The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

Just reported on ESPN a few minutes ago... Ricky's a Raven now.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/6844377/ricky-williams-join-baltimore-ravens-backfield (http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/6844377/ricky-williams-join-baltimore-ravens-backfield)

Too bad.  Good luck, Ricky.

The best thing for Ricky is to start somewhere else with a clean slate.

I wish him well.

after he calls it a career, ricky has to get inducted in the dolphin's ring of honor at some point right?

^^ depends on who you ask

No.

Peace out, Ricky.

I don't think Ricky had the sort of career that gets him into the Ring of Honor.

ha ha ha, thats a funny one. I needed a good laugh today. thanks!

Thanks for the good times Ricky. You were a beast. Best of luck.

How many Dolphins records does Ricky hold?

Some of you are thinking a little too hard about this.  He is, at worst, the second-most productive running back in Miami history.  He deserves to be up there.

Bye Ricky, and thanks.

No.

It's almost pointless to ask, but is there any on-field basis for your position on this matter?

Or are we simply throwing performance out of the window?

he quit the Dolphins to smoke dope in southeast asia. Came back to the NFL and failed another drug test. If you want to "HONOR" him by putting his name up there, my god this franchise really has fallen to new lows.

The man is considered a national joke in every NFL city outsided of Miami (except for B'more now who has to root for him). You don't honor someone like that. Ricky's Dolphins legacy is for stuff that happend OFF the field, not on it!

I hope you are as consistent when it comes to post-career honors for Ray Lewis.

First, Im not a Ravens fan so I don't give a crap who they put in their honor roll.

Second, Ray Lewis is a hall of fame player, the best MLB in the NFL in the past 30 years, who was the leader of the 2nd best defense in NFL history and led them to a Super Bowl. If you want to compare him to Ricky I laugh. If Ricky had the on the field success Lewis had, you MIGHT able to overlook his antics off the field. Maybe! The fact Ricky since 2003 did little to nothing in Miami. He was a back-up the entire time to Ronnie Brown (not exactly backing up Jim Brown or Emmitt Smith), to a hall of fame player you simply don't get it!! Back-Up players DON'T get in the honor roll. Sorry!

If Ricky had the on-field success Ray Lewis had, he'd be a first-ballot Hall of Famer and this entire discussion would be stupid.

Put rather simply: based on his play, do you think Ricky merits the Ring of Honor?  If you are going to disqualify people based on off-the-field issues, then at least be consistent about it.  Jason Taylor chose Dancing With The Stars over the team's offseason, and then went to play for the Jets.  I guess we should bar him, too?

not sure why people have such hate towards ricky. he was a weird guy, but he never did anything that comes close to what most modern athletes are in trouble / in the news for.

he smoked dope, and had/has social anxiety disorder. he didn't beat women, drive drunk, thug out with gangsters in clubs, hang out with dudes shooting up bars, etc...

look at the dolphins record books, and he is the second most successful running back in the history of the franchise. we're talking in 40+ years, and in the era of a significant focus on passing games.

if daniel thomas comes close to what ricky did on a production level for this franchise, then he will be a hell of a running back. chances are we won't see another productive back like ricky in a dolphins uniform for generations to come.

1) Jason Taylor's resume is that of a hall of fame player
2) Jason Taylor was never a back-up (till this year) as a Dolphin
3) Jason Taylor holds numerous Dolphins records and won awards playing for the Fins.

Ricky did none of that and he was a back-up the majority of his years in Miami. YOU REALLY CAN'T SEE THE DIFFERENCE???

And if you are comparing Dancing with the Stars to quitting the team to go smoke dope in a tent in Southeast Asia, then really I don't know what to tell ya!!

Ricky QUIT on his team!

Ray never quit....that's why you don't put Ricky on the Ring of Honor.

Good Riddance...we need FRESH young backs...not aged backs who are just playing to support their dozen or so kids!

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."  Thanks for the good years, happy health in the future.

I don't understand what is so difficult about answering whether or not Ricky is worthy of the ROH based strictly on his on field production.

FOr the record, I'd be for it.

