitt, faulk, or sanders. mark my words, the dolphins will be fine, they will not have a miserable season much like everyone would love to believe. in fact... Edgerrin James said he wanted to come back to Miami, we'd prolly have to give up Adewale O... oh well. whatever, we won't sink like all of you here think.

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/Knowledge is Power/

BigGov

What's the difference between stars and superstars? Media coverage.

Meanwhile, the Dolphins have no proven running back, a quarterback controversy, one underrated receiver and one far overrated receiver. And lets not forget the mounds of trouble the coaching staff in Miami has been having this off-season.

Oh, and did I mention they have to play the Bills and the Pats two times next year?

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One day an Englishman, a Scotsman, and an Irishman walked into a pub together. They each bought a pint of Guinness. Just as they were about to enjoy their creamy beverage, three flies landed in each of their pints. The Englishman pushed his beer away in disgust. The Scotsman fished the fly out of his beer and continued drinking it, as if nothing had happened. The Irishman, too, picked the fly out of his drink but then held it out over the beer and yelled "SPIT IT OUT, SPIT IT OUT, YOU BASTARD!"

SiphonX

i'll just stop the argument here, discussing what team is going to succeed or fail before the season has even started it beyond retarded. the great thing about sports is that you never know what is going to happen. football isn't played on paper so none of that matters. the dolphins could suck, could be mediocre, or could win the superbowl, who knows? we'll talk again in january.

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/Knowledge is Power/

Mondak

What Mondak Thinks of Ricky Williams:

He is a pothead who has lost all his motivation to achieve goals or get past any difficult things (such as his failed drug tests and taking responsibility). Instead of dealing with the consequences of his actions, he thinks he has enough money to crawl under a rock and smoke more.

I have watched so many people throw away their lives with this drug. Sure there are lots of people who can use it and have no effect on the rest of their life. But there are also lots of situations like this. It is sad really. Most of the time I say legalize it and help reduce my tax bill. Then I look at this and wonder what is next.

Have fun going up in smoke Rickey.

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All truth passes through three stages:
First it is ridiculed
Second, it is violently opposed and
Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER (1788-1860)

Superbelt

News just broke that Ricky failed his third drug test. Which would have been a huge fine and a mandatory 4 game suspension.
He announced he was quitting right after that.

There ya go people, the reason the flake decided to quit so suddenly.

Average_Joe

Here a small exerp from FoxSports News:

"Williams said, however, that there were "a hundred reasons" for his retirement and that his desire to continue smoking marijuana was only one of them. "

Sad...sad...sad. Poor Dolphins fans.

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I think I'll procrastinate......in a little while.