1) Any Hall of Fame player should make it on to the Ring of Honor without question.  Ricky obviously will not be going into the Hall of Fame.  That's the point of this discussion; if he were, this tangent is over before it starts.
2) Calling Ricky a "backup" is misleading, as you know; the last time that any RB had at least 50% of the total rush attempts on a team Ricky played on was... Ricky Williams in 2003.  Ronnie and Ricky have always been a running back platoon; accomplishing that with a player that's 4 years younger (at the tailback position!) is nothing to be ashamed of.  Furthermore, in 2009 (at the age of 32) Ricky started 7 games and led the team with 1121 yards rushing.  How many 32-year-old tailbacks do you see racking up 1000+ yards?
3) If Ricky holds more Dolphin records than JT, does this prove you wrong?  Because (as I already said) Ricky holds a damn lot of them.  Offhand:

- most rush attempts, career
- most rush attempts, season
- most rush yards, season
- most rush TDs, season
- most rush yards, game
- most consecutive 200-yard rushing games

Those are the easy ones.

In 9 seasons under contract with the Miami Dolphins, Ricky Williams had exactly 1 season with more than 1400 yards, and 2 with more than 1200.  He, however, has 5 seasons during which he had under 1000 yards rushing.  Add to that the fact that he "retired" for 2004 and was suspended during 2006 and had 6 whole carries in 2007 (for a whopping total of 174 carries between 2003 and 2008), I say no.

He had 1 brilliant season, and 2 "pedestrian" seasons, AND THAT'S IT.  That, combined with a bunch of antics and hardship and turmoil, means he does not deserve to be in the Ring of Honor.

Cant wait to see how they use him over there..

...which makes him the only Miami Dolphin running back ever to rush for more than 1200 yards.  And he did it twice.  He's also the only Dolphin running back ever to lead the league in rushing.

By the way, I must say, you have a gift for understatement.  1372 yards is "over 1200" and 1856 yards is "over 1400"?  Did Dan Marino throw for "more than 30" touchdowns in 1984?  Did Jason Taylor have "double digit" sacks in 2002?

Is this supposed to be a slam on someone playing the tailback position for the Dolphins?

Ricky has had three seasons with 1000+ yards rushing (he averaged 1448 for those three seasons, but whatever).  As best I can see, that gives him three times as many 1000+ yard seasons as any Dolphin not named Larry Csonka.  In fact, here are the top four Dolphin RB yardage seasons of all time:

1. 1856- Ricky, 2002
2. 1372- Ricky, 2003
3. 1121- Ricky, 2009 (at age 32 and starting less than half the season, mind you)
4. 1117- Csonka, 1972

So basically, you are bashing him for not COMPLETELY DECIMATING the Dolphin record books, instead of merely owning most of it?

Could/should he have played more?  Sure.  But based solely on what he actually did, he's (at worst!) the second-best Dolphin RB ever; the only person that holds a candle to him is a HOFer.

Brian, Ricky's two "pedestrian" seasons were better than any other running back in Dolphin history.  He owns the top 3 rushing seasons in the history of the franchise... what, you're downgrading him because he could have owned the top 5?

P.S. One more thing, before we get too much further... do you even dispute the claim that Ricky is a top-2 running back in the history of the franchise?

It has come to my attention that Lamar Smith ran for 1139 yards in 2000, which should displace Ricky's 2009 as the #3 Dolphin RB season ever.  As I already pointed out, Ricky started less than half of that year, but facts is facts.  Since I doubt anyone in this thread believes Lamar Smith is a candidate for the Honor Roll, I think the gist of my previous post stands.

From a purely statistical standpoint. I would say no. He doesn't have enough years of consistent greatness to qualify.

And if asked I would also say czonka doesn't deserve RoH either. But he does have an undefeated season going for him as well as two rings.

If Larry Csonka doesn't qualify for RoH in your eyes (despite being in the NFL Hall of Fame), I'd be hard pressed to see how the RoH could contain more than three names:

Joe Robbie
Don Shula
Dan Marino

I daresay Csonka was more impactful at his position than any Dolphin player except Marino.  (JT is close, though.)

I like Ricky, but my vote (if I had one) would be "no."

I won't argue with Ricky's numbers on the field...he's the best RB that Miami has had since Csonka. If this debate was over Ricky's induction into "The Ring of Statistical Accomplishment," I'd be all for it, but it's for "The Ring of Honor," and Ricky's behavior while in Miami, the drug use, the bolting on his teammates, etc... isn't how I'd define "honor."

If one wants to disqualify him based on his drug problems, I understand that.  I don't agree with it, but I can see why.  However, I would just point out two things:

1) even with all the time that Ricky lost to drug-related problems, he has still made a huge impact on the Dolphin record books; the difference is really between him having most of the Dolphin rushing records (which he already does) and completely Marino'ing them

2) in context, Ricky's primary fault (smoking weed) is far less egregious than many of the things that other high-profile NFL players have done (DUI, manslaughter, sexual assault, dogfighting, domestic violence, etc.).  It seems silly to me that Ricky was suspended for a year over marijuana, but Leonard Little killed a woman while driving drunk and got half that, then was arrested for DWI again and served no suspension at all.  I mean, from a honor-and-morals standpoint, seriously... Ricky smoked weed.  He didn't hurt anyone, he wasn't firing a gun in a club or beating up his girlfriend or drowning dogs.

On a side note, I believe that drugs aside, Ricky would have been completely justified in retiring to get away from Wannstedt.  Wannstedt's complete singlemindedness would have turned Ricky into Earl Campbell and literally ruined his life.  I know football players are paid handsomely to be tough guys and all, but at some point a coach should take some responsibility for how a player is used.  I think (at the time) everyone on this board agreed that Wannstedt was being irresponsible in the extreme.

From a purely on field performance aspect, I think there should be a legitimate consideration for the Ring of Honor.

EXACTLY!!!!!!! Thank you!

He was a super bowl MVP, a hall of fame player, and one of the best FB's in the history of the sport. And you don't want him in the Ring Of Hononr? You are joking right??

And right in the middle of the most productive time of his career he bolted and went to play for a different team/league.

He was out injured most of 68 and 69. So what you have is a guy that played spectacular football behind multiple hall of fame lineman for 4 admittedly very productive years.

I don't see that as RoH worthy. Th football hall of fame is different. In addition to being on the 72 team and being the 73 super bowl MVP, he was a huge figure in popular culture at the time and also got numbers for playing for the giants and in the wfl.

This quote is what troubles me. 

Miami hasn't exactly been known as a power running team.  Dan Marino's entire career saw, what?  One rusher at 1,000 yards?  And that cat still didn't average 4.0 yards per carry to do it.

"The second best back in Dolphins history."  A history that includes the following:

Delvin Williams
Tony Nathan
Andra Franklin
Woody Bennett
Lorenzo Hampton
Troy Stradford
Sammie Smith
Mark Higgs
Bernie Parmalee
Karim Abdul-Jabbar
Lamar Smith
J.J. Johnson
Sammie Morris
Ronnie Brown

I mean, really...Mercury Morris & Larry Csonka this team never really had a back that is / was anything to write home about.

It's like saying "Jay Fiedler is the most successful Dolphin QB since Dan Marino."  Yay.

Ricky was a beast for a specific amount of time.  Unstoppable one year.  I don't believe that he would deserve a Ring of Honor based on on field performance.  I really don't.  He looks good compared to a list of guys currently managing Denny's, or a car wash, in southern Texas.  He also was a beast for a coach that knew three plays: Screen pass, run off right tackle, run off left tackle.

He was good, not great.

wow, fans are ruthless in terms of how they throw rocks at players for the silliest of things. if the "character" issue were turned around at us, we would all be hung from trees.

you ever hear that interview that lebetard did with csonka? the guy is the biggest douche bag, arrogant, ass i had ever heard on the radio.

here is what ricky said to the fans yesterday:

"Well, I just want to say it's been an amazing ride and apologize for any hearts that I broke, and hopefully I was able to mend that these last couple of years. ... The fans deserve a good team, and I just hope that they get that."

he came back, did his job, never complained, was great in the locker room, never got in trouble, and was still our best running back at an age when most running backs are working at denny's. folks make mistakes, but not the fans of the miami dolphins. im not sure i agree with ricky's last statement. i really think the fans of this team have got what we all have deserved for the past 13 years and counting.

I have a special place in my heart for Lamar Smith. I saw, live and in-person, his 40 carry 200+ yard game to beat Jim Mora's Indianapolis Colts to keep the "Jim Mora has never won a playoff game" streak alive.

Larry Csonka is also a former New York Giant.

Ricky Williams for me is at least the third or fourth meaningful RB in the Dolphins History.

You can make an argument that any of the following RBs are more "Ring of Honor" worth than Ricky:

1. Larry Csonka
2. Jim Kiick
3. Mercury Morris
4. Reggie Bush

That isn't really a glowing endorsement given some of our RB history, but it does make sense.

But you were right on the rest. Hard to argue against him based on performance.

^^^ i think that has more to do with how hard it is to find consistent, productive, long lasting running backs in this league.

you won't see another rb as productive as ricky in a dolphins uni for generations to come.

This may be one of the most outrageous things I have ever seen. Csonka is a hall of famer and was a fullback, not a tailback so you are comparing apples and oranges by looking at stats. He is most definitely RoH and HoF worthy.

Well said sir. Well said.

If I had a vote, I would say no, only because I'd lump Ricky in with a few other good to great Dolphins players who may deserve inclusion in the ring but likely won't get in, whether it be because their careers were cut short by injury or never quite stacked up to expectations:
- O.J. McDuffie - 8 years, the middle 4 of them very solid before a toe injury severely limited him and brought on retirement at 31.  Good player, beloved by the fans, ultimately not quite good enough to get in.
- Keith Sims - 11 years (8 in Miami), 3 pro bowls, considered (as I remember) a possible Hall of Fame-type when at his best with Richmond Webb (also considered a HOF possibility at one point).  Ultimately overshadowed by Webb (who is in the ring).
- John Offerdahl - 8 years, 5 Pro Bowls in first 5 seasons, definite HOF talk before an abdominal injury curtailed his career.  The defense was a different animal when he played, but looked soft when he missed time his last 3 years.
- Tim Bowens - 11 years, 3 Pro Bowls.  Monster player, beloved by fans, never quite elite.  To hear Zach Thomas tell it, he and Darryl Gardner made his life oh-so easier as a MLB. 

Ultimately, I think Ricky winds up like Offerdahl.  We'll remember how great he was, but also remember the wasted years.  If he gets in, he'll need to wait for the likes of Zach Thomas, Jason Taylor, and possibly Sam Madison and/or Patrick Surtain to get in before he gets a call.  That's how I feel, anyway.

I hope we both hang out on this board long enough for us to laugh at that prediction together... I'll go the opposite direction, and say that, 10 years from now, a RB who has yet to gain his first yard for Miami will be considered a more worthy RB for the Ring o' Honor.

Who is the Dolphins' career leader in rush attempts?  Ricky has more than Csonka.

I don't think he belongs in the Ring of Honor...I don't agree with comparing Ricky to Czonka...Ricky was a tail back, Czonka was a FB...Ricky played in an era of 16 game season,(compared to Czonka's 14) and only was the "best" for 1 year....While I think Ricky might be the best back Miami has ever had,but I don't think that says a whole helluva a lot either.... 

Jivides point seems to ring true to me...I'd really like to see some of those guy's up there before Ricky...

According to pro-football-reference.com, Ricky's the leader at 1509 attaempts.  Czonk is second at 1506, Ronnie Brown third at 1128.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/mia/career-rushing.htm (http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/mia/career-rushing.htm)

Bernie Kosar is a member of the Browns' equivalent to the Honor Roll ("Cleveland Browns Legends").  Jim McMahon is a member of the Bears' Ring of Honor. (edit: the Bears "Ring of Honor" I found was an unofficial fan list)  Do you think either of these QBs would have been so honored by the Dolphins, the 49ers, or any other team with multiple modern-era Hall of Fame quarterbacks?  Of course not.  Context matters; a team with 40 years of crappy QBs will be elated to finally have a good (not great) one.  Similarly, although Ricky's exploits would not be a big deal for, say, the Cowboys, on the Dolphins they are quite a big deal.

Fiedler may be the third best Dolphin QB ever, but that statement is used as a sad commentary on post-Marino QBs.  Ricky won't be a HOFer, but his stats (by themselves) certainly merit the next best level of recognition.  The plain and obvious truth is that while Fiedler was simply the least-mediocre QB since Marino, Ricky (at his best) was the best tailback in the history of the franchise, and he gave many productive years even after his prime.  As I already said, not many tailbacks can give you 1000+ yards at age 32.

so far in the history of the dolphins franchise, what are we, 1 every 20 years or so?

Wow, I didn't realize there was such a variance in a simple stat such as how many times a RB carried the ball. I'm not going to guess which one is correct but JVIDEs gave one source.

Miami Dolphins.com (the source I was citing)
Csonka- 1506
Williams- 1350

I just realized the Dolphins site was not up to date with 2010 carries. Ricky did infact surpass Csonka with that.

They're all "correct."

NFL.com stats are career, all teams (so it includes Ricky with NO and Csonka with NYG).
MiamiDolphins.com has Dolphin-only stats.
1509 - 159 (Ricky's carries in 2010) = 1350, so the website hasn't been updated.

Ricky is the all-time leader in carries as a Dolphin.

Well I personally would have liked for the Phins to resign him for this season but shit happens. Good Luck in Baltimore Ricky I wish you the best